Before buying it

the other side

the serial number

the rear blade, which I removed to work on the steering clutches, and did not replace because I don't seem to have any need to clear mesquite tree stumps.

There's been some jury-rigging on this thing  The generator was replaced with a 60s GM alternator, which didn't work, so I replaced that with a one wire internal regulator GM alternator.  The magneto is now a distributor, with a coil added.  There was no fuel filter for the carburetor, and the manifold air butterfly valves did not shut fully, but I got all that fixed and it starts first try now.  The bypass type (not full flow) oil filter element is a NAPA 1155, or WIX 51155.

The view from the driver's seat

The first job...removing that tree stump from in front of the garage, and levelling the mount of dirt around it.

The inoperative left steering clutch is about to get some attention.  I removed the rear implement and the fuel tank/seat assembly.

The big round things are the steering clutches, the bevel gear (ring and pinion) are in the center, and the vertical shafts are the shift forks.  There is a band brake around each clutch drum.

These bolts hold the coupler to the ring gear hub, but they were not safety wired as they should have been, so they were all loose, and three of them broke in half. 

Each clutch has 11 fiber friction plates (shown here) stacked alternatly with steel plates.  Looks like some battery acid might have leaked into the clutch compartment at one time, as the steel plates were very rusty, and the rust was embedded in the fiber plates.  Sandblasting and scraping cleaned them up, fortunately.

While I had the tractor apart, I also re-plumbed the hydraulics for the front blade, giving each side it's own control valve, and moving the pipes out of the way so it's easier to get in and out of the seat.  I added a Dodge diesel truck muffler, which I found laying on the side of the road.  I adjusted the track tension, so they both have just the right amount of slack.

This tractor is a wide tread model, with extended tracks, and wide shoes.  It might have been a crane originally, as it has those two large attatching brackets on either side just above the top of the tracks.  No, it was originally a Bucyrus-Erie Dozer-Shovel.  I found some pictures of them, they have the same brackets.  This is a page from the operating manual.  Also my TD-9 was originally painted olive drab, so it was a military machine.  There is one in New Zealand painted like that.

The radiator had some serious leaks, so I took it apart and mostly fixed it.  Here's the core before I spent some time soldering things up.

It seems the water pump had not been actually turning for some time, this piece was missing!  so I got one from a friend.  Now it runs much cooler, and with a new thermostat the temperature stays right where it should.

Last Updated 8/13/2006