MC in the water

[clarkwd]

A few minutes after this picture was taken we went across the little channel to pull out firewood on the other side. I wish we had a camera, but we were more concerned about getting out at the time so this moment is lost. We had the fan in the water and my brother said there was water blowing out the timing mark access hole, but we were able to turn and go downstream to a shallower bank to get out. We ran it for another four or five hours and we got to some previously unaccessable parts of his woodlot but later in the day it stopped steering. If I pull the handle and tap the brakes, it will turn alright, so I think the clutches are working ok. We parked it in a headed garage last night and this morning took the inspection covers off the clutches. It looks like the clutches are adjusted ok, but brake bands are adjusted up until the screw hits the other end of the band. I guess I should have replaced the bands when it was apart, but then again if I knew everything or knew enough to ask everything, I would not be helping my brother get in wood to heat his house. Looks like I've got a winter project. Is there anything else I may have screwed up on this little swim?
Thanks
Bill

[Lavoy]

Main thing is to make sure that the clutches all dried out. If you ran it for that long afterward, you should be okay. If you are pulling the finals anyhow, I would look at them while you are in there.
Lavoy

[clarkwd]

We worked the crawler for three days and the beavers worked nights. It looks like the beavers will keep my brother in wood for the rest of the winter. I brought the crawler home home and took the final drives off to get the brakes out. It looks like they still have about 1/8+ of meat on them. How much do relined ones have? While I have it apart (for the second time) what other things should I look for. It looks like the throwout bearing on one side is a little knarly. The clutches seemed to work fine, but is there something I should be checking?
Bill

[Gil]

You might want to put more grease in your track rollers to force any water out. The older style seals are not able to handle immersion like new designs. But if you have recently rebuilt your rollers with new seals you do not want to pump in grease with too much pressure or it could pop the seals.

[snoopy]

What seals? My MC books do not show any seals on the rollers.

Bob

[Lavoy]

No seals on an MC, but still regrease all the rollers and front idler to get any mud and junk out. MC's idlers were supposed to be greases "liberally" every 8 hours.
I would have to measure a brake band, but roughly 1/4" of lining. If you are down to 1/8", you are probably pretty close to the rivets.
I would chuck the throwout bearing if it is bad or seems that way. Even if you don't replace any clutches, I would reset the pressure plate fingers to spec as long as you have the finals off. One other thing I would recommend if you didn't do it before, it pull the throwout bearing holders out of each side and anti-seize them up so they slide easily. This is critical for clutch adjustment on an MC.
Lavoy

[Ray III]

Was there any water in the housings? Sometimes people will drill holes in the drain plugs on the bottom because they don't want to periodically drain the housings. This of course means you can't go in water anymore! When you bolt the final drives back on seal the crack and bolts with a heavy coat of paint too.

[clarkwd]

We finally found the time to get my tractor back together. Since there was traces of mud on the outer half inch of the clutch packs, I think there was a bit of water inside. Most of the water probably came in through the brake rod boots and drained through the plugs in the bottom that had been drilled out with cotter pins inside them. I replaced the brake bands, checked the clutch adjustment but did not change it and we are back on line. It does work pretty good. My only question is I set it up exactly like the book so that the throw out bearing touches the pressure plate as the brake lever set screw touches. Should I worry about the clutch not releasing before the nice new brakes are applied?
It sure works great.
Bill