Buying a 440IC

[old-larry]

I am looking at buying a 440IC. The machine is gas powered and runs good. The left track won't drive. It jumps a little like it's trying to go. The guy that owns it now had it checked out. He was told that the bull gear and pinon was out in the final. However, it makes no great noise when you try to move it. If the gears were out a person would think that it would make a bunch of racket. But as I said it try's to drive. You can see the track get tight like it;s going to drive then it slacks off. It repeats this over and over. It looks more like a steering clutch not engaging. Anyone else got any ideas?

Thank you
Larry

[NNAATZ]

Sounds like the splines are gone of the fibers probly from the cluthes being froze up.

[Lavoy]

Make the assumption it is the gears, there is a big price difference, and you better buy it on a worst case scenario.
Lavoy

[old-larry]

Make the assumption it is the gears, there is a big price difference, and you better buy it on a worst case scenario.
Lavoy

Thanks Lavoy. I made the deal to buy it about an hour ago. I worked on many 350, 450 and 550 machines but never a 440 so I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. I won't get hurt on it no matter what.

Thanks again,
Larry

[Gil]

If it turns out that the gears are your problem, before you buy parts be sure that they are the correct ones for your serial number. Earlier JD440IC's had a different bull and pinion gear setup.

Diesel and early gas crawlers used a bull gear with 55 teeth and pinion with 14 teeth. Later gas only crawlers after serial #444128 used a bull gear with 56 teeth and pinion with 13 teeth.

If it turns out to be the final drive shaft, there were also variations there depending on the serial number. After serial # 456802 the cases were a little over an inch thicker.

[old-larry]

If it turns out that the gears are your problem, before you buy parts be sure that they are the correct ones for your serial number. Earlier JD440IC's had a different bull and pinion gear setup.

Diesel and early gas crawlers used a bull gear with 55 teeth and pinion with 14 teeth. Later gas only crawlers after serial #444128 used a bull gear with 56 teeth and pinion with 13 teeth.

If it turns out to be the final drive shaft, there were also variations there depending on the serial number. After serial # 456802 the cases were a little over an inch thicker.

Thanks Gil. That's good information. This machine is early with a "440" serial number. I will have the machine here in the next day or two. We are going to put in in the shop and dig into it.

Thanks
Larry

[old-larry]

I got the crawler I bought today. It has a gearmatic 8A winch on it. The control is missing. It sounds like the control is no longer available. If I remember correctly the control had a handle that attached to a double master cyl. Push the handle to release the brake and pull the handle to engage the winch clutch. Can anybody think of a reason why a person couldn't use two master cylinders? Sure it would not be original and you would have tow handles but that's ok with me.

Thanks for any input
Larry