New (to me) BO Lindeman

General help and support for your Lindeman through 2010 John Deere crawler
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UnstyledB
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New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:29 am

Hello all,

First post here so bear with me.

I've been collecting John Deere B's for years and have always wanted a Lindeman. Well, in a moment of weakness I ended up with one a couple of weeks ago on an auction close to my home. It's a 1946. It had been in a family of John Deere collectors for 3 generations before I ended up with it and is an older (I'd guess mid-80s) restoration. The restoration isn't up to my standards as there are several places where I can see that they just painted green right over the caked on grease. It runs and drives just fine with engine/transmission/undercarriage appearing sturdy and sound. The steering clutches needed just a little adjustment to even up how far back they had to be pulled to steer. I would like to tear it down and restore it the correct way. I know the work that's going to go into this and I'm able to do it, but have been advised by several collectors not to tear it down any farther than I absolutely have to because of the risk of breaking something and the lack of available parts. What do you all think? I would like to take the track and rollers off each side and make sure they are in good working order and take final drives off to get a look inside the steering clutches. While I have it apart I would clean and paint everything as it goes back together and do a quality restoration on it.

Thanks for the opinions.

James

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Lavoy
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by Lavoy » Wed Aug 25, 2021 8:50 am

Parts are hard to come by, yes, but that would never deter me from taking it apart. Stuff only breaks if you break it so to speak. Be careful on tear down if something doesn't want to come apart, and find a different/better way to do it.
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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:41 pm

Thanks for the advice.

I have begun the tear-down starting with the left hand track and have already encountered a broken roller. Luckily Lavoy was able to set me up with a replacement.

There is another part I'm missing. There is supposed to be a plate over the first reduction gear cover with a little hook that the clutch rod rides through. This cover has been replaced with a plain steel plate sometime in the past. Does anyone know where I might get one? It would seem an easy part to cast so maybe someone out there makes reproductions? If anyone can help me out please contact me.

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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Sun Sep 05, 2021 8:33 pm

The teardown is progressing. I have both tracks and track frames off getting everything cleaned up and checked. One chain measures new, the other is badly worn so it's getting shipped off Tuesday to get new pins and bushings.

I am working now to get the drive sprockets off the axles. The LH sprocket wasn't tight on the axle and after loosening the 3 bolts the whole assembly including the inner and outer plates pulled off the axle. The axle splines are in excellent shape so all the wear must be in the sprocket hub.
Both of the sprocket plates seem wedged onto the sprocket hub pretty tight. How do I get these off? Do I make some kind of puller? I tried a little heat drove some wooden wedges in between the sprocket and the plates but no luck.. I'm worried I may break them if I'm not careful so I thought I would ask here for some ideas.

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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by Lavoy » Mon Sep 06, 2021 9:50 am

I would soak them in your favorite weasel piss for a while first.
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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:42 pm

Question:

Will the front idler brackets from an MC work as-is on a BO Lindeman?

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Lavoy
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by Lavoy » Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:36 am

Yes they will. I have some of the early MC brackets with the open hole, they look a little more original than the late style.
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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Sat Sep 18, 2021 2:51 pm

Lavoy wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:36 am
Yes they will. I have some of the early MC brackets with the open hole, they look a little more original than the late style.
Lavoy
I'll send you an email.

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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Sat Sep 18, 2021 2:51 pm

Lavoy wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:36 am
Yes they will. I have some of the early MC brackets with the open hole, they look a little more original than the late style.
Lavoy
I'll send you an email.

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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Tue Oct 05, 2021 7:36 pm

I took both final drives off my Lindeman last weekend and went through and cleaned up the steering clutches. Aside from someone drastically overgreasing the throw out bearings and the smell of decades-old transmission fluid everything looks good and all bearings and seals are in great shape. My PTO shaft had a twist in it so I took the back plate off expecting shredded gears in the transmission but everything looks fine in there.

Here is my dilemma. I noticed both gears on both pinion shafts have about 1/16" play. What are the options here? Make some shims to take up the play and snug up the gears on the shaft? Press the shafts out of the brake drums and take to a machine shop to weld up and machine down the splines? Have a machine shop make 2 new pinion shafts?

Thoughts?

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Lavoy
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by Lavoy » Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:03 am

Do you mean rotational play, or side play?
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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Wed Oct 06, 2021 10:32 am

Lavoy wrote:
Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:03 am
Do you mean rotational play, or side play?
Lavoy
Rotational play. I can rotate each one of the gears just about a 16th of an inch (measured at the shaft) so the play out at the end of the teeth is greater.

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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by Lavoy » Wed Oct 06, 2021 2:35 pm

If the amount of spline is still good, I would leave it. You are never going to work it to any great degree.
Lavoy
Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com

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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Wed Oct 06, 2021 2:41 pm

Yes, plenty of spline left. Just a little bit of rotational play of the gear on the shaft that I was concerned about. I'll leave it. Thanks for the advice.

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UnstyledB
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Re: New (to me) BO Lindeman

Post by UnstyledB » Wed Oct 06, 2021 4:53 pm

I did some web searching and wound back up here. Seems there us a product called Devcon Titanium Putty. Is this stuff really strong enough to hold a gear on a shaft with worn splines? Interesting.

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