1959 John Deere 440ICD help

[Hambrick28]

Ok, I now have 2 440icd crawlers and I'm going to try and make 1 good one and keep the parts from the other machine. One runs and moves but has no blade or carriage for a blade, however the one I just picked up has the hydraulic 6 way blade. Now with that being said I'm needing some advice/help with a few things the front cross bar on both machines is broke at the connection point of the top roller on both sides and both machines, I'm assuming it was a weak point as both appear to have been (field welded) at some point. Should I try and fix by removing or try and source a replacement? Also the blade face is not in the best condition, any recommendation on reskinning the blade ( steel type and thickness) I know ar400 would be hard enough but I'm curious if that would be overkill for this small machine. And lastly would anyone have part numbers for the rubber boots for the intake both the straight one and the 90. Sorry for the long winded story just want to gather up the parts and have a game plan before I pull it into the shop.

Thanks guys, Lance

[Jim B]

Here is a link to the online 440ICD parts catalog on jdparts.com so you can look up part numbers you want. https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/nav ... VJUE1FTlRd

You will likely find a number of parts are NLA from John Deere. Lavoy sells parts, best not to ask in a post or using the site PM system. For parts, and manuals, it is best to email him (postmaster@jdcrawlers.com, or call him at the phone number on the homepage during CST business hours.
Jim