He had found a very cute Deere machine. I have restored a couple of old tractors, but this crawler stuff is a bit new to me. I thought it was decent shape, but I misjudged. I could see the front idlers were worn, so I knew that would be a task. Once I got it home, I realised the track carriers had a lot of wear with the cross shafts. Then I saw that the clutch housing was cracked, because bolts were loose and missing. Finally, I figured out every structural fastener was compromised somehow. I guess someone got lazy with re-assembly, perhaps after the engine replacement.
By this time, I was too deep into it to back out. And it is cute, worth saving. A gallon or two of paint is going to work wonders.
So here we are : the point of maximum disassembly. Going to clean this up a bit more, then paint it before the frosty nights start. Then piece by piece, things will get cleaned/rebuilt/repaired/pained/reassembled. No set timeline.
Going to be an adventure .... will document in this thread.
