350B steering/drive issue

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pee vee
MC crawler
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Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 6:47 am

350B steering/drive issue

Post by pee vee » Sun Sep 13, 2020 8:54 am

So, the left side quite driving. I been using this machine since 1973. Knowing the brake band needed resurfacing, I put the machine back in the shop dropped the track and proceeded to remove the final drive. Had brake band relined. Replaced throwout bearing. Replaced bearing carrier and sleeve. Cleaned up clutch plates and replaced clutch disks (had disks on shelf that were better than the ones I took out). Back together and adjusted brake/steering.
Out of the shop steered great. A few minutes into pushing a pile of dirt in the yard, the left side quit again. Back to readjust. Seems there is now no free play on clutch control arm prior to engaging throwout bearing.

Jim B
350 crawler
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Location: western Maine

Re: 350B steering/drive issue

Post by Jim B » Sun Sep 13, 2020 4:28 pm

My guess is old parts with different wear patterns on them have worn quickly and lost adjustment. Did you check to see if the discs and plates were close to the right thickness? Did you check the total stack height of the steering clutch to see if it is even close to right? You can try adjusting it again but you may need to pull it down and install new parts to get it right. Also you can set the pressure plate fingers properly with the tool/gauge if you use new parts. You can contact Lavoy (postmaster@jdcrawlers.com) about parts, the gauge to set the steering clutches, and the right manuals if you don't have those. He works on these machines and knows the parts he has are quality, he doesn't like to redo jobs because of bad parts. Good luck.

Your posts on a 350 should be made on the Late Models Board. Don't be surprised if it gets moved over to that Board when a moderator or admin person sees it here. Just a "housekeeping" thing.

pee vee
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Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 6:47 am

Re: 350B steering/drive issue

Post by pee vee » Mon Sep 14, 2020 11:49 am

Thanks Jim. I know I will be tearing this machine down again. When I do I will be buying new clutch fibers and metals. Although the replacements I used were miked the same as the disks in there.

Still interesting that adjustment and initial operation was as expected.

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LeonardL
350 crawler
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Location: Missouri

Re: 350B steering/drive issue

Post by LeonardL » Mon Sep 14, 2020 6:32 pm

Just curious if you checked all the linkages before you reassembled this thing? Was everything working freely and not binding up somewhere? You also want to look for wear in your bushings for the shaft leading into the steering clutch and also the one that the throwout bearing and clutch lever operates on. A common mistake that I have ran into is when someone tears into these and goes back together they don't check any of the linkages and shafts. The shafts themselves can wear and then add a worn bushing and you have a lot of play. Then your adjustments will vary accordingly. This could answer why you had good adjustment and operation out of the shop and then it failed after operation. If your clutch discs mic out okay and if they are not rusty I wouldn't have a problem with reusing them. As Jim pointed out, checking the finger height on the pressure plate is also very important. Along with making sure the throwout bearing is pulling away from the fingers and not keeping them partially disengaged. Just my thoughts and I hope you find your issue. :D
40 plus years working on JD 350s, 400Gs, 450s and other equipment both Ag and Construction.

pee vee
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Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 6:47 am

Re: 350B steering/drive issue

Post by pee vee » Tue Sep 15, 2020 4:42 am

Thanks LeonardL. The reason for changing the throwout bearing and bearing carrier and sleeve was due to the bearing being seized and no movement on the sleeve. With those parts now free to move my concern now is the same as you mentioned that the carrier bearing is now depressing the clutch fingers. Something in the linkage is not allowing the assembly to retract (binding). I would think that worn parts would be more apt to not allow the clutch to disengage.

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