Buying a new 440 crawler

Mister laugh · Post by **Mister laugh** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 5:19 pm

My dad and I took at look at a 1958 440 this morning, we are going to try to go grab it tomorrow evening. I have a few questions though. The owner says it has had a charging problem for the last 20 years that he has had it. Are the generators typically problems on these, or is it more likely the regulator? Are rebuild kits for the generator avalible? The machine has issues with the steering clutches and possibly the engine clutch. There are a few minor leaks here and there, but the undercarriage is in reasonable shape and it has a loader on it. Any advise for a new 440 owner?[/img]

JimAnderson · Post by **JimAnderson** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 10:55 pm

Hello,
Once you bring any of these machines home the first thing you
should get is the parts and sevice manuals.You will most likely be
working on it yourself and these manuals are worth many times their purchase price.The charging systems are straight forward and have
the same issues that any generator system of their vintage have.
The real pain and expense on any crawler including the 440 are the
track components and final drives.You definitely have come to the right
place.There are many knowledgeble and helpful posters here.
Luck,JimAnderson

Post by **Lavoy** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:59 pm

Charging problems are usually the result of improper or incorrect repair. I have only ever had one crawler that give me fits for years. Finally tried a different manufacturer regulator, and never another problem.
Lavoy

JD440ICD2006 · Post by **JD440ICD2006** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:45 am

Being a 1958, it would have to be a gas engine. These are handy but the 1959 and 1960 are even more useful as they have the stronger tranny and a little more HP.
Have you crossed checked the serial number or is this the seller's data?

Steering clutches run in some money for both sides, if you do the labor. The main clutch may need adjustment, but likely will require an engine pull if it needs replacing. If you are going to that much effort, may as well rebuild the engine while you have it out.

How did you measure the undercarriage? If it waa not measured or looked at by an undercarriage mechanic, it is mere guess work short of obvious wear points.
Keep us posted. Lots of experience on here and Lavoy can you basically any parts you need.

Mister laugh · Post by **Mister laugh** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:05 am

It is a 1958 I have checked the machine over. I am a heavy duty mechanic that works at a Deere construction dealer an while I is not measure the undercarriage it is in decent enough shape to do the work we need it to do. I feared the engine would have to come out to do te clutch and we may just operate with it in its current state of not releasing untill it becomes a bigger problem.

whiteclipse16 · Post by **whiteclipse16** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:19 am

Check for cracks on the steering clutch housings, final drives, and transmission.
Esp. the lower bearing quill for the final drive. It's in toward the drawbar, kind of hard to see.

Post by **Lavoy** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:26 pm

How are you planning on using it without an engine clutch? I hope not by using the reverser as a clutch.
Lavoy

pop pop · Post by **pop pop** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:50 pm

that could be scary,,,,watch out you dont kill somebody, but if your in the wide open, thats a different story.

JD440ICD2006 · Post by **JD440ICD2006** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:10 pm

JD made it clear that these reversers could only be used after a full stop and not under a load. I guess some folks figure they can be shifted on the fly like the newer wet clutch ones.
If you have deep pockets and some time, and luck finding parts, you can shift these older reversers on the fly a few times.

Mister laugh · Post by **Mister laugh** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:55 pm

I was unaware that you could not use the reverser to "clutch" the machine. I am not at all farmiliar with equipment this old. Thanks for letting me know before i broke something. I guess we will also be doing and engine clutch and perhaps a rebuild, but I think i will compression test before commiting to that, no sense rebuilding a perfectly good engine.

Tigerhaze · Post by **Tigerhaze** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:24 am

JD440ICD2006 wrote: I guess some folks figure they can be shifted on the fly like the newer wet clutch ones.

I know I made that incorrect assumption when i first started learning about these crawlers- when you're most familar with powershift transmissions it isn't obvious that an older reverser would need to have the engine clutch disengaged. Luckily I have a HLR in my 2010 crawler so my lack of knowledge in that area didn't hurt anything.

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Buying a new 440 crawler

Buying a new 440 crawler

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