D7 17A How stuck is stuck on the motor

[diggingfish]

I'm the new kid here but I am looking for some advice. I have a 17A that had new U/C, new heads, new clutches, rebuilt final drive. The biggest issue was that the starting motor was unreliable. someone got to it this summer in the back of the field and tried to scrap it and haul it off piece by piece. (no concept for weight) they cut the stack off, and two of the blade supports for the 6 way blade, and stole the magneto. It is a cable machine. Here is my question, I do not know if the motor got water in it because I we may have had 1/8 -1/4inch of rain this summer before I found out what was going on and covered the stack. (texas summer 105 degrees every day how fast will it evaporate?") is there something that I should do to the motor and then try and pull the tractor off? (do not want to jack with the iffy starting motor if the big one is shot) I do not want to scrap it... any ideas ?????

 

[Old Magnet]

Take the timing cover off (top of the clutch housing) and remove the timing indicator and you can get access to the ring gear teeth to bar the engine over with a pry bar.

 

[DPete]

Throw the compression release and turn the fan, may have to push on the belts. You shoud be fine though

 

[Greg]

I agree on the compression release. Open it up and it should turn over with the fan.

 

[Old Magnet]

If you can do that it ain't stuck.

 

[diggingfish]

and if it shows stuck after this? I have heard stories about pouring stuff down the injector ports and freeing them up.........Is all this just garbage or can it work?

 

[1970Cat16]

Get a bar and turn it over, if its stuck try turpentine about a gallon and some lite 10 weight oil mixed, let it set over night and them bar it over with compression releases, i doubt it is stuck, happens all the time on old ranch cats that sit out for 10 years and them stick a bit, usually a bar or a push from another tracotor and it starts right up

 

[Old Magnet]

Depends on how bad it's stuck. On the really bad ones you may get the pistons to move but rusted up piston rings will never recover. If you can bar it over as described it will usually recover.

 

[1970Cat16]

Depends on how bad it's stuck. On the really bad ones you may get the pistons to move but rusted up piston rings will never recover. If you can bar it over as described it will usually recover.

Turpentine is the ring rust buster that i used, this is the same stuff the 80 year old Holt Cat Mechanic used on similar rained in jobs, when the turp evaloperates it un rusts the riings and lets the ring move on the piston and linner, many times we left a bar with a come along streched tight on it the day before and came back 1 or 2 days later and found that the mixture and come along on the bar on the ringgear had let go and moved, many times we remoed the set up and started the tractor right there and started working it or loaded it up and came home! I know it sounds off but the rust breaking in the ring grove is the key it works with the turpentine!!

 

[Old Magnet]

The really bad ones I'm referring to don't bar over no matter what magic juice you use and require dismantling to recover.

 

[AmericanLandMgt]

I've used marvels mystify oil and Pb blaster with success on several occasions. If you only got a little bit of rain though you should be fine just blowing the water out. I always like to spray some wd40 in the cylinders once I have to water out just to lube everything up good.

 

[skadill]

1937 Caterpillar D7 cable dozer

Here is a 1937 D7.video of it operating at http://www.youtube.com/user/skadill#p/u/32/e2Ew0PDULRE (i'm from the forest part of the forum and wandered over here for a first post)

 

[sledgehammer]

that's a sweet old pelican!

 

[Lindsey97]

SKADILL: i really enjoyed your video of the rd7. my dad had a 1938 rd6. never got to hear it run, as it had bad steering clutches and was parked before i was born. we cut it up for scrap about 15 years ago. i really regret that now, as i have my own equipment and would like to have something like that to restore and play with.