Hi all, This is the first piece of heavy equipment that I've owned (I had a skid steer and a little tractor but they were tiny compared to this beast). We have 12 acres of half-forested partly steep terrain and lots of stuff to move around. I've enjoyed reading the experiences of other owners and few somewhat reassured. I haven't had the machine delivered yet but I viewed it last week. The urgent thing I need to fix are the lift cylinders - leaking badly. I have ordered the seal kit and have read the other posts on the repair. No doubt I'll be asking for help as I get into this! The bucket is in pretty bad shape (so maybe the machine has had a hard life??). I guess I'll have to weld it up as best I can and/or look for a replacement. All the teeth are missing. Are there reasonable sources to buy these? The ones I found were $300 each! I'm in Western Canada. While we're on the bucket... I doubt I'll need the side dump very often. It would be far more useful to have a thumb/grapple using that function. Is that a ridiculous idea? Are there other buckets that fit these machines if I'm looking at wrecks? Can someone look up the s/n and find out the year please? 85J6695. I'll check the engine number when I get the machine. Thank you, James
Where about are you in western Canada? With your location we may be able to find the teeth you need. Post some pictures of the bucket when you can and also the undercarriage etc. Any other info like hours and history would be good.
I'm in the Kootenays (BC). I see you are in Lethbridge. I get over that way sometimes. Not sure of the hours - the meter is cracked. I'll send some pictures when I get the machine. Thanks
You have electricity in Canada? To run computers?
Electricity in Canada? Eh? At least in BC. Huge water power here. And another huge hydro project just about completed. That's why the Provincial power utility calls itself "BC Hydro". Go figure--BC is as socialist as you can get but the previous conservative gov't got the ball rolling on the Site "C" project and got it far enough along so the current commies couldn't kill it without looking like idiots. On the other hand, Alberta has been busily shutting down coal fired plants and relying on wind energy. Pretty sure we know where that will get them. I run my computer on steam power. As to the 955L, its probably the one I was asking the forum about last week. The side dump is kind of rare (and not very useful) and you probably are better off finding a regular bucket or a 4 in 1 bucket. You have the luxury of having the 3rd hydraulic valve that can run the 4 in 1 clam which will be handy to grab stuff and move it. If you had to add that valve it can get costly. The machine is likely a 955K (Labels can LIE) but the experts on here who can look up the exact SN can tell you for sure. Are the tracks any good? If they have some life left you might have got a pretty good deal. Photos- or it didn't happen! Keep us posted. Jon.
Hi Jon, Given the weather this month, there is plenty of water!! Tracks look fine. So does undercarriage. No photos yet - I need to arrange hauling. Looks like you're from around here - any suggestions? The P/O gave me some manuals but they appear to be for the wrong series of SNs. I assume it will get me close until I buy the correct ones. Thanks, James
You have the S/N which is all you need for parts. If you need the YOM for some other reason I'm sure someone can help. No, it is a 955L, one of the later ones fitted with a 3304 engine. That range started at 85J6247. Anything below 4672 is a K with a D330 engine, anything 4672-6246 is an L with a D330 engine. What range of Serial Numbers are the manuals for.?
Thanks Nige I have one service manual for 61H1 - UP, 53H1 - UP, 48H1 - UP, 31J1 - UP and another for 60A1 - UP Are these really different or quite similar?
The first one you mentioned is for a 955K. 61H was the US-produced forerunner of the 85J. It first came on the market in 1966. The other three S/N prefixes were built in France, Australia, & Japan in the same time frame as the US machine. So much earlier than your machine. 60A is for a US-built 955H which is even older again. Production from 1960-66. Your late-ish 85J machine is late 1970's I would have thought. The first 955L (85J4672 - see above) was 1976. How much in common those manuals would have to your machine I dunno. Why not put them both up for sale and use the funds to buy the correct manuals.? The correct (full) Service Manual for 85J6695 is Cat Publication reference REG00634. A Parts Manual is UEG0700S. https://www.ebay.com/itm/275191073403 A basic Maintenance Manual is SEBU6520. It can be downloaded from Cat in pdf format for $28. A (complete) paper version of REG00634 should include this manual.
I have already ordered a copy of the parts manual on Ebay. I just downloaded a copy of the SEBU6520 from CAT and thought, "it's a bit underwhelming - where is the rest of it?" Then I reread your message more carefully and realized that I was expecting the full Service Manual. I found a copy on Ebay so I wasted $28 on the Maintenance Manual. Ah well. Thanks again.
Black Cat Blades probably has teeth for a reasonable cost. They are in Edmonton. You could call them and ask for dealers in your area. Does the machine have the adaptors and are they in good condition? If it has adaptors that were run without teeth, they are likely quite worn and need to to be built up with weld and ground to the right shape. That can be a lot of work and it might be better to get new adaptors. Arrow West Equipment just outside of Edmonton may have a bucket for your machine.
There is also Titan out of Edmonton and Boundary Equipment in Calgary that was helpful getting me some edges for a fair price.
Thanks guys. I'll check out Black Cat, Arrow West, Titan, and Boundary.
I'm not sure how much extra the side dump bucket weight is but you may not want to put a lot of work in it. Maybe find another lighter, probably deeper bucket and add a large weld on skid steer grapple. Maybe one side of a split grapple set up. A excavator thumb or 2 could be good. Check the Iron planet auctions they sell up in Canada. You'd have a deeper bucket for stumps and brush. If you can add a little something to keep things from falling out till you get the bucket rolled back it goes a long way. Make it though enough you don't break it. The more iron out front the faster you get off balance nose heavy. The old machines use large diameter rams to develop force with low pressure hydraulics. The new ones its the other way. You get a new one with a cylinder with it ect. do the math. Don't break the thumb with the ram. To slow the actuation of the ram you can put a restricting orifice in the line to slow the flow.
Thanks Cat977. I'm happy to get rid of the side dump bucket. When I'm looking for a replacement are there certain standards (like a skid steer)? Or do I have to know which models and brands are interchangeable? Thanks
For the bucket get one that fits your machine! Maybe take the part number and do a search on say Machinery Trader or get a locale scraper to find one. There are digging buckets (that's most of them) and material buckets for carrying and digging loose stuff. Get one that has the same pins and pin locations! For a thumb there's not much to go on, mostly the people that might help are..... well probably busy. Get a ruler that's set up to draw things to a paper sized scale. The ones that are shaped like a triangle are the most convenient. You can use a regular one and convert it say 1/16" or 1/8" equals a foot. For detail work nothing beats full scale. Find a drawing of any machine similar machine and play with the picture to get it to a workable size for your ruler. If you draw something that looks about right you may get someone to pay you for it, or you could build it, or my favorite is find something that looks close and steal their idea and hopefully their work. Measure the bucket metal framing thickness and go 3 to 10 times thicker. Now you have an idea of what your looking for. Once you get the bucket there's plenty of time to find the grapple, thumb, thumbs. 2 thumbs would be Cool, the hydraulic pressure would hold uneven loads, thumbs going to their best grip.
Not sure but this may be a 955 bucket less than an hour away from Edmonton. 84” CAT LOADER BUCKET - perfect to make manure chuck blade!! | Heavy Equipment | St. Albert | Kijiji
As for stealing work..... It seems manufacturers just made nonstandard buckets except when everyone wanted a bobcat then most Makers copied Bobcats Quick Tach system to compete with them. Cat probably is the only one that made a bucket for your machine. If you can fab up something with a good welder.....? Well I haven't done it but I've been thinking about using the back of my ailing 4in1 bucket to mount a new wider bucket and put a grapple or "twin thumbs" on. You want a bucket off something with about the same or more HP. I'm thinking of cutting the back off my bucket with Fast cut brand (I think) cut off wheels 7"dia. (I think) so you can get a good weld surface that you can get on nice and square. The bucket has a hollow place in back for strength and this will push the newer loader bucket forward just a bit. May want to cut into the back of the new one or better yet maybe cut the hollow spot out of the old one on the bucket side (much better idea but may be a pain). Bucket for 977L is 8', new one off wheel loader is 9'. The extra width will keep material away from the tracks but will suck up weight, move the center of gravity forward, and eat HP, (8.5' would be better). I did slot dozing before, maybe it'll suck this way? Cut away the extra parts off the back of the new bucket ears ect. with something like.... air arc cutting with welder, or a scarfing tip with oxy/ac. Mount everything as close to the radiator as possible if the cutting edge is any further forward than necessary you lose curling power and you shift your machine's center of gravity even more forward and screw up its handling. For hard digging use a smaller bucket. Have teeth unless you're in a quarry loading up loose material. Get some pictures posted so we can see how your new friend looks. The 955L was a Good Choice!!!
55 is a nice size machine. Not difficult to get hauled, big enough to get some things done. That side dump bucket is an oddity. I only ran some JD wheel loaders with the side dumps. It would be awesome to find someone who wants that heavy pig
When a refitting like I'm talking about is done you will need to do some welding up of the bores and line boring. By keeping the original bucket ears attached to the original bucket you keep the pin positions pretty well located but when you cut the front off the bucket the assembly will bow and twist. Dealing with that is not easy and this project cost is adding up at this point. Finding a used bucket even with High Shipping is looking better and better. When a new bucket is built they have new material that is welded up in fixtures and I'm pretty sure they wait till all the welding is done to do finish machining for the pins. If you cut off the front of the bucket you will release stresses built up during the welding work.
A track loader bucket is considerably stronger than a wheel loader bucket of similar or even larger size, especially for something like a 977. Arrow West has a couple 977 buckets listed. I think using line up pins and accurate cutting of ears would be a lot faster and easier than line boring. New buckets would have a jig for alignment. A jig could also be carefully made so line boring wouldn't be required. I can't see Cat or Weldco Beales, etc. line boring every single bucket they build. If you were cutting apart a bucket I think would be similar to how they remove bodies from cars for repairing or customizing. They make sure to tack enough braces on to hold everything in alignment. If a bucket "sprung" when cutting it apart, you'd have to fix that first before you worried about the pins lining up. Having pins lined up but a twisted bucket wouldn't be of much use. I've welded new ears on backhoe buckets using the bucket pins for alignment and they didn't require line boring. One bucket was a big rush job and was sent to a fab shop to finish the welding with flux-core. The ears pulled in slightly but they put a porta-power cylinder between the ears and then finished welding the outside to put the ears/pins in alignment. When I originally welded the top swing post back on my hoe, I had a piece of 2 1/2" DOM tubing turned down .005" to line up the top and bottom pivots. Everything went back together fine and no line boring was required. Careful welding and bracing made the difference. The bottom 1 1/2" thick ear was bent. I had to cut a V in it to straighten it but couldn't brace it in position. I had had it bent down about 30 deg's. to allow for the weld to shrink on cooling and pull it up. Once it got straight I tacked braces on so it wouldn't pull too much. If I had braced it straight and welded it would have way too much internal stress from the welding. It takes a lot of thought and knowing proper techniques but there can be ways to avoid having to line bore.
Not sure if you got your machine home yet, but here's a suggestion for finding trucking: www.trusteddispatch.com . They are a service that connects trucks with loads. I got their name from an auction house in Alberta who does a crapload of sales in Ab. I have never used them myself but mostly because all the stuff I've bought from the auction can be trucked on the "less than load" type trucking. An outfit I've used a lot when moving entire sawmills was Q-Line trucking out of Saskatoon. They may not be the cheapest but they are professional. They moved a whole planermill for me from Boyle, Ab. to Arizona. (27 loads- I guess they wanted to plane cactuses down there.) One thing to check carefully when arranging trucking is how much insurance the trucker has for the cargo. The most common seems to be $2 per pound. But some truck lines have something on the waybill where you can state the value of the equipment they are carrying for you. It's always been a worry (at least for me) when that load is picked up by someone you don't know and may not have that much experience with your load...You don't want to have to fetch your new jewel out of the bottom of the Kootenay river!! Photos when you get it! Jon.
Well I ended up getting this bucket. Unfortunately, it seems like the company selling it are either lacking knowledge or integrity... it's not a CAT bucket as advertised... it's a JD bucket. I got it loaded and then went to WearPro for some teeth and the guy knew instantly that it wasn't for a 955. I've got a call in to the company that sold it. Let's see if they want to help in any way.
Here's a picture of the machine. First job is to rebuild the lift cylinders. Then I'll deal with the bucket(s). You can see that the tilt bucket is in pretty poor shape.
Thanks. I submitted a bid on uship.ca I ended up choosing a great guy (Barry) that is semi-retired. Fantastic service - he even unloaded it for me! uship took quite a cut but the quotes were generally cheaper than the ones I found by calling around to bigger companies.
The bucket is the least of problems on that machine, the under carriage is worn completely out. Bob
Hi, Bluox, How can you tell if the tracks are worn out? I don't think we've seen any photos where we could see the tracks....? Jon.
Post 24. Bob
Please tell me more... what are you seeing from the photo that is concerning? Thanks
I can't see any post numbers but I assume you are referring to the latest photo that jacr posted. It looks like the pins and bushes have worn enough to allow the pads to separate farther than normal when stretched around the front idler. You need to measure across something like 5 track pitches, with the track stretched to get the average worn pitch-compare this to the unworn track pitch. I think Cat has information on how to do this, and doing it their way will give you a "percentage worn" number. Jon.
Track adjuster is at the end of the track frame indicated not much adjustment left or already at the end. Top carrier roller is way past gone. Not a clear enough pic. even when blown up to tell what the rest is like. Rails look to still have some meat on them but pins and bushings could be shot. Sprocket looks like the teeth could be pointed. Pads look OK. I'm not sure if triple grouser tracks overlap as much as double grouser pads. Visually not a bad looking machine overall. The bucket was listed as an 84" bucket. It didn't say what is was off. I haven't looked at enough buckets to know what might or might not be a 955 bucket. I just knew it seemed about the right width for a 955. If they specifically told you it was for a 955 then they should take it back and return your money. If they purposely mislead you to get a sale is a very poor business practice. If they tell you you are out of luck, you may have to consult a lawyer. It all depends on what was said prior to the sale. Might not be too huge of a job to adapt to your machine but would cost some. Have to talk to a fabrication shop or welder that works on heavy equipment.
Thanks Dave. I'll work through those things and try and figure out what to start with. I knew about the top roller. How can I tell if the sprocket teeth are gone? Is there a measurement? They look fairly pointed and they are not semi-circular - more like a stretched out U. I'll post some close up pictures. Re Bucket - they said it was a CAT bucket and likely off a 955. Even if they want to take it back I'm a good 10 hour drive away - that's a fair cost in diesel!
Thanks Jon. I found the measurement spec for 4 track pitches in my newly arrived manual. I assume there must be a way to stretch the track when the adjustment is already at the end.
Your sprocket is not worn out yet it has worn to match the track pitch. You will have to short track ,remove one track link to continue using those tracks. Check the leaking cylinder rod gland for a cap bolted to the gland,if there is and it has shims left pull one shim and that might slow the leak down. Bob
Did you mention you were looking for a 955 bucket first or ask them what the bucket was off without mentioning 955? If the former, I'd bet they told you what you wanted to hear in order to sell it. If they said LIKELY should have raised some red flags if it was for a 955 or not. If they said it WAS off a 955 they probably purposely mislead you. If that's the case they should pay some of your fuel costs to return it. Always good to look at your existing bucket/machine and take some measurements so you can be sure attachments will fit. It can be made to fit but will cost some to do. Maybe you could cut the ears off your existing side dump bucket and adapt them to the new bucket??? This would save some money and the side dump isn't really desirable for anyone.
Just run the machine up against something that won't move and push a little, then lock the brakes and measure between pitches on the bottom side of the track. It should be tight if you spun the track a little. The hanging track on the topside between the carrier rolls and the front idler can usually be considered tight as well, although it isn't exactly straight it is prob'ly "close 'nuff". Jon.
man you guys have really diagnosed this from one weak photo? That's impressive!!
Well it took me ages to get the seals done on the lift cylinders - mostly because I got distracted by too many other projects over the summer. I'm glad to say that they are finally done and no leaks. I had to get the nut removed (and retightened) at a machine shop. I tried the methods shown in previous posts but it wouldn't budge. They needed a torque multiplier to get it off. The snow started pretty early this year and I got to try out the machine to clear our driveway a couple of times. I haven't driven the machine before so not really sure what to expect. The control lever for the lift is much stiffer than the tilt - is this an adjustment? We had another dump of snow last night. It started up fine with the new battery that I'd just installed. The bucket lifts and tilts BUT the machine won't move. Arghh. I didn't notice anything strange when I last used it. I looked in the manual and it said to check transmission oil. Under the floor pan in front of the seat there are 2 filler caps with dipsticks. It looks slightly different in the manual that I have. The back one is full but looks milky (water in the oil?). The front one is empty. I think this one is the transmission. Could it being empty cause the lack of movement? I believe I need 10W oil (potentially quite a lot of it). Before I make the trip into town (90 min drive) I thought I'd check for advice in case I should check anything else. Thank you
I suppose the first question is do you have the correct manual corresponding to your machine Serial Number.? You should have Publication Reference SEBU6520 which covers machines in the Serial Number range 85J3651-10128. If you want to get hold of a copy it can be downloaded from https://catpublications.com/ for $30. Just search for SEBU6520.
Yes, I purchased that one already.
So the filler on the RH side of your photo is the transmission filler. The one on the LH side is for the steering clutch and bevel gear compartment. You can confirm that if you follow the tubes below the fillers you'll see the one for the transmission goes pretty much straight down and the one for the bevel gear compartment cranks off at 45 deg and heads somewhat in the direction of the rear of the machine. For the transmission in your climate the oil is an SAE10W that at least meets Cat TO-2 specification. You might not be able to find TO-2 but the newer TO-4 specification will work just as well. You could also use a multigrade SAE10W/30 TO-4 oil that was not even invented when your tractor was built. The Cat oil is called TDTO-TMS but all oil companies make an equivalent. That oil covers an ambient temperature operating range of -20 to +40C. https://www.petersoncat.com/sites/cat/files/downloads/Cat TDTO-TMS.pdf
This is a picture from that manual
Thanks for the advice on the oil. I'll see what I can find. Is it possible that topping up the transmission oil will fix the problem?
Topping up the oil is what you should do as a start. The final level should be checked with the engine idling and the transmission in neutral. I assume that you checked the transmission oil level the last time you used the machine.? When you last used it you didn't leave a pool of oil on the ground (or in the belly guard) by any chance did you.?
Ah. That's the older setup in your photo with the separate dipstick and filler cap instead of them both being in one assembly. I can understand your confusion.
Your machine isn't by chance frozen to the ground is it? Parking up on rock or some pieces of firewood keeps it free when it's wet during freezing times. Then again I imagine it's all frozen up like a rock up there! Cheers
Sometimes it doesn't take much for tracks to freeze to the ground.
My wife went into town with your message in hand... unfortunately the guys at the shop sent her home with 10W engine oil . After another trip into town I finally came home with some TO-2 spec oil. It took almost 3 pails of oil (about 55L) to bring the level to correct on the dipstick with engine warm and transmission in neutral. But the manual says it only needs 34L!! Where did it all go? It's not pouring out the bottom. It looks like there may be a small leak but it's hard to see with snow melting off it too. I was able to engage the transmission into both forward and reverse and plowed one track down the driveway (100m). But as I tried to reverse it wouldn't move again. I put both feet on the brakes and engaged a gear but when I removed the brakes it went nowhere. Sometimes it wouldn't stay in the selected gear - it just sprang back to neutral. I was stuck across the bottom of the driveway blocking the access. As you can imagine my wife was less than thrilled! I turned off the machine to hear her "advice". When I restarted the machine I played around with engaging gears and after many attempts I was able to start one track moving and then both of them. I reversed up the driveway and parked it out of the way before I got in any more trouble. I rechecked the oil and it's at the bottom of the dipstick. Again, I checked underneath and there's not exactly a flood of oil coming out. Maybe a small drip from one of the bolts at the back of the transmission. There was however quite a bit of oil under the floor compartment. I spilled a bit when filling but is it possible that oil is spraying up though the filler tube? The filler cap doesn't screw in very well. I need to go and buy some more oil. But first I need to find out where it's leaking. I agree that it's possible that the tracks are freezing to the ground. In the fall I removed the cover plates over the track adjusters (to check if there was adjustment left). The bolts were broken and a previous owner had tack-welded them on. I didn't get those back on before the snow arrived. Is it possible that the accumulated snow is freezing the tracks there too? Thanks again
I rechecked the oil levels with the machine off (and cold). The transmission level is now below minimum on the dipstick and the bevel gear level is way up - almost up the entire fill tube.
It appears as though a transmission removal is in your future.
Yikes! That sounds like it's beyond my facilities, budget, and possibly my skill level!!! I found a post on another forum that described similar problems. Their suggestions were... "you may get away with just cleaning the steering suction screen. The seal in the back of the trans pump is facing the steering pump and if the screen gets clogged it can easily draw oil through it into the steering. The screen is under a plate with ontop of the steering clutch case beside the suction line for the steering pump" "You usually get this problem when the seal on the input shaft of the steering booster pump fails,the steering pump is mounted on the front of the torque convertor housing,it is the pump with two external pipes attached to it,if the seal fails it sucks in oil from the transmissiom rather than from the back end,you will need to replace or repair the pump,drain the oil,clean the suction screen and fit a new filter." Is this feasible? Thanks again.
@tctractors is the man to give you good advice on that.
Thanks Nige. I sent him a message.
Jacr,my wife is also abit ‘unsupportive’in my quest to acquire anymore ‘marriage ending heaps of sh#t’ (in her words)to my collection. Years ago,I took the the advice of TC Tractors,and sold all the older D8’s and their baggage. I’m still married……
Well, I'm quite familiar with your fluid level problems. Transmission oil is transferring to the bevel gear case. Sounds like yours is doing it at an alarming rate. Mine was doing it at a decent rate, and it seems to be a common issue with worn out old 955s. I went and looked at a 955 for a friend two summers ago and it was doing the same thing. Check out the last post in my thread here: HeavyEquipmentForums Some general knowledge: the 955L engine is coupled to the transmission via a shaft with flexible coupling. The transmission is directly coupled and bolted to the bevel gear case. The bevel gear case is your "rear differential" and contains your brakes and clutches. On each side of the bevel gear case are the final drives. The brakes are mechanically manipulated, the clutches have hydraulic boosters which are activated by the pedal linkage. So you have pressurized hydraulics in the transmission and in the bevel gear case. From the view of sitting in the operator seat, the hydraulic pump is located on the front left upper area of the transmission. Going down the left side of the transmission you have the transmission screen and transmission filter. Behind and below those are the transmission pump and PIGGYBACKED on it is the steering clutch pump. This is where the problem lies. The transmission pump drives the steering pump with a common shaft, and when things get worn the transmission pump will transfer fluid into the steering pump. First you should remove, inspect, and clean the steering gear screen. It is located on top of the bevel gear housing, left side, low and behind the transmission. Not fun to deal with. If this is plugged up it could be increasing the transfer of fluid. Also, replace the steering clutch filter that is located directly under the seat on top of the bevel gear housing. Also, replace the transmission filter and the clean the transmission screen. Now, if you can slow that fluid transfer, you can do another trick I did for awhile. That would be manually moving the fluid from the gear case back to the transmission. I did this with a cordless drill driving a fluid transfer gear pump. Slide the suction hose down the filler tube for the bevel case and pump the fluid into the transmission. Go work the machine awhile, then repeat as needed. Mark the suction hose so it is inserted down the fill tube to the proper level. That way when it stops sucking the level is correct. If you want to fix the problem, you're going to need to replace the transmission pump, maybe the steering pump, along with a bunch of o-rings and seals you will encounter. I went aftermarket on the transmission pump to save money and so far I have not regretted it. Most likely, you will find your lack of transmission response is also solved when you replace the pump, as I did. Your transmission is dependent on hydraulic pressure to function properly. Mine was also sluggish or non-responsive at times. You will need to drop the main pan under the transmission and work on this from above and from below. I've worked on a lot of stuff, and this was one of the hardest jobs I've ever tackled. The parts you're working on aren't big, but they are just insanely difficult to get to. I also removed a lot of lines that were leaking at connections and replaced seals to reduce leaks. You won't get them all, but you can get a lot of leaks fixed with just an o-ring or gasket. One of my major leaks was the transmission input shaft, so give that a close look. That repair was a bit more involved. You will need the correct part book for your machine to look up seals and other parts. The service manual will also be handy to have. Again, it needs to be the right one for your machine. Regarding your stuff control lever, they should feel the same. A mechanical linkage joint is probably in need of attention. You can try spraying the connections with Kroil, but I replaced a lot of my rod ends and disassembled/cleaned/lubricated the pivot points. Excess slop in the transmission linkage can also contribute to the machine not going into gear. Those pivot points and rod ends were in really bad shape on my machine and caused me some shifting issues. The pivot points on top of the transmission, one at the front of the top cover plate and one at the back, are critical and needed the most attention. If the front one has a lot of play in the shaft where it enters the top of the transmission, I "fixed" this by welding a heavy washer to the top of the housing around the shaft to hold it in place, as replacing the internal bushing is next level. So with the floor pans removed, move the linkage around and see what has slop. Your service manual will give linkage adjustment measurements too. Add this to your maintenance to do list too: adjust the pedal linkage and brakes per the manual. This will make sure your clutches and brakes are working as intended. I was in your exact same shoes not long ago, in terms of knowledge and experience. Between forums and the manuals I got it done. My 955L has thrown other repair challenges at me, this past fall was really interesting, but the machine lives on. And my significant other is getting her dream horse farm built slowly but surely.
This - in spades ^^^^^^^^^^^
I'd love to hear if you made any progress on fixing your machine