Can you help me out with this serial number 45V90547 Would like to know year made, and anything else. Dozer will be auctioned soon. Also if anyone has any resources for a novice to be able to look at these things and kind of tell what is going on, what to look for. The tracks look new on it but I don't know what I should be looking for as far as the undercarriage and etc.
That's the engine Serial Number. The tractor S/N is 5KG01514, built June 1990. Post more photos of the undercarriage from close up.
The cover(s) for the track springs missing is a bit of a red flag but not a deal breaker. Track looks a little tight. Overall it doesn't look too bad but hard to know how the drive train is without running it.
Left side undercarriage...
Right side undercarriage....
The tracks are extremely tight which is usually done as a trick by sellers to keep the tractor from throwing a track when the undercarriage is badly worn. Strangely the U/C on this tractor doesn't look that bad from the distance the photos were taken. Close-up photos might reveal a different story but certainly the sprockets and idlers look in quite reasonable condition, and the link pin bosses are nowhere near the track rollers, another good sign.
Pictures of the blade...What should I do, doesn't look safe to operate like this?
What do you think?
I need a service manual for this 1990 D3C.
The right side sprocket segments look new. Rails appear to have a decent height. Need some pics of the bushings that ride in the sprockets. It's possible they may be tight because the owner thought it might look better than loose tracks. Still odd the covers are missing.
Here is a pic of the bushings. Does this track adjuster look beyond saving? There are no covers I think because the things they attach to are so far gone/rusted. Today I removed a hydraulic hose that had been secured with a ring clamp. I think 17k was probably too much to pay for this.
Track adjuster might be OK, need to clean it up. The rod through the spring isn't a big deal as long as the spring is mounted. It's for holding the spring under tension to install it. Bushings have some wear. What side is the pic from? It looks like the left side rails and sprocket segments may have been replaced already. They appear is better condition than the right side. You might see if a track shop could do a bushing turn but most don't anymore. Users just run them to destruction. If you stay out of 3rd gear the undercarriage could last quite a while. Just don't tighten the tracks like piano wire. $17K might not be too bad depending on the rest of the machine. Since covid the prices for everything have gone sky high so used equipment is going the same direction.
Thanks for your comments. Left side bushings pictured below on the left, right side on the right. I was able to relax the tracks. I'm attending to all the fluids, which were low except for the oil. The oil was massively overfilled, I drained it and put in new oil, only 11.4 liters, (the manual says 12 liters) but it was too much again, an inch above the mark which is above the H mark. (used Shell Rotella 15w-40 full synthetic) Hydraulic fluid took 5 gallons and needs more. I think I should have drained it, I'll do that next time. Can I use the cheap ISO 46 or do I have to get the ISO 68? Transmission fluid - I ordered some TO-4 SAE 50 from Oreilly, but do I really have to or will some Universal transmission fluid or some other type from Tractor Supply work? (it started to dawn on me how expensive the fluids are going to get if I use what the manual calls for.) Bevel gear oil - needs some, thinking of just putting some cheaper SAE 50 in there. Final gear oil - have to figure this out. Brake fluid - have to figure this out. Grease - Manual calls for 3-5% molybdenum disulfide grease. I got some, but I have a lot of lithium grease. I can't find any grease fittings except for the 2 on the track adjusters. Battery - I put in a LiFePO4 battery, hoping it will last 10 years.
Here are some more photos.....
The quantities listed in Manuals are always approximate and only intended to be a guideline. Always fill to the dipstick, sight glass, or level plug, whichever applies. Also carefully note the conditions under which oil levels should be checked. For example the transmission will be checked with all machine systems at normal operating temperature and the engine idling with the transmission in neutral.
The bushings and track links in your photos are all well-worn, as are the track rollers and carrier rollers.
Using quality lubricants and filters is the cheapest insurance policy you can ever buy for a machine. Don't buy anything that contains the words "universal, tractor, or farm" in either the name of the product or of the store selling it, otherwise known as Joe Blow's Gas & Groceries. This is what should go in the various compartments based on your geographic location. Transmission - SAE30 TO-4 Hydraulic System - SAE10W hydraulic Differential, bevel gears, & final drives - SAE50 TO-4. ***...?
The manual mentions "steering clutch/brake fluid" for example: "Oil Cooled Steering Brake/Clutch Compartment (If Equipped) - Check CD Oil Level" So I was thinking it might have a place to put brake fluid, I don't know, but after more scrutiny I think the steering clutch may be contained in the same place as the transmission winch, not sure.
I see that now. The manual covers a "multitude of sins" some of which your tractor won't be equipped with.
According to the chart I should use at least SAE40 TO-4 for the transmission. We are in Texas and the ambient temperature regularly exceeds 104 F here. Thanks for your advice on quality lubricants. I think the ISO 46 is similar to the ISO 68 that the manual calls for. At least in other threads, people are using the 46, which Tractor Supply sells cheaply. I found this info: "SAE 10W is equivalent to ISO 32, SAE 20 is equivalent to ISO 46 and 68"
My mistake, the manual doesn't call for ISO 68. I don't know where I got that, maybe an AI chatbot. Maybe the ISO 68 is for a newer generation of D3C.
I doubt it.....
You could use SAE50, but it will most likely slow down shift times and increase transmission clutch slip. If it was my machine the transmission would get SAE30, but it's not so use what you think is best. I suppose a bonus of using SAE50 would be that you would only need one grade of oil for the transmission and the rear end.
Well, I hope this isn't why the tracks were strung up like piano wire. I've priced the rollers and it looks like only about $2500 in total, but installation cost is unknown. Maybe we can just get by with what we have (need about 200 hours of use) if we stay out of 3rd gear. Just knocking down trees mainly, and clearing thickets of brush. Shouldn't be doing a lot of dirt moving. I don't know what is more difficult with respect to tracks that might want to jump off. Maybe just driving over rocks, which we have a lot of.
That is EXACTLY why they were strung up like piano wire, to stop them from derailing. Avoid brake-on hard turns to both sides in forward/reverse is the best suggestion.
The undercarriage will last longer than 200 hours. You might get 800 or more hours out of it if you're not traveling long distances in 3rd gear. Dig rocks out instead of driving on them. You'd need more than just rollers to fix the undercarriage but it has some life left. Run it to destruction or until the tracks are coming off on a regular basis that it gets annoying. It's annoying if they come off once though. I'd use 30wt in the trans. too. I highly doubt you're going to be doing the majority of your work in 100+F for hours on end. I'd guess the average temp. is exactly what 30wt. is recommended for. I'd use name brand TO-4 oil in the trans. The hyd's. aren't as fussy as the trans. so you don't need to use the most expensive TO-4 oil. A good AW32 or 10wt hyd. oil meeting the old TO-2 spec. should be sufficient.
Digging rocks out or moving them aside is not really an option. The whole area could be made into a limestone quarry. There is limestone bedrock virtually everywhere, here in the hill country of central Texas, with just a few inches of topsoil in most places. So really big ones, we can try to move those aside instead of driving over them, but for the most part we kind of have to ignore them. Now I could come along with a rock bucket on my skid steer and kind of clear the area first if I were really worried about it. Should I be really worried about it? I think if I start throwing tracks I'm just going to send the thing off to a track shop and get a bushing turn, or new bushings, and rollers..... what is most important? I knew before I bought it to budget for undercarriage work. I wonder what 12 rollers and a new set of bushings and the labor would cost. I'm guessing 10k? I am going to go with the TO-4 30 in the transmission as recommended. Tractor supply has some for $80 for 5 gallons. The brand is Ultra1Plus.
Very few shops do bushing turns any more especially on small machines. It's not cost effective with todays labor rates. If your pads are tight and can be reused you'd just need new bolts for them. Not worth trying to reuse them either. Your sprocket segments can probably be reused since it looks they were already changed or at least one side was. They're the least expensive part though. Your idlers can probably be reused but would be good to measure them and make sure they don't wobble side to side. I'm not sure what current prices are but I'd guess new rails to be a little under $2000 a side and bottom rollers to be around $200/ea. maybe a little less. I put SALT rails on mine because it was only about $300-$350 more. Top carrier rollers if needed are probably similar in cost or a little less than bottom rollers. It's worth paying a a few hundred bucks extra to have the track shop replace the pads in the track press. The correct bolt torque is very important and is done with the torque/turn method. A rough guesstimate for rollers and rails is $4000 per side just for the parts. If the track shop does it could be a couple thousand and who knows if they'll run into broken bolts or other issues. The easiest way to change rollers is to remove the track frames.
What if I overfilled the bevel gear oil? Final drive was full on right side and the left side needed 4 quarts (out of 8).
What do mean, "What if I overfilled the bevel gear oil"? If it's way overfull, take some oil out. A little overfull won't hurt but if it's leaking somewhere could be a big problem. If the oil level was down look for a leak(s) somewhere. Maybe from behind the sprocket hub?? Make sure it's not leaking into the steering clutch compartment(s). If you have square head bolts on the bottom of the machine (under the clutch compartments) surrounded by a round protector indicates you have dry brakes and steering clutches. You can take that bolt(s) out and see if there's oil and/or water in the clutch compartment(s). Some people leave them out but I don't think it's a good idea. They are support bolts for the brake bands. You put them just snug and then back off 1 1/2 turns. If your machine sits outside in the winter or during rains, it's not a bad idea to occasionally take the bolts out to drain any water that may have got in. The bolts could be rusted though so be careful taking them out. Use anti-seize when putting them back in. If you don't have those bolts means you have wet brakes which makes it more difficult to check for leaks into the clutch compartments. Taking the drain plugs out could indicate water in the compartments. If the oil level for wet brakes is too high would likely indicate a leak from somewhere. Low bevel gear case and overfull clutch compartment would be a good indicator of a leak. If trans. oil is low it's possible for the steering clutch slave cylinders or lines to leak inside the compartments.
Well, the Bevel Gear Oil level was low, not even registering on the dip stick, so I put in two quarts, and then it was high. Should have gone with 1 quart I guess, or half a quart at a time. Ran the dozer for a few hours today and it seemed to work OK at taking out some scrub brush, even knocked down a sturdy 10" live oak tree. Turning wasn't always great, it seems like it doesn't want to turn that well all of the time, you pull the brake lever and it turns ok in 1st gear but not that great or reliably in 2nd gear. Once I put it into 1st gear and then 2nd gear and it didn't do anything, but that problem didn't repeat. It has been raining like hell so I'll attempt this drainage. Thank you.
I thought it was 4 quarts over full. It has to be leaking to have been low though. Steering issues are most likely not related. Steering clutch valves under the seat would be the first things to check if it's hard to steer. The rollers on the valves can get flat spots and not allow the steering clutches to completely disengage. Lots of info if you do a search in the archives on here.
at the auction for a reason
Maybe it is going back to the auction, I am getting tired of fixing it. Now it seems to be having transmission problems. First gear is weak and second gear works better. Doesn't want to go into gear sometimes. I have been fixing various things. Today took off the starter solenoids and the alternator to get those replaced/rebuilt. Also have replaced the muffler and radiator hose. Leaks coming from various places. Engine sounds good.
OK so we replaced the starter solenoid and relay and that worked for about 2 starts and guess what? damn thing doesn't start with the button again, have to jump it post-to-post (on starter solenoid) to get it to start again. But that's the least of my problems. The steering seems to work pretty well again when the bevel gear oil gets low, is this my imagination? I was told there is an O ring to replace to fix the bevel gear oil leaking so fast. The transmission seems to be giving up. It doesn't want to go into 1st or 2nd Foward gears. It will go into 1st gear about 25% of the time and into second gear about 40% of the time, and often when it does go into these gear, it is hesitant to. Reverse gears are fine. The oil looks pretty black (yet clear). I have just figured out how to do a fluid change I think so as soon as I get my hands on a filter I'm going to do a fluid change and see if that helps at all. Do I need gaskets for a fluid change, or just undo the plugs and clear the screen, replace the plugs and replace the filter which is up top? Hmm seems like I should be able to find a procedure in the service manual. I hate that I'm forced to use the online manual, (especially because their SIS2GO app doesn't work on MacOS) wish I could get a proper PDF or printed manual. How bad is it, does it seem like I'm gonna need to rebuild? What do you think, seals or clutches or something else? I'm determined to rebuild it if necessary. What is the best way to remove it from the machine? I saw a youtube where a guy took the thing apart from the top, took the cab and everything apart, took him 2 days, then lifted it out, but it seems like taking it to a shop and having them remove it from the bottom might be easier. Then have the shop hand it over to me so I can rebuild.... doesn't look tooo hard to rebuild, maybe.
From the top. It won’t come out of the bottom AFAIK.
It's a little confusing with 2 threads about the transmission. I'm not too sure a shop would pull the engine and trans. and leave your machine in the yard while you attempted to rebuild the trans. by yourself, especially if they were busy. If there was a problem would they get blamed? In my opinion pulling the engine and trans. is the easy part. Properly rebuilding the trans., having never done it before, is where it might be better to have an experienced shop set up to do it rebuild it.
If it can only come out the top after disassembly of the cab, I don't want to pay a shop for all those hours anyway. It will take 2-3 days to take everything apart.
Having looked at the process quite frankly you're best pulling the whole unit and splitting it once it's out. Not saying it's impossible to do it any other way but it could end up costing you more in time by trying to save time if you get my drift. But that would all be after you have actually confirmed (see your other thread) you have a transmission problem.
This is getting confusing with 2 threads talking about the same thing. If the trans. comes out with the engine maybe the cab doesn't have to be removed?? I don't know if the seat frame and floor plates can be removed separately on a cabbed machine though. The trans. doesn't have to be lifted very much to slide out the front with the engine. The trans. mounts need to be removed to allow enough clearance but that's pretty easy.