I am looking to pick up a 1970 500 that has 2 problems. It does have a 6-way blade with all grate chrome rods & seals, it was about 35 degree out and it started right up with no problem cold (my 97 7.3 diesel had problems starting this morning) so the engine should be good. When we where talking scrap price he seemed happy with that. Problems: 1. will not steer left? It will to forward & revers (has reverser), no problems going straight or pushing just the left clutch will not release. One thing I did notice is the little shaft of the right handle was loose to the point of if the lever was fully forward I could remove it without problem but that side works fine? The left side is tighter and there is not much play in the shaft and pulling the lever back does move the vertical shaft. The guy has had it for 3 years and the previous owner did track & clutch work to it but he does not know what was done - not mechanical at all. So is the left steering problem a full clutch/pressure plate replacement or is there something that needs to be adjusted? I did notice that when you pull the lever back it looks like it model 2 shafts, the shaft that it is on goes into a box on the side and the shaft mentioned above that has ball ends on it that does back to a vertical shaft (i am assuming this is the pickle fork shaft). So what is the side shaft or is the side shaft the problem? 2. the right side track was not tight and has slack in it but the left side was tight. After it was started and moved the play in the right side was gone. How do the track adjusters works? I was expecting a threaded rod with a nut to turn it but it does not exists? It has a chrome rode between the front pulley and a rectangular box? Is that a hydraulic cylinder? Questions: 1. How do I know how much life the track chain has in it? Can it go until the front idler is out of adjustment? Is their a spec sheet available with measurements? 2. How do I know how much life is left in the sprockets? Is their a spec sheet available with measurements? Run until the tracks will not stay on - then what? Do they make weld on replacements rings? Thanks.
I know this post is old, but in case you're still wondering, the IH500's have an issue with moisture collecting in the clutch/brake housing. There are drain plugs, but they often get missed. The housing can end up have full of water. The clutches are dry, so the plates will rust together with the drum when wet causing the clutch to not work. The linkages you see are the clutch and the brake. Pull the lever partway back and the clutch releases. Pull farther and it applies the brake. The vertical pivot shaft drives the clutch fork. There's a band brake around the clutch drum. Surprisingly you can do quite a bit of work with only one side steering. I did this for a while until i finally tore it down. Clutch plates and brake bands are available new if you search the web. All i did was clean mine up, sanded the disks, sandblasted the plates. I had the outside of the drums turned and put on new bands.
It sounds like you have a hydraulic track adjuster. Find the grease fitting on it, pump grease in with a grease gun to tighten. Hope this helps!