Looking at a '41 T9 crawler

[Coyote Crossing 3]

I looked at a T9 crawler with a Carco winch, no blade.  The guy has had it since 1985 and replaced the head and nothing else.  The pins and bushing are passed the point where they should have been turned or replaced but not worn through.  The tracks are too tight.  The rails, rollers and idlers look good but the drive sprocket is well worn.  The covers were off the steering clutches and the left seems to be sticking a little.  The left steer brake look bearly used and the pedal doesn't seem to active the brake.  The right steering brake is well worn.  There were signs of oil on the inside of the clutch housing.  There was very little oil in the transmission.  The guy's brother said it was driven from the farm to its present location a couple of weeks ago.  I'm going to back when the owners is there and drive it.  He's asking $2800 which I think is a high considering the cost of turning the pins and bushings and possibly replacing bearing and seals to the steering clutches.  How hard is it to replace the bearings and bushings.  It looks like the sterring clutches have to come out the bottom (no fun).  I've done clutches and brakes on a IH 500.  What would be a fair offer?

[supermechanic 129]

 It is already at scrap price,( at least here on the East coast ).

I don't believe you will be able to do much better.

[ray54 848]

Dang I am  really getting cheated if 2800 is crap price where you are. It only weights about 5 ton. More crawlers out here but a friend has been trying to sell a running  TD9 and has had no bits. 

[Coyote Crossing 3]

Scrap prices here in Wisconsin are not that high.  I would quess less than a $1000.  I'm concerned about the missing transmission oil.  Where did it go?

[hardtail 778]

The ag crawlers usually had advanced wear on one side from always turning the same direction, with the winch this may have been a skidder cat?, there was a post recently that found the manufacturer that is still selling the weld on sprocket replacements, for the chains you may need to find better used or I guess could try and find p and b, don’t know how many track shops are even left anymore, the steering clutches all come out from the top side, once you get the deck plate off you might get a better idea where the transmission lube has gone

[mike newman 2,675]

........be an excellent  ''project ''   machine......having not had tons of pig iron masquerading  as a  ''bull dozer''    attachment makes it  well worth the effort of breathing fresh life into it...

Check   out "Impulsive  purchase  T 9".....on the Projects and Restoration site  (page #2)

Where did the trans oil go ??..you ask.....good question....however the options  for the oil ''leaving ship '' are limited....If' by passing'  various seals is the answer..it should be obvious, ..however i doubt ..in my opinion ....that it is a game breaker..... The beauty of this tractor is the petrol engine.....none of the vagaries ...or expense, of the diesel  engine to do battle with.....

Mike

 

[Coyote Crossing 3]

Thanks. Hardtail and Mike.  I like the gas engine.  I'm thinking they never added oil to the tranny.  What is strange is they owned a tractor sales and repair business, be it, farm tractors.  They don't have any manuals.  I beleve it was stored indoors, so the fact that the covers are off the steering clutches may not be a problem.  I'll see what the owner says when I go to drive it.

[Tanker916 4]

You have no idea how happy you have made me.  I saw the same add and sent the guy a message that if he doesn't sell it in a few months to not scrap it, and to let me know and I would take it off his hands.  Where you able to verify the "its a army crawler" claim?

[Coyote Crossing 3]

I'll go back down this week when he is there, so I can drive it and check the bottom sprockets.  I'll look for the brass tag on the firewall which army crawlers should have.  I have a list of questions for him.  The rails, rollers and idlers look good but the bushings are well worn but not through to the pin.  Would it be worth having them turned?  I can get a picture when I go to see it.

[hardtail 778]

I think there is a link at top to U/C measurements, not really enough detail in pic to evaluate, track pads look very good as does front idler, rails look a bit worn down but hard to say, sprocket looks like some root wear and tips are getting pointy again hard to determine, MB Cat made a horizontal track press and said IH those sizes weren’t crazy pressures to push so if the pins aren’t bad you could rotate them hopefully there isn’t a lot of internal wear, doesn’t look like the pin bosses are worn so you bottom rollers could be good

[tuscarora trader 1]

hi all last I was to scrap yard mid sept. price of short steel was72 per 2200 wt not good I didn't ever ask bulk. that was in Binghamton N.Y                             Tuscarora trader

[Coyote Crossing 3]

Ok.  I went back to check out the '41 T9.  It started easily, smoked but then ran clean.  I drove it a little.  The right steering clutch was stuck.  Both steering brakes worked.  The main clutch was good.  The transmission oil looks to have leaked out the back under the winch.  I did measurements on the undercarriage.  The links, idlers and rollers were good (50% or better).  The track pins & bushings were at 0% and the sprockets were well worn.  I didn't run the winch but all levers worked freely.  It was a military crawler according to the serial number--ended in T4.  He had a offer of $1500 and I took him he should have taken--maybe he will.  I was not willing to pay that much.  I would want to totally fix it and I would then have 2 crawlers with a lot more money in them than they were worth.

[hardtail 778]

Didn’t sound all that bad, kind of have a soft spot for trying to keep the military ones out of the scrappers hands

[Coyote Crossing 3]

Hardtail, I'm getting up there in age and I not a big man so the heavy stuff is not as easy as it was when I was in my 50s or 60s.  I wanted it but couldn't see myself pulling another set of track and removing all pads and then putting everything.  I found sprockets but are pins and bushing available.  Pulling the winch to get at the oil leak was another issue I was not set up for.  I still have work to do on my IH 500, so I will work on that.

[hardtail 778]

I hear you on the aging and lifting...entering the work smarter phase of life now myself, pretty sure you would need to have the p&b made up or find some replacement chains, did he say what it was used for?

[Coyote Crossing 3]

He said it had been sitting in a shed for the last few years.  Before that they used it to skid trees out for firewood.  He said his brother throw a track of once and they had had removed the left steering clutch because it was stuck, cleaned off the rust and put it back with no new parts.  They bought it in 1985 in Illinois where it had been used in farming which is probably why the right steering brake is well worn and the left is like new.  I didn't like that the covers were off the steering clutches (he didn't know why) and there was very little oil in the transmission.  He deals in IH farm tractors and had owned an farm implement company.  I would have thought he would have checked all the fluids before he drove it from the farm to the implement lot.  I would have liked to have bought it but I guess I got cold feet.

[Stuffcollector 15]

That little T-9 Lived in my barn the last 10 years, The right clutch compartment was full of mouse nest.. I cleaned it out and filled with diesel years ago and never got to working on it. Pretty clear its a low hour machine.  Clean old crawler owned by honest and knowledgeable people. Hope that somebody has a need for it.