My uncle has an R4 that he is wanting to sell. I went and looked at it and he said everything works on it aside from a steering clutch that is stuck which i know worked about 5 yrs ago. The tractor is all complete with the 4 way manual adjust blade and hyster winch on the back. The only things it looks like it needed were the clutch unstuck, probably a new exhuast manifold which looks simple enough to make and some sheet metal work on the hood and maybe some tensioning on the tracks. My questions are what is the going price for something like this, how much does it weigh(I figure about 14k). I think the undercarriage is in good enough shape for what I intend to use it for. Also I searched this site for stuck clutch remedies on the r4 and didn't come up with much. I did find a bunch on the d4 which i would assume to be close. Would it be safe to assume that the clutches are accessable through the inspection plate under the seat or do the finals have to be removed to inspect and replace. The cat looks very much like the one on the link just not as pretty. Also I didn't get the serial number but the brass tag on the side indicated the year model of 43'.

www.antiquecaterpillar.net/ACF_v2/attach...p?attachmentid=13339

Somebody, anybody? All opinions are welcome.

I don't know about value, but your R4 will be the same as a D4 behind the engine. I believe the steering clutches come out the top of the housing together with the bevel gear shaft as an assembly. Better than the D2, but not as easy as the D6 on up.

Since you have a running tractor with one operating clutch, you can perhaps work it some to unstick the steering clutch. First thing is to adjust all the adjustment out of that steering clutch linkage so you don't have to hold it all the time. does the linkage move properly on that side? I believe there are some pivots top and bottom of the clutch release yokes that tend to rust up and lock up the yoke.

If you can at least get all the free travel out of it, then when you get in a good pull in low gear, pull both of the steering clutches back to apply all the power to that stuck clutch. Some recommend to ride that brake to warm up the clutches.

You can also try soaking with the remedy of your choice.

Good luck!

Thanks for the help. I think i will be getting it this saturday. I am also getting an international id-9 with it. The tractor needs work but i figure i can sell it or part it out and get some of the expense of the d4 back. he wants 3k which from the looks of it doesn't seem to be to bad of a price if i can get some of the money back out of the tractor that is coming with it.

After much stuggling we finally got it to run long enough to get it on the trailer. After i got it home and rolled it off the trailer i took off the carburetor and of course the inside of it looked like an artifact off the titanic. Once i cleaned it out and sandblasted and primed it, I put it back on and now it runs like a champ. Also it has an aftermarket electric fuel pump. Is this really needed? I have a couple questions though on the cable blade. For some reason when you crank the blade up in the air it will hold in neutral if you are moving but when you start driving it slips down. Is there and adjustment on the brake. Also there is a lever to my far right with a release that goes back to the winch. What is it for? I am sure I will have plenty more questions but that is it for now.

On my 1942 D4 one the of Steering clutches started sticking. I removed the seat and one of the pivot bearing was not turning ( worked more like a bushing). I put the diesel to it, worked it and let soak, repeat and repeat and everything works now.

I forgot to mention that when i started rinsing off all the dirt there is a lot of army green or olive drab paint on everything. There is all an SP on the engine serial tag and US7 stamped into the plate on the winch. Does this mean that it went over seas during the war? After looking at it washed off it appears someone welded a piece of angle to the nuts on the track adjusters to keep them from backing off. If I remove the angle how hard is it to tighten up the tracks and how tight do they need to be? I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow.

That's a nice one to fix up, Let, tilt/angle dozer and a towing winch with the LeT PCU on top to operate the dozer blade. There was a recent post on different models of LeT PCU's, regardless, they are kind of simple in principle of operation and require some adjusting, be easier to understand if someone had the LeT operation instruction manual for your or similar model. Some of the bearings require adjusting on most models, as well as the driving and driven type cone clutch and brake adjustments. At least on R models if you adjust the brake, (check to see if your brake band needs to be relined) you have to adjust the clutch after as it changes the position of the lever. The bearing adjustments on these, at least one keeps the cones from mis-aligning, it would be great if you could ID the model you have and see if someone has the manuals on it, they're really not that hard to work on, first time I ever adjusted one, few glances in the book and about 15 min later the blade stayed up! A lot of these PCU's are very similar inside in regards to the parts used.

US & - 7th fleet US Navy, and the Army Olive Drab paint should mean it was bought by the government under a purchase order for the US Navy. Ozdozer had just posted something on this.

SP = special parts, might just be different gear ratios in the trans or other obscure or minor differences.

Manual adjuster, hard to say without the book, but you may need to check to see that it has not been adjusted out to max, another one the book would be helpful for as you can measure to see how much adjustment is left. If they have not been used or lubed in awhile, you'll need to soak the threads, not sure if you can heat this part, but with some persistence they may free up, soak and clean any exposed threads. Track adjustment is usually 1 1/2 to 2" of free play between the bottom of the track link and the top of the carrier roller when pried up with a bar, if I am correct. You dont want em too tight, beyond this, if they are adjusted out to the max, and the 1 1/2"-2" is much greater, (check the book to confirm this dimension) you'll need to see if there is some work that can be done to the undercarriage, potentially building up the rails or something as this mean it's worn and without any adjustment they won't tighten up. Still might have enough life for what you are doing, but if they are loose beyond what is called for, stay straight, take gentle turns especially when on a slope, sidehill, uneven ground or in the mud, way back as a kid I helped put one track back on our D7, after it came off, tractor just came off of a slope into the mud.

You would benefit from having a serviceman's reference book,(srb) parts catalog and operators instructions. The track adjustment is shown, and also beware that the recoil spring is compressed and is dangerous if it has to be removed, though it should be plenty safe for adjusting track tension, I'm not sure what happens if you lose ( if that's possible) thread engagment of that adjuster, you may want to take a closer look and see what is going on there first, measure per the SRB and see what you have, those stops being on there might be for a reason.

War Department technical manual, TM5-..... (not sure what number for an R4) but one should exist because it was a military tractor, would be the most complete set of books for this tractor, it's bound into one book, and would cover the tractor, the Let PCU & Dozer Kit, as well as the Hyster towing winch, also operator instructions, SRB, and Parts Catalog, the one thing nice about military tractors, that is if you can find a copy of it, covers everything. They are difficult to find from my experience and many model makers have snagged these up. I've seen original ones for the military jeeps listed for as high as $250. National Archives/U.S. government printing office may be able to reproduce one of these technical manuals, but you may have better luck finding individual copies or seeing what the Cat Legendary Literature program has to offer for R4's.

Here are a few more pictures that I took yesterday after driving it up on to some telephone poles. I tried to do some blade work with it but realized quick that it is impossible with only one steering clutch. I took off the seat and all the linkage seems to be free. I was just wondering if the top plate is removable without removing the winch and the pcu.(Any tips or tricks would be helpful.) Also if I started taking this apart on a saturday morning any chance i could get it back together by sunday evening? Are there any special tools required? Also how can you tell if there is no more adjustment left in them? Also I tried pushing on a tree with the steering clutches pulled back and it didn't break free. Billy D7 4t thanks for all the info. I did find the track adjustment specs in the operators manual that I have. It does look like it is about out of adjustment so I probably will let alone until it gives me problems. From the sprocket picture i am sure someone can give me a wear estimate. I got to looking at the brake band for the pcu and it had just been relined and i noticed that the spring that engages the brake looked pretty stretched. Hopefully i can find a new one that will work.

That is a nice tractor, it's got some wear, but once you figure out the repairs, sure looks like a keeper ! There was an R4 just like that in the machinery trader with someone posing next to it within the past year. Being an R4 and early in this series along with RD's and early D4's, it ought to hold some value, nice complete tractor and it was a gov't purchase orginally in O.D. green, little history to go along with it, probably surplused, most put in service in theatres of war never made it back, so it may have been used stateside or assigned to another gov't agency, prior to surplus.

I don't know much about these, that steering clutch pack, you need to see what the book shows on it, make a copy and enlarge it, I find this can be helpful. Many people suggest soaking with diesel, kerosene, a solvent that wont' leave and oil residue and working the clutch as per what was mentioned, though I think they can swell or really bond tight to where you have to disassemble them, seems the D2's and D4's of those eras were prone to this when left idle and not under cover. On the D2's I believe you have to get into the finals to get at them, I'm really not qualified to cover that area of one of these. See if you can look in the SRB and or parts manual to get an idea of what it looks like, hopefully someone can advise you further, and maybe it's not so seized that soaking and working it will free it up, beware though once freed up, could happen again might want to make sure it's covered up and run more frequently.

This and any undercarriage is really hard to judge from photos, though you can measure it up and see what is worn to what extent, would be real nice if you had one of those track gauges, or could borrow one to see what's what, real easy to use. The sprocket is not worn to sharp points, and the pin bosses are not hitting the bottom rollers from what you can see here, so maybe you can turn the pins and bushings ( read up on undercarriages, terminology etc. not hard to understand at all ).

www.tractorparts.com/undercarriage.htm As the track chain slackens, the pin/bushing ride up further out of the root of the sprocket and wear it to sharp point if one does not do proper track maintenance to accomodate wear from useage as it wears. You can accelerate wear by not keeping it adjusted properly, having harsh operating habits, or not taking care of a loose track that requires more than an adjustment. If the track chain pin/bushing assembly is worn (outside only) you may be able to split the track, remove same, take to a track shop have em push out the pins and rotate P/B 180 deg to the unworn side, if there is one left. Internal wear is also a factor, not worth doing if the pins are worn out internally, might be best to install new pins and bushings, but only if the rails on the links are not wore beyond their limits, then it's time for a complete track chain. If the track links are not worn beyond allowable wear, and you have a turn left in those pin/bushings, and your bottom rollers, carrier rollers, front idler are all within wear limits a pin bushing turn would be worth doing, it will put the pin/bushing back into the root of the sprocket, and you'll be able to get some room back on that adjuster as the track will be tighter. Attached link might help with this part of it. Put it this way, the U/C does not look worn out, you may have a few moves left that will extend it's life well beyond the wear you will ever put on this tractor. Grousers are probably 50% worn by guessing from the photos. One thing is, you may have to work with what you have if there is nothing available for an R4 U/C, cross references over or can be modified to work like a D3 U/C for D2's. Might be a good idea to figure out your options if you plan to put some hours on it, see what can be done to extend the life of what's there.

That PCU, one thing to remember, when engaging the clutch to raise the blade, don't linger and slip the clutch, one steady motion and then apply the brake. Slippin those cones wil glaze em over from heat and or accelerate wear. It sounds like a brake/cltuch adjustment may do, but don't forget those bearing adjustments, would probably be the last time you ever have to deal with them, you don't want them sloppy and or misaligning the driven and driving cones, best case scenario, thoroughly check out that PCU when you have to time to go through it, for now brake and clutch adjstment might do, those cones have friction material, they are a wear item, not sure how hard it is to get the linings replaced in them, they are concentric, dog bowl shaped. Might be something simple like that spring, though mine cams over and locks the brake if you need to, the position before that, the spring may be important in relation to the adjustments, I made marks on my seat tank, per dimensions in the book to check the travel of the lever when adjusting.

Keep at er, nice one..... always wondered if these were cramped to operate, especially with the early fuel tank where it is, looks better than the ones with fender tanks, prior to the later seat tank models.