977H Crawler

johnjbc · June 13, 2004, 05:15:38 AM

Have been wanting to build a pond and cut level benches for my cabin and saw shed. So when I saw a farm sale listing a 977H I though I would go have a look. ??? ???
Has some rough spots but the undercarriage isn't to bad, no wear on the pins and the sprockets don't have points. 8)
My brother works on heavy equipment and I have been picking his brain about what to look for. :P :P Hope he taught me well. :D
Now all I need to do is get it delivered and learn how to drive it, :P :P

Tom · June 13, 2004, 06:51:42 AM

Tracks are fun.

Patty · June 13, 2004, 06:56:10 AM

You got that at a Farm sale? Whoa! We don't have cool stuff like that at farms sales around here. We need one just like that only with a blade instead of a bucket.
Good luck with it. And HAVE FUN! 8)

Ed_K · June 13, 2004, 03:17:13 PM

Patty, went to a farm auction in Vt. yesterday, JD 450 D went for 27,5 . But everything was high

good for the farmer this time 8).

yieldmap · June 13, 2004, 09:28:31 PM

My neighbor has one. He's been digging a pond with a 225B and the 977. I've driven it a few times, pretty cool machine.

Don't let it fool you...that thing will lift a house. Don't expect to start it when it's very cold out. They don't like cold, cold weather.

johnjbc · June 20, 2004, 08:24:54 AM

The new toy has a name "Big Beaver". Real Beavers have a pond started and the tractor is to make it a little bigger hence the name.
Went to York and picked up Big Beaver from the sale site. Here is a picture of my little brother loading him on the trailer.

Little Brother Danny (my technical consultant on heavy equipment

This is me

We were going to take him directly to Beaver Camp but decided It would make sense to let him reside at my brothers until we get some welding done on the bucket and give him some exercise to make sure he is in top physical condition . That way he is closer to his ride.
Spent about an hour learning how to drive him and made a pretty good sized pile of dirt. (See picture) .

So far we have found an oil leak on the rear clutch, have a missing bucket tooth , and need to weld a new bucket brace on the side of the bucket.. Knock on wood.
The next step is to find where they hid the S/N and find a place that sells manuals.
John

Mark M · June 20, 2004, 09:47:42 AM

The serial number should be on the rear of the main frame. Usually the top left side (above the drawbar).

johnjbc · October 31, 2004, 08:35:16 PM

Saturday afternoon we finally finished the repairs to the 977H that I bought last June. Now known as "Big Beaver". I have been taking of Fridays and spending Friday and Saturday's at my brothers working on it. It felt really good to see it loaded on the trailer for delivery to camp.
Now we can clear a 2000' right away for electric service, dig a cabin foundation, level a spot for a sawmill shed, relocate 1 1/4 mi of road, and dig a pond.
Thought I would post some pictures I took during the repairs.

First we removed the bucket and rebuilt it with all new pins and bushings, replaced the side cutting edges, and replaced the bottom with 1/2 inch plate. The thousand pound of metal we added would of made a bood load for my Kubota.

Making new bushings for the bucket.

We had a leak in the right hand final drive. To get to it first we had to remove the track. Some one had used a blue wrench to removed the master link and had welded it back together. So the track had to go to the track shop for one new link.

Next we removed the track frame. Half of the bolts were missing or broken and someone had welded it in place

The oil leak ended up being loose tapered bearings. The manual called for 175 to 250 pounds on the end of a 5' spanner. After we put it backed together it still leaked and we could wiggle the sprocket with a pry bar. The fix was to back out one of the sprocket nuts so it hit the spanner and turned it with the engine. When the play was gone it was tight and quit leaking.

We had to drop the belly pans to replace track frame bolts and replace the oil drain doors

The belly pans were bent so we had to straighten them

We also had a bad leak from the hydraulic shift control that ended up being a stripped bolt. To get at it we had to remove the seat, batteries, seat frame, fuel tank (89gl.), hydraulic tank (34gl.), hydraulic hoses, and shift linkage. It took two days to get it all disconnected and two to put it back

It takes 205 quarts of oil to do an oil change, not counting 7 5gl. bucket of hydraulic fluid

FeltzE · November 01, 2004, 04:34:33 AM

I think your brother is related to my brother, My brother fixes heavy equip for a living If it moves he can fix it!

I've helped on a couple of jobs had a piece of a dozer fall on my foot once, fortunately the bones in the top of my foot prevented damage to that steel! Of course I needed a little medical help after that

That is going to be one nice machine after you get it all together! Those 977's are incredible machines, a lot of push power and a lot of breakaway lift power!.

If your going to work in soft areas with that machine I hope you have a winch and point to cable to because you don't have much float on the quarry tracks!

Oh I ment to say you got a terrible deal, but I'll trade you my AC 5050 farm tractor for it.... :D

Eric

Tom · November 01, 2004, 04:44:02 AM

Wow! Good post!

You are going to enjoy having your own heavy equipment.

My choice was a rubber tire back hoe and my neighbor's choice was a little case dozer. I think we are both a little jealous of the other at times

shopteacher · November 01, 2004, 07:14:56 AM

Wow, what a learning experience that must have been. Looks like you got yourself one lean, mean clearing machine there. You might want to buy a little stock in Shell Oil if you plan on changing oil very often. Nice going.

Buzz-sawyer · November 01, 2004, 07:46:52 AM

Ah the memories you stir up............Oh yea thats why my int T9 is sitting where I left it...........If the wheels are steel its a job to fix anything...........anybody want a dozer? :)

Gilman · November 01, 2004, 09:15:27 AM

Great post John, Thanks.

I really liked the stack of oil required.

Any details on that orange off road fork lift? Never seen one like that before.

johnjbc · November 01, 2004, 11:56:35 AM

Feltze
Thanks for the offer but really don't need a farm tractor. I plan to stay out of soft areas ??? but will have some short lengths of cable handy. I'm told that if you cable a 10" oak log about 10 feet long to the tracks you can back up and lift your self out of the mud.

Tom
I have a backhoe and they are very handy but couldn't cut into the slate rock very well. The layers run vertical so you can't get under it and peal it back.

Hoping this works better.

Gilman
It's a 1959 Lull. Has a Chrysler flat head 6 in it.

J_T · November 01, 2004, 02:17:23 PM

John unless you have done that pole trick it can get bad fast :'( We used link chain that would hook on the outher link just stout enough to hold everything in place the pole not over stout either .Then when you move and it comes up under the belley it will snap apart and you are free or farther back we hope . We got stuck once in a pond and slid a rail off and looking like rain. ;D

OneWithWood · November 02, 2004, 07:58:24 AM

the fun is just beginning

You haven't lived until you drop a track at the bottom of the pond just as the rain is starting

Gives a whole new meaning to slinging mud ;D

johnjbc · April 14, 2005, 03:09:55 PM

OneWithWood
I wish you wouldn't make predictions like that. >:( >:( They have a way of coming true.
But first. Now that the weather has warmed up and my camera is working here are some pictures of what I have been doing with it. The next 6 pictures are of clearing 2000' X 50' right of way to bring in power.

This was taken from the Camp end looking down across the first valley and up the first ridge
This is the first 325 ' of about 2000'

This view is looking back toward where the first picture was taken from.
Shows how steep the hills are.

This is the next section running along the top of the ridge

Logs that still need to be cleaned up

More logs

22" white Pine that I pushed a little to hard :D :D

Now for OneWithWood's prediction – The last ¼ mile of our lane is down along the creek and it washed out 3 times last year. So the plan is to cut in a new road about 50 yards up the side of the valley. Got about 100 yards open and one of the 2 ½" loader pins broke. Last weekend I took the new pin out and installed it. And got all but 50 yards open when the track came off.

The next 2 will give you an idea of where it is setting.

Will be making another post about the old airport gas tank that I couldn't use Big Beaver to unload.(24' X 6') And how/if I get the track back on :

.

beenthere · April 14, 2005, 04:37:14 PM

John
Sure don't envy you the task of getting that track back on, and will be real interested in how it goes for you, and what scheme you use to go about it.

I recall walking off the track (my buddy wanted to run it!) of my small 420 Deere crawler, while it was sitting pointed down a steep hill deep in the woods, and a big snowstorm was in its initial stages. And that was no picnic, but not near the massive size of your Cat (if that is a 'feral' cat, maybe shooting at it will help

). Hope you can get close to it with a tool carrier, so carrying all that support equipment is a bit easier.

Wish you good luck with the fixin'

FeltzE · April 14, 2005, 06:21:40 PM

At least your not in the MUD!!! :

Eric

firtol88 · April 14, 2005, 07:28:36 PM

Funny thread I started out Jealous and now I feel for ya. Here's to hopin I'm back to jealous real soon. ;D

woodhick · April 14, 2005, 07:59:24 PM

My uncle a few years back had a older D6 cat with a cable blade. Now he loves to work on these things but he is no operator. He was cutting a road around his farm on the hillside. Run one track off and trying to "play" operator and run it back on he slid the dozer off the road over the hill into a 20" poplar and knocked the other track off!! >:(

So he calls ma and says could you help me for about 30 minutes! 7 hours later tracks back on and runnign again.
;D Good luck and be carefull because I have seen blocks fly out from under these things with some pretty amazing force when something shifts a little.

Quartlow · April 14, 2005, 09:06:43 PM

Looking at that spun track makes me glad I have a little 500c IH , but its still a lot of fun even when its buried to the top of the tracks :

Good thing the 4520 JD is darn double its weight ;D

OneWithWood · April 15, 2005, 09:40:39 AM

John,
This is all good experience. You will get better at it every time you do it. :-\
Throwing pins and dropping tracks has become a way of life with my JD450C. If I wasn't so cheap I would replace the badly worn chain ( and if I could find 14" grouser tread so I would not have to dismantle the current ones ). One trick that has helped me a lot is to place a chunkj of blocking between the bucket and the front idler. Use the hydraulics on the bucket to collapse the tensioner to its min point, that will help a bunch when you lever the chain over the idler. If all esle fails or you threw a pin, you can use a winch on the tractor or truck to pull the track tight to slide the pin in. If possible I use the rear sprocket as a jig to line up the track and place a couple bar clamps accross the tread to line up the eyes of the chain so the pin just slips in. Of course the grouser tread gives me something to grab with the clamps. Not sure how to do it on your flat tread.
My earlier comment about throwing a track at the bottom of a freshly deepened pond actually happened to me. I got it together and out just before we had a gully washer of a storm

Goodl luck, and be careful. ;)

Corley5 · April 15, 2005, 10:46:19 AM

And I worry about throwing a track on our little JD MC :

Good luck with it. Everything on that machine looks heavy

junkyard · April 16, 2005, 07:29:09 PM

Corly5
Horay for the MC. Lots of guts plenty of power for the size of the blade, but light enough that the old 8N will help it out of most problems. If not the neighbors big 4 wheel drive JD with loader can pick them up and carry them out. MC is a 1948 and 8N is 1952 both work like they were ment to.
Junkyard