D-17 lever question

So I have a D-17 series 1 that has a lever on the torque tube below the gas tank. I cannot move it by hand and also looks like it is missing some linkage parts. Just taking an educated guess I figure it would be for the belt pulley if it had one correct??

Correct.

So should I still be able to move that lever with the delete plate on it or is it locked in place because it has the delete plate on it?? I know if I ever found a belt pulley set up for it and it did not cost an arm and leg I would probably install it just because it could have had one

I'm sure after 50 years of not ever moving, it's pretty stiff. I'm sure you can put a crescent wrench on it for leverage, but remember the teeth have to line up inside for full stroke to occur. Try to engage it with the engine idling slowly.

I assume the clutch needs to be depressed first, correct?
AaronSEIA

If the belt pulley was actually installed on it, yes.

I don"t think I"ve ever seen a D17 with the belt pulley...even at shows. They are pretty rare. During the D17 production years, farmers were phasing out of belt driven machines, in favor of pto driven. Smaller tractors would have been used on the belt work, like a silage blower, while the D17 would have been put on the chopper.

I've seen a couple of them. I think on a D14 and a D17. At least one of them had the control rod w/knob which comes back through the dash.

I would think so since it is behind the clutch in the system. But since it does not have the belt pulley on it that is just an educated guess

Years ago, I had a D 17 and a D 14. I swapped the pulley form the D 14 to the D 17 along with the pullout lever to engage and disengage it. It was a perfect fit and yes you have to depress the clutch to engage the pulley. I still have the D 17 but seldom use the pulley option but still could use it on my buzz saw. Pulley use is pretty much a thing of the past though.

George

Didn't realize you had a 17, congrats on getting that. I just bought one myself last week. It's a 17D with a very tired engine, but excellent sheet metal and drive train.

I just went up to the shop reopened the Belt Pulley case on my D14 so I can give you some pictures to fill in what the responses mean. I needed it open anyway since I'll be installing one soon.

The bevel gear inside has indentations for the protrusions coming out of the shift collar, it spins freely on the shaft, the first picture shows that:


If they are lined up, it will slide right in. Second picture was after engaging it. Sorry about the quality, I tried to use the endoscopic camera to get a close in, the quality is bad, but you can see the collar is fully engaged with the gear.


I have the case open so I can spin the bevel gear and line it up. If the case wasn't open, I'd only be able to shift it if it happened to be lined up, which it wasn't when I first opened the case. Here it is misaligned.


If it is misaligned you can get a tiny fraction of an inch of movement, but it doesn't help even then to put pressure on it because then the gear will just spin in unison with the shift collar (I was rotating mine by hand because the engine is currently out). When it's aligned, here are some pictures of how much travel the arm has from disengaged (toward the camera) to engaged (away from the camera).





Here's the entire assembly showing the shift lever shaft, collar and bevel. To the right is the toward the clutch and engine.



The idea presented of trying it at idle seems like a good one. The gear should remain stationary from the drag from the fluid and let you find a spot where it lines up.

I was thinking like you about this. I just wanted a belt pulley even though there isn't much use. It adds interest for people viewing the machine. Here is the one I picked up last week.

I forgot to mention a crucial point about having the belt pulley installed. It's easy to line up and have the dogs fall into place when the pulley is mounted, because that bevel can no longer spin with the shaft or with the collar.

Ya I have had this D-17 for around 10 years or so. We pulled it out of a fence line. When I got it the cylinders seemed to have mouse nests in them. I filled the cylinders with ATF and spun it over and had grass straw etc. come out with the ATF. The old thing now runs very well but looks like it was in a fire. Sheet metal is bent up and ugly but it sure does run and drive well other then a power steering leak if has which I have never figured out