1970 John Deere 350B crawler tractor (dozer) steering cl

DannyD40 · Oct 29, 2023

Hello fellas I'm here in West Virginia, Im working on a 1970 John Deere 350b, dry steering clutches, here's what I'm kicking around in my head I have a lot of automotive mechanic experience so this is where I'm getting this idea from. I'm thinking about putting the drain plugs back in and I've rebuilt both sides of my steering clutches but I'm wondering if anyone has ever thought about or ever tried this and that's filling that compartment full of a cheap automatic transmission fluid for automobiles. I mean a atf is a detergent more than a lubricant, plus it's got anti rust and all kinds of friction additives, the fiber disks is a lot similar to that in a torque converter in a automotive automatic transmission and the rest of a auto trans the bands and disks. I'm thinking that it would work great, but I wanted to see if anyone had tried this or some constructive criticism on it as well. Thanks and God bless everyone.

DannyD40 · Oct 29, 2023

any insight at all on doing this anyone?

Jim.ME · Oct 30, 2023

(quoted from post at 21:14:27 10/29/23) any insight at all on doing this anyone?

Welcome to the forums. As a side note. In general, 15 minutes is a bit quick to expect an answer to a question posted on a forum. You may get more responses to this over the next several days or even weeks. It depends on who sees your questions and when they see it.

Not all frictions are the same. Are the frictions (clutch and brakes) compatible with ATF or will it break them down over time? The pressure plate may not provide enough compression to the clutch pack for use with such as ATF. The wet clutch JDs use hydraulicly applied pistons, not pressure plates.

I wouldn't try it. After about the 50 years these machines have been around, if that was a cure for steering clutch problems, it would seem like it would be a common fix recommendation, maybe even a service bulletin from JD. JMHO

The drain plugs should be in place at all times other than during a service procedure requiring their removal. They keep dirt, and moisture (if you run in wet conditions) out of the housing.

This post was edited by Jim.ME on 10/30/2023 at 04:45 am.

buzzinduzzin · Oct 30, 2023

google : Lavoy's Deere crawler site

AJ. · Oct 31, 2023

I agree with Jim.ME, most of the guys on here that are in the equipment repair spend our whole lives trying to keep any kind of oil or fluids away from both dry brake and clutch linings, have a wheel cylinder leaking on a wheel on your car equals no brake on that wheel, I would stick with what the designer put in, if everything is set up right the dry clutch lasts long enough but like everything it will need service every now and then.
AJ

AJ. · Oct 31, 2023

Sorry repeat post
AJ

This post was edited by AJ. on 11/03/2023 at 02:58 pm.

sms · Nov 1, 2023

I wouldn't! I have old JD crawlers with
dry clutches, never had a problem. They
sit for months sometimes but not for
years.

1970 John Deere 350B crawler tractor (dozer) steering cl

DannyD40

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DannyD40

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Jim.ME

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buzzinduzzin

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AJ.

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AJ.

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sms

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