Windolph Model C

This message is a reply to an archived post by Dana Hayman on March 13, 2012 at 10:35:51.
The original subject was "Windolph Model C".

I'm working on one of those too. It's a simple tractor, but parts are hard to find. I've made some of the front axel parts, found a source for some of the transmission parts, and am doing my best to muddle through without a manual. I've had to weld up the forks for the clutches, and though there was still material on the brake bands, had them re-lined. I'm not really "restoring" it, I'm fixing some issues before I put it to work.

Hows yours going?

I bought this tractor after looking for something in a similar size for years. I looked at the early Oliver/Cletrac's, Agricat, Windolph, and the modern Struck. I just couldn't spend the money for a Struck. I found this and looked at it, putted around the driveway, brought it home. I realized there was a steering problem pretty quick. After a week, I got it into the shop and proceded to remove just about everything. I had too, the entire drive train is spline shaft to spline shaft with couplings and one starts by removing the rear axel, after removing just about every thing else related to the tracks. Only the front axel and the engine remained. The engine runs fine, I'm not going to re-build it for giggles and grins. The front axel requires more than I want to commit right now as there are two good sized coil springs that require compression to remove, and that won't be fun. I came to the conclusion pretty quick that a good part of the steering problem was that at least one of the throw-out bearings was installed backwards. I went through the entire drive train replacing about half the bearings. I replaced the cluster gear of the transmission (a Crosley transmission, called a Borg Warner in some places, but nothing like anything I can find by that maker), rebuilt the PTO after cracking the case as I got clumsy and dropped it, and re-manufactured, or manufactured a bunch of parts. I'm so close. I've got the entire tractor together, with only the rails holding the return rollers, and the rollers themselves just finger tight. It has been a struggle without a manual. I've assembled and disassembled just about everything three to four times getting it right. And there is the "oh darn, that won't fit unless I take that back off" thing. Information on these tractors is impossible to find, but I think by the time I'm done I'll pretty much know the whole thing, learned by trial and error.