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317 Clunker- Help! Crawler Build

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317 hydrostatic
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15K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  superspeedex  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hello all-

I am new to this forum. I build mini dozers and this winter, I am converting a 1982 317 to a mini track dozer.

I bought a 317 that had a fist sized hole in the crank case, for the hydrostatic trans and hydraulic outputs up front for the blade.

I put a JB weld patch over the hole and ran it around for a few minutes today to test the hydro and it worked fine in forward, but surged badly in reverse. I added a quart of F-type trans fluid before the maiden jaunt, but it was low again when I returned a few minutes later. I fillid it to the midway point on the sight tube again, and the same thing happened. I added another quart all together and it still surges in reverse.

I am a little surprised that it worked so well in forward, being so low on fluid. It isn't leaking out on the floor, so I guess it was just low?????

Any help appreciated!

Thanks!
 
#4 ·
Those hydros are vented and even if everything is clean they don't vent fast enough to allow you to fill them in one shot. I just refilled mine and it did the same thing. it usually takes about 3 fills to get it to a stable point. For the shuddering look at the linkage. If there is a lot of slack in it anywhere it can show up as jerky motion. Go to JDParts.com and do a model search for 317. The linkage is a bit of a contraption but if you follow it through from the lever to the trans and look for slack. There is a damper in there that could be a problem as well. It looks like a small shock.
 
#7 ·
Hi All,

Finally got the 317 stripped down to the frame and cleaned up enough to start mocking up the pieces that I have.

In these pics, I am just trying to determine what size the rear sprocket should be to clear the body pan. I traveled to Ohio to

buy the rubber tracks and now I am trying to find a way to get the sprockets designed\built or bought. Without knowing what the

tracks are designed for (brand, model, excavator? bobcat? etc) it is proving difficult to find the proper sprockets.

I am looking for a 17 series II or 18 Magnum and a 4-way hydraulic plow to complete the hardware needed.

I will post more pics when progress has been made.

Larry
 

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#14 ·
That looks great. Thanks for the update and the pictures. I guess you will be using the dual rear brake setup for turning. The stock setup actually puts a fair amount of power on the non driven wheel. I don't think it was called a limited slip but IME if you are spinning in sand it will spin the non driven wheel a fair bit.
 
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#15 ·
Just stumbled across this thread, cool build. I also liked the little tracked GT's seems like a cool project.

I've been to Holland a couple times, my employeer used to have a plant up on Douglas Ave.
 
#16 ·
Here is a photo of the 317 Crawler undercariage. Next will be alternative braking system via control levers (or?) vs pedals. I was thinking about trying to incorporate hydraulic brake activation, but it seems more complicated and exensive than the mechanical linkages.
 

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#18 ·
Hello All,

Hope everyone is warm and has a snow removal machine!

Finally got both tracks and undercarriages mounted. Now working on raising the body pan and mounting the seat so I can climb on to tell where/how brake pedals can function.

Here are a couple of photos-
 

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