To get right into it, im new here, clearly, been lurking off and on for a few years. Anyone that was also on the Red Power forum back from about 2005 may recognize my name I was a regular over there until my time seemed to disappear.
Back in the last 60's my grandfather acquired a few pieces of equipment to build a trailer park out of an old swamp. among them was a 420C 4 roller dozer, a 1941 International TD14 dozer, a Hough HH loader, and a Case W3 backhoe. in 1991 (i was 2 years old) they sold the equipment. After many years of looking at photographs of myself and my father on the old machines I convinced my father and grandfather to track down the guy they sold the equipment to and see if its still there. Back in 2004 we found him, unfortunately the only thing he had left was the TD14, which at that time hadnt run in years and was in a few pieces. The John Deere had been sold off as a parts machine for a fella 5 hours away, the loader went as well as the backhoe. I bought the TD14 back from him in 2006 and have gotten it back into working condition. I also tracked down both the loader and the old backhoe, but have since lost track of them. Unfortunately the Deere is gone for good.
This brings us to why I am here. Yesterday I bought myself a 1956 420C 5 rollar dozer. Its not the same as dads but close enough to fill the void. It has been sitting for a number of years (5-6) with nothing on the exhaust and has unfortunately stuck. I pulled the head off today and was actually impressed at how good it looked. My TD14 head looked like the surface of the moon when I pulled it off so I was relieved to see much less corrosion on the little Deere. So as of right now it has been soaking all day in a 50/50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and Furnace Oil. I applied some vibration to the piston with an Air Descaler on a block of 4x4 cut to fit in the cylinder.
I have removed the starter and have attempted to free it with a bar on the flywheel with no luck as of yet, I realize this takes time and patients. So I am wondering what may be the best thing to try first to free it up? Can I damage it by giving it a little tug with another machine in gear? is the hammer and block going to be my best bet? I know my father sheared the shaft that runs from the engine to the trans off in his twice so I dont want to harm that.
also the left steering lever seems to be unhooked as the lever is very free feeling, and the previous owner told me the brake band is broken on that side. Other than that overall the machine isnt to bad looking. One sprocket is worn a fair bit more then the other, and the pins and bushings could be better but for my purposes it will be great.
Enough with the words you guys want pictures right? the first will be of my cousin on dads old 420 the rest will be of mine. If you guys are interested I have a bunch of old photos of the machines from the 70's until when i last seen them I can post them if there is interest.
As happy as I am to have this machine it is also partly sad as my grandfather passed a year ago next month just one week before his 97th birthday, I wish he was here to see it.
Thanks
Stefan
