Hard steering due to wrong oil ??

[Blake Malkamaki]

Folks,

We've had several discussions in the past about what oil to use in the transmissions and it's generally recommended to use 50 wt non-detergent motor oil. Hypoid or other Extreme Pressure lubricants should be avoided.

My question is: does anyone know what the detrimental effects of using hypoid oil would be and would it make steering very difficult? Has anyone had bad experiences with it in their Cletrac?

I've been working on and with my 1955 OC-12 dozer that my grandfather gave to me before he passed away. It has Spot Turn and has been in the family since Gramps bought it from the Experimental Department where he worked in Cleveland. The dozer has been very hard to steer for several years, and requires a very hard pull on the levers to get the track on that side to disengage and stop. Twice I even broke the end off one of the bands due to the hard pull. While the tractor was at the Pioneer Steam & Gas Engine Society show, I took the cover off the back to adjust the bands and found that the oil smells like it has hypoid in it. No one in our family remembers putting it in there, nor knows why anyone would put it in there. Anyway, I'm thinking that may be the problem with the steering.

Since I have to pull the seat/fuel tank off and open her up to install a new band, I figure I will replace the lining with the new stuff Zimmerman's has. I'll also change all the oil. Hopefully that will make her steer like she used to.

Take care,
Blake