knucklebuster
Guest
I have an early 9700 with a lot of updates on it so basically it's a 9720 now. Just broke the crankshaft on mine this week. There is an outfit , in Iowa I believe, that can modify your crank if the pulley has just spun to a tapered shaft with a wider key. You'll want to make sure most of the updates are complete on the 9700's, especially the fuel injection pump. They original used a CAV DP-15 which is a distributor style, not worth the coals to melt it down. Most have puked out by now and been updated with a Bosch inline. The feed impeller seems to take some abuse on these machines because it's your one and only chance to remove stones. Unfortunately, if the machine has seen a lot of rocks the stationary ledge under the feed impeller will bend downward and create a larger opening which will in turn pass bigger rocks. The other weak point is the pitman which drives everything that shakes on this machine, grain pans, sieves, etc. It all comes though one pitman so pay attention to this area. Otherwise they are a pretty solid machine if you keep on top of a few maintenance items. Good luck.