Well, I've had my dozer for over a year now (I had to look on here to see when I bought it - about October of 2007). I've got to say that I think I got a pretty decent deal. I've used it alot for the first year and have had no major problems. I've done quite a bit of clearing, cleaned up brush/dozer piles from previous years, filled ditches, and in August/September dug a small pond (about a 1/4 acre). It's even holding water!! (Pretty good luck for my first pond try).
I've put on somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 to 80 hours on it (about 1/2 of that was the pond, so it was just dirt pushing). The rest has been clearing - and it'll take down trees much larger than I thought it would. It does have the same problem that Eddie Walker mentions to most folks that ask about dozers - it's not to bad to take trees down; pushing a big pile of them together takes a bigger machine. However, I've got more time than I have money to invest in a dozer, so I've okay with making a few more trips.
So far, I've changed all the fluids and filters through the course of the year, and it burns about a quart of oil in 10-15 hours depending on how hard I'm running it (for a 40+ year old machine, I didn't think that was too bad). It starts good in 40 degree and above weather, below that I have to jump start it and add starting fluid, but it cranks quickly after that.
It's not too hard on fuel - probably about 1/2 gal to 1 gal/hour depending on what I'm doing, of course. The only thing that I know I need to do soon is adjust the tracks. They have gotten a little loose over the course of the year and I bet it's better to tighten them now rather than after I throw one!
Overall, I'm very happy with my dozer. I don't know that it has quite paid for itself yet, but it's getting close. My dozer is alot more similar to a tractor than a dozer as far as working on it goes, so it's nowhere near the class of Cat D6 or Case 850, etc. But with a little time, I can get a lot done.
Just thought I'd share my good experience with the old dozer.
Take care.
I've put on somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 to 80 hours on it (about 1/2 of that was the pond, so it was just dirt pushing). The rest has been clearing - and it'll take down trees much larger than I thought it would. It does have the same problem that Eddie Walker mentions to most folks that ask about dozers - it's not to bad to take trees down; pushing a big pile of them together takes a bigger machine. However, I've got more time than I have money to invest in a dozer, so I've okay with making a few more trips.
So far, I've changed all the fluids and filters through the course of the year, and it burns about a quart of oil in 10-15 hours depending on how hard I'm running it (for a 40+ year old machine, I didn't think that was too bad). It starts good in 40 degree and above weather, below that I have to jump start it and add starting fluid, but it cranks quickly after that.
It's not too hard on fuel - probably about 1/2 gal to 1 gal/hour depending on what I'm doing, of course. The only thing that I know I need to do soon is adjust the tracks. They have gotten a little loose over the course of the year and I bet it's better to tighten them now rather than after I throw one!
Overall, I'm very happy with my dozer. I don't know that it has quite paid for itself yet, but it's getting close. My dozer is alot more similar to a tractor than a dozer as far as working on it goes, so it's nowhere near the class of Cat D6 or Case 850, etc. But with a little time, I can get a lot done.
Just thought I'd share my good experience with the old dozer.
Take care.
