stathamj
Member
I have found an older Cat D4C that fits my price range. Plus it's heavier than what I had been looking at previously. I went and looked at it and the owner ran it for me. I'll kind of give you a detailed analogy oh what went on.
He went out and put the key in and turned the glow plug on and it fired up on the first try. Let it warm up a bit and then moved it forward and backward. For what I know everything looked good. He then moved it from its parked location to a more open area and proceeded to do various turns and such at differant speeds. It never hesitated a bit. The only thing he didn't do that I've seen done was to raise the front of the dozer with the blade. He then proceeded to move up to a D7 with a cab and rippers. He started pushing the D7 some sideways. Of course the rippers were in the ground slightly preventing it from being pushed to much. But the tracks continued to turn. He then changed gears and tried it again and it moved some more. He then changed and when he tried this time you could hear it trying to stall out. I thought it did a respectable job as I didn't think it would even move the D7.
By no means am I a dozer whiz. But, I had looked at buying one several years ago on my farm/ranch. So, these are my estimates.
The idlers looked fairly new. The rollers looked almost brand new. The pins, bushings and rails looked good as well. But, after feeling of them I think they have been turned. Everything looked pretty good overall for a dozer this old. There were a few minor leaks on the blade lifting cylinders. I'm talking a few drops (not puddles) in 30 minutes of running. But, not working hard. Also the grousers were probably the weakest part and I would guestimate them to be around 30-35% and the rest of the undercarrage at 75-80%. The blade looked in pretty good shape as well and had new cutting edges installed. It hasn't even been used since then as the paint was still on them.
Now, here is where I need the most help with. The blade is a 10' manual angle and tilt. But, where the blade pivots on it's support and where the blade support attaches to the tractor I noticed that there was about a 1/4 of play in these 3 areas. I didn't notice any abnormalties because of it. I know that these will wear. I was just wanting to get some info and ideas and maybe something else to check before I purchase it. I don't know what, or how it can be fixed or what it would cost. But, this and the grousers are the weakest parts on the dozer. I believe everything else is in pretty good shape. I don't want these to prevent me from getting it as I realize it's 50 years old. But, I don't want these to be the money pit either. He also stated that he thought that a new set of grousers would cost about $1900.00. But, I don't remember if he said installed or plus installation.
Again any tips or knowledge you could pass on would we greatly appriciated.
Thank you.
James
He went out and put the key in and turned the glow plug on and it fired up on the first try. Let it warm up a bit and then moved it forward and backward. For what I know everything looked good. He then moved it from its parked location to a more open area and proceeded to do various turns and such at differant speeds. It never hesitated a bit. The only thing he didn't do that I've seen done was to raise the front of the dozer with the blade. He then proceeded to move up to a D7 with a cab and rippers. He started pushing the D7 some sideways. Of course the rippers were in the ground slightly preventing it from being pushed to much. But the tracks continued to turn. He then changed gears and tried it again and it moved some more. He then changed and when he tried this time you could hear it trying to stall out. I thought it did a respectable job as I didn't think it would even move the D7.
By no means am I a dozer whiz. But, I had looked at buying one several years ago on my farm/ranch. So, these are my estimates.
The idlers looked fairly new. The rollers looked almost brand new. The pins, bushings and rails looked good as well. But, after feeling of them I think they have been turned. Everything looked pretty good overall for a dozer this old. There were a few minor leaks on the blade lifting cylinders. I'm talking a few drops (not puddles) in 30 minutes of running. But, not working hard. Also the grousers were probably the weakest part and I would guestimate them to be around 30-35% and the rest of the undercarrage at 75-80%. The blade looked in pretty good shape as well and had new cutting edges installed. It hasn't even been used since then as the paint was still on them.
Now, here is where I need the most help with. The blade is a 10' manual angle and tilt. But, where the blade pivots on it's support and where the blade support attaches to the tractor I noticed that there was about a 1/4 of play in these 3 areas. I didn't notice any abnormalties because of it. I know that these will wear. I was just wanting to get some info and ideas and maybe something else to check before I purchase it. I don't know what, or how it can be fixed or what it would cost. But, this and the grousers are the weakest parts on the dozer. I believe everything else is in pretty good shape. I don't want these to prevent me from getting it as I realize it's 50 years old. But, I don't want these to be the money pit either. He also stated that he thought that a new set of grousers would cost about $1900.00. But, I don't remember if he said installed or plus installation.
Again any tips or knowledge you could pass on would we greatly appriciated.
Thank you.
James
