Nortrac / Yuchai Dozer questions...

[Gale Hawkins]

Man sorry to here that. Made a trip to GA once and the photos and what I found did not match at all.

I did some looking last night just for the heck of it and realized it was not easy to find small 6 way blade dozers. Not as cheap but it looked like 30 year old reconditioned CAT's might be less risky. It is just is not cheap for parts only if one has to split a dozer.

With the full size BH I would be better off to do the four hour min even at $500 to bunch, smooth up, etc from time to time. Not the same owning one but we only have 15 acres and much of it will be left in woods. If I had a working farm I would look for one or perhaps some old iron tractor with a heavy front blade.

Sounds like you will just have to keep looking and way for something only an hour or two away to pop up.

[Diamondpilot]

I am totally giving up on finding a dozer Gale. I had talked to the owner several times and explained that it would be a very long drive for me and he ASURED me the machine was tip-top and the spot in the picture that I thought might be a crack was simply accumulated dirt/grease. I left my house at 3:15 am yesterday morning and arrived in Muncie, Indiana just after noon. The owner was gone to lunch when I arrived but I couldn't wait and starting going over the machine. It took me about 4 seconds to realize I had made a wasted trip. The spot in the picture is just the tip of the iceburg. The whole inside area of the "c-frame" is so rusted that it is just crumbling apart on both sides and has simply been painted over. Several previous welded repairs on the same frame are broken. The owner tried to convince me that it was just surface rust and he could have his guys weld it up in about 10 minutes. He asked me to make an offer but I thought if he would lie to me about something I could see with my eyes he would surely lie about something else so I jumped in my truck and pointed it toward Arkansas. I got home just before midnight last night. WHY WOULD HE LIE ABOUT SOMETHING I COULD PLAINLY SEE???? DID HE THINK I WAS JUST GOING TO BUY IT ANYWAY??? WHAT A SORRY MUTT! I was so mad that I was literally having trouble breathing. The machine is located at 4001 Centennial avenue in Muncie, Indiana and the guy's name is Fred. If anyone ever has a dealing with this fella, be careful.

Man, I wish I would have know it was in Muncie, I could have gone and looked at it for you. I live in Daleville Indiana, likely where you jumped off I69 to get on IN67. You would have went within 1.5 miles of my 3 acre spread. I work in Muncie and go right by Centennial every day. I am by no means a dozer expert but do work on my neighbors Case Dozer and BH all the time. Nothing major, just fix this and that but I know my way around a little bit.

My guess is this is Fred Stewart Trucking? I think its out that way.

Chris

[jhogan2424]

Yes Chris that is the guy. If I ever consider buying one that far away again I will post up the plans beforehand to see if there is someone really close that may be able to do a drive by look.

[Gale Hawkins]

Anytime someone has something in the Paducah KY region they are interested in if it is where I can I will do a drive by any equipment of interest. Sounds like in the above case most anyone could have called it a no go. While only the one with the money can make a final decison we could help one another save a 20 hour drive by truck. We can only state if we had a need for the item would we consider it.

The most common 6 way dozers around here are Case and JD by far. The neighbor I notice has a JD 450 he is using to dig a pond. It has been there all summer so he may have bought it but have not talked with him.

[jhogan2424]

That's a good idea Gale. I would be happy to do the same for someone.

[Bob Rooks]

Count me in too. I'll check out anything you want in the greater Seattle area. Good thing you didn't get it, sounds like it was rode hard and put away wet - and then painted.

[jhogan2424]

Yeah you are right Bob, just wish he had told me the truth on the phone so that I would not have made the trip. And it's not like he just failed to mention something, I specifically asked about that area and he told me it was perfect. I still haven't figured out how in the world it would benefit him to lie to me about the condition of the rig when he knew I was coming to inspect it. Oh well, I am over it now. Jason

[Diamondpilot]

Yeah you are right Bob, just wish he had told me the truth on the phone so that I would not have made the trip. And it's not like he just failed to mention something, I specifically asked about that area and he told me it was perfect. I still haven't figured out how in the world it would benefit him to lie to me about the condition of the rig when he knew I was coming to inspect it. Oh well, I am over it now. Jason

I sell boats part time. I have sent people $250 in the mail and told them when they come to purchase if its not as I stated take the money to cover your expenses and wasted time. Never had a deal fall through. Most figure if I am willing to send a stanger $250 I must be honest. Learned this trick from a boat dealer buddie in Tennessee.

Chris

[20 20]

Jhogan2424, I feel your pain, same type thing happened to me over a truck. Talked to a guy on the phone told him I didn't care about looks but would not touch something with a bunch of mechanical problems. Drove all day to see this "perfect" running truck. He kept telling "me just get in and take it for a drive" I said "NOPE! just want to hear it run for a bit and look things over." Sure enough, he kept pushing for me to drive it, especially everytime I went to look underneath, oil was not just dripping out but actually pouring out of the rear of the engine. It's amazing how far you can drive when your PO'ed at liers.

On another note, did you check with tytan tractors, they have a web page, I believe they still sell the yuchai dozer(branded, their name tytan)? Not sure of their prices on machinery but I can say they beat everyone on parts a few yrs back when I needed them. You might be able to go new, cheaper then used, especailly when you add up all your running around, mileage, frustration and time. Just a thought

[jhogan2424]

Ok guys, this dozer searching is starting to get to the point that it is almost funny. The owner of the last machine I looked at with the cracks/rust called me and appologized for having me drive all that way and turn around and drive home. He had a certified welder repair the machine and offered to knock $1000 off of the price and have one of his employess deliver it at no cost to me. I slept on it a couple of days and called him back and told him that was fair enough with the understanding that when it arrived I would have my friend that does field work for Caterpillar check it over before I paid. He agreed and had one of his drivers load it up and start my way. He arrived this morning. We unloaded it and it started and ran very well. We checked over the welding repairs and it looked acceptable. I have a 14 cubic yard pile of chat behind my shop and we started pushing it back and forth. It pushed very good and everything seemed to function perfect. After about 10 minutes of pushing chat, the left track started to get weak. Soon, the left track would not function at all when trying to turn and the dozer was only able to turn one direction. When pushing the blade up against the pile of chat, one track would spin fast and the other would not spin at all. The driver said he had used the dozer often and never had this problem. Although my friend could without a doubt have repaired the clutches, I told the driver to load it back up and take it back. I just did not want something that I would have to work on right out of the gate. Especially after the owner bragging that it was perfect in every way. It took the driver about an hour to get it back on the trailer because of the one track not working correctly. He ended up having to work it up using a winch on his trailer. I feel like I really dodged a bullet here. I also feel the owner knew exactly what was going on because of the way he tried very hard to sell it to me for cheap. The final deal we made was that he would deliver the machine for $6000. I should have known it was too good to be true as I have been looking very hard for one of these and that was just too darn cheap. Anyway, still looking if anyone runs across a Nortrac or small Mitsubishi/Komatsu in good shape for a fair price.