Dozer buying help please

[josephny]

Wow, you guys are the best!

I don't know what the blade mods were for.

Problem is it's 700 miles away, so either I find a Cat tech and trust he can be independant without my presence or cross my fingers. I'm going to try to find a local Cat tech. Any ideas what it should cost to have him go out and report back?

Thanks!

 

[josephny]

Dup removed

 

[jcbGM]

Cost will be around $100/hr portal to portal plus around $4/mile. Since people are throwing wild guesses at you, I'd say that undercarriage has 30-40% remaining. It's a terrible practice to estimate wear based on visual inspection. That sproket looks sharp to me and it looks like the links have some wear. The only way to get a true indication is to take measurements of such items as pitch and link height.

The grousers look ok but that's only a small part of the equation. Looks like this machine was used for land clearing is softer soils. The brackets on the blade are like for a root rake. The sweeps and LGP tracks lead me to believe it was in the woods and softer soils. Are you in softer soils as well? LGP and stiff soils and rocky conditions is not a good combination.

Dozers are, without a doubt, the most expensive machine when total cost of ownership is considered. It's worth the $500 or $600 for a tech to look at it before you buy. Good luck

 

[josephny]

Cost will be around $100/hr portal to portal plus around $4/mile. Since people are throwing wild guesses at you, I'd say that undercarriage has 30-40% remaining. It's a terrible practice to estimate wear based on visual inspection. That sproket looks sharp to me and it looks like the links have some wear. The only way to get a true indication is to take measurements of such items as pitch and link height.

The grousers look ok but that's only a small part of the equation. Looks like this machine was used for land clearing is softer soils. The brackets on the blade are like for a root rake. The sweeps and LGP tracks lead me to believe it was in the woods and softer soils. Are you in softer soils as well? LGP and stiff soils and rocky conditions is not a good combination.

Dozers are, without a doubt, the most expensive machine when total cost of ownership is considered. It's worth the $500 or $600 for a tech to look at it before you buy. Good luck

Thanks for the details. 30-40% remaining is a far cry from 70-75%.

I'll have a tech look at it.

I wish I understood better the connection between LGP and soil type. I'll be using it for land clearing in very rocky soil as well as mud. Should I look for another unit with a different type of wear indication?

 

[farmer2009]

Thanks for the details. 30-40% remaining is a far cry from 70-75%. I'll have a tech look at it. I wish I understood better the connection between LGP and soil type. I'll be using it for land clearing in very rocky soil as well as mud. Should I look for another unit with a different type of wear indication?

What was the undercarriage advertised at?

LGP- low ground pressure or swamp tracks. Its added flotation with wider pads. I can see where it could cause problems with rocks and hard ground but if you're going to be in different soils all the time then you need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages.

 

[NC419N]

First thing I would ask why look 700 miles away unless it is a great deal whatever you save will be spent in transportation cost. Like the other posters first thing to do is have a qualified Cat mechanic look at it in person then proceed carefully. But I would always check locally to help support my community. I love my track loader it saves so much time it makes my wonder what took so long to buy one in the first place

 

[josephny]

First thing I would ask why look 700 miles away unless it is a great deal whatever you save will be spent in transportation cost. Like the other posters first thing to do is have a qualified Cat mechanic look at it in person then proceed carefully. But I would always check locally to help support my community. I love my track loader it saves so much time it makes my wonder what took so long to buy one in the first place

I have looked locally and there is absolutely nothing. This part of upstate NY has no big farming and very little construction (yep, means we don't have much of anything).

 

[josephny]

What was the undercarriage advertised at?

LGP- low ground pressure or swamp tracks. Its added flotation with wider pads. I can see where it could cause problems with rocks and hard ground but if you're going to be in different soils all the time then you need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages.

Advertised at 80%.

Probably 80% of the time in hard rocky soil; 20% in mud.

 

[josephny]

How about this one:

2002 Caterpillar D4G XL Dozer Crawler Dozer Tractor Caterpillar Cat 31 Pics | eBay

 

[NC419N]

There is no way that I would purchase a piece of equipment this size without a trusted professional looking at it. And then it would have to be closer to me than what you are looking at. Its hard for me image in the state of New York there is no one that can help you locate a Track Driven machine that can inspect it and give you a Professional opinion on it.