The dozer search...

[GManBart]

Here's a pic from the original listing:

 

[Industrial Toys]

Nice looking machine. Congratulations. I was on E-Bay last night, and elsewhere just looking for JD 450s. Prices seem to be up, or is it a reflection of the dollar going to pot? This is one reason, you really can't go wrong buying a good piece of used IRON. At worst, you may just end up paying for the use of it, and maybe not even that. You can't say that about much else.

 

[sd455dan]

Here's a pic from the original listing:

Nice looking dozer, they sure are a great tool to have when needed

Congrats:thumbsup:

 

[ultrarunner]

I really liked my D3... it did everything I wanted in 17 years and I ran out of projects.

The pedal steer is fantastic for grading... I also had a ripper.

Local CAT dealer couldn't have been more helpful... only needed a few parts in 17 years... like $600 total... from the way I was treated you would have thought I was their best customer at Peterson Tractor... always asked if I was on a job... when I had a hose go... they made it for me on the spot.

Only downside for me is I had no way to transport.

I now have a Deere 350C... with levers... it's like I don't have enough hands sometimes...

What I like about the deere is I can transport and it was very sure footed up in the hills... the CAT was almost tippy compared to the Deere 350C.

When I bought the Deere... he had 3 he was selling... the 350 and 450 were the same price and the 550 was more.

Went with the 350 because it is smaller.

I think you are really going to enjoy your D3 I know I enjoyed mine!

 

[kevin37b]

Sounds like a good dealer . Make sure all of the zerks will take grease . I would get it up to OT and get fluid samples done , by the dealer . Undercarriage looks good , but make sure the idler is not maxed out . It has a nice paint job , make sure it is not a Dupont overhaul .

 

[GManBart]

Nice looking machine. Congratulations. I was on E-Bay last night, and elsewhere just looking for JD 450s. Prices seem to be up, or is it a reflection of the dollar going to pot? This is one reason, you really can't go wrong buying a good piece of used IRON. At worst, you may just end up paying for the use of it, and maybe not even that. You can't say that about much else.

Thanks...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I can't begin to guess why prices are up, but I was looking hard for a decent Deere 450 and anything with wet clutches under $15-16K was pretty rough, with many being really rough. I saw one or two that looked decent, but they sold within a day, and I never got to even look at them in person. The majority that looked pretty nice were closer to $20K....some a bit under, but not much. There were also a few that looked like they were clean, but the tracks were obviously run out, and they were still asking $18-20K. Even a frugal freshening of the UC is going to eat up $3-5K in parts alone, so I didn't bother looking at those machines!

 

[GManBart]

Nice looking dozer, they sure are a great tool to have when needed

Congrats:thumbsup:

Thanks! I spent enough time spreading fill with my dump truck, backhoe and tractor (rear blade) to know there was no way I was going to get the results I wanted/needed any time in this life, so that sort of drove me to a dozer. Buying used equipment always makes me a bit nervous, but I think this was a pretty safe bet....we'll see!

 

[GManBart]

I really liked my D3... it did everything I wanted in 17 years and I ran out of projects.

The pedal steer is fantastic for grading... I also had a ripper.

Local CAT dealer couldn't have been more helpful... only needed a few parts in 17 years... like $600 total... from the way I was treated you would have thought I was their best customer at Peterson Tractor... always asked if I was on a job... when I had a hose go... they made it for me on the spot.

Only downside for me is I had no way to transport.

I now have a Deere 350C... with levers... it's like I don't have enough hands sometimes...

What I like about the deere is I can transport and it was very sure footed up in the hills... the CAT was almost tippy compared to the Deere 350C.

When I bought the Deere... he had 3 he was selling... the 350 and 450 were the same price and the 550 was more.

Went with the 350 because it is smaller.

I think you are really going to enjoy your D3 I know I enjoyed mine!

Thanks! I know some folks really don't like pedal steer, but it seemed fine to me. I guess after 8-10 hours it might be a different story, but I doubt I'll do that often.

Part of the reason I went with the CAT was that the only dealer reasonably close to me is a CAT dealer, and they're right on one of the two ways I drive to/from work, so I can stop there without going out of my way if need be. Further, I did a lot of reading and many people said exactly what you did about the dealer being able to source parts quickly for the older machines. I know they get a bad rap for high prices, but at least you can get what you need. Hopefully I won't need much!

 

[newbury]

Thanks...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I can't begin to guess why prices are up, but I was looking hard for a decent Deere 450 and anything with wet clutches under $15-16K was pretty rough, with many being really rough. I saw one or two that looked decent, but they sold within a day, and I never got to even look at them in person. The majority that looked pretty nice were closer to $20K....some a bit under, but not much. There were also a few that looked like they were clean, but the tracks were obviously run out, and they were still asking $18-20K. Even a frugal freshening of the UC is going to eat up $3-5K in parts alone, so I didn't bother looking at those machines!

Prices are probably up because the market was flooded with used equipment during the Recession and this took a while to get "soaked up". Now with housing starts climbing the equipment is back in demand.

So maybe hold off until the next recession/depression to buy if you don't need it NOW.

 

[GManBart]

Sounds like a good dealer . Make sure all of the zerks will take grease . I would get it up to OT and get fluid samples done , by the dealer . Undercarriage looks good , but make sure the idler is not maxed out . It has a nice paint job , make sure it is not a Dupont overhaul .

Good point...when I get it here I'm going to go through all of the fluids, and zerks, just to be sure. I hadn't thought about doing fluid samples, but I guess it's worth doing a couple to see how things look.

I was worried about the repaint, but after crawling over it and looking closely I didn't see any signs of obvious damage or abuse. Looking in the engine compartment, in the battery compartment, the underbelly, etc all just showed older faded paint, but no scars, no cracks, welds and no bad rust. I've noticed this dealer on the equipment listing sites for close to a year and noted they move a lot of machines that they clean up, paint, and go through the undercarriage...sort of their MO.

One thing that gave me a bit more confidence is that a local dealer has bought several dozers from this dealer and raised the price a couple of thousand dollars. I saw my dealer list a Deere 450E that had a good UC on it, and a nice paint job and they were asking about $19K for it. The pictures were very distinctive because of the background. Then, the machine disappeared from their listings, only to appear on a local dealers listing, with the same pictures but a $23K price tag. Once I saw that I paid attention, and the same thing has happened a couple more times. I figured if a local dealer is buying and flipping machines from them, it's a good sign.

 

[ultrarunner]

Nothing like a couple of hours pushing dirt to recharge the spirit...

My D3 is the only car, truck or equipment I continue to miss... I just ran out of work for it and then two years later my brother buys a ranch and needs a dozer.

I do have to say the 350C is like a little mountain goat compared to the D3

Posted before where the D3 saved my life... no exaggeration.

I was going through the woods at the exact moment a very large tree high up on the bank decided to fall sqauare on top of the canopy... even had a witness that thought I was a goner... I didn't see it coming... just boom and stopped dead in my tracks... the dozer was pinned and I had to cut my way out with the chainsaw.

 

[GManBart]

Nothing like a couple of hours pushing dirt to recharge the spirit...

My D3 is the only car, truck or equipment I continue to miss... I just ran out of work for it and then two years later my brother buys a ranch and needs a dozer.

I do have to say the 350C is like a little mountain goat compared to the D3

Posted before where the D3 saved my life... no exaggeration.

I was going through the woods at the exact moment a very large tree high up on the bank decided to fall sqauare on top of the canopy... even had a witness that thought I was a goner... I didn't see it coming... just boom and stopped dead in my tracks... the dozer was pinned and I had to cut my way out with the chainsaw.

Yikes! I considered a couple of dozers without a ROPS because they were close by, and the prices were reasonable, but then I thought of that exact scenario you experienced. With all the dead Ash trees we have around here I'm always waiting for one to fall at just the wrong time.

 

[EddieWalker]

I was going through the woods at the exact moment a very large tree high up on the bank decided to fall sqauare on top of the canopy... even had a witness that thought I was a goner... I didn't see it coming... just boom and stopped dead in my tracks... the dozer was pinned and I had to cut my way out with the chainsaw.

I had forgotten that story.

With my dozer, I've been known to use it to push over trees and get into some thick places with trees going in every direction. It does't take much for a tree to fall over one way, then get pushed around and all of a sudden, comes back up again and falls on the top of your ROPS!!!! I've had several close calls with branches hitting me. Worse is when they bend and all of a sudden, straighten out and come into the ROPS where I'm sitting. I had my hand slapped so hard it went numb!!!! A few slaps to the face, several to my arms have all made me very respectful of trees. Both standing and laying on the ground!!!

I also have had branches go through my fuel tank on my bakchoe, and I had one skinny little pine get in past my engine side panels and hit my oil sending unit just right to break it off of the block. Engine oil sprayed out onto the panel, but not through it, so I didn't know it happened until I saw the trail I was leaving!!!!

 

[ultrarunner]

I have changed how I view trees as my experiences grew...

Had 30 days of rain one winter in Olympia and then came the winds... lost many mature trees and about 12k in damage.

Last winter had a windstorm and a huge limb cracked and went through the skylight.

Coming from California where just about every tree in my city is worshipped and requires a public hearing to remove... I admit to being slow to realizing the dangers...

Had a highly recommended tree guy come out to the house in Olympia and each tree around the structures was evaluated... some I thought were good were rotten to the core.

The one that hit the Dozer is one of those protected trees in Oakland CA... most now just wait for nature to take it's course because of the permit problems and expense.

 

[GManBart]

Good thing I'm already scared of trees falling on me....if not this thread would have changed that! :laughing:

 

[ultrarunner]

Sorry about that... just extolling the virtues of a roll over rated CAT ROPS

 

[GManBart]

Sorry about that... just extolling the virtues of a roll over rated CAT ROPS

I know, I was just joking Still, that was seriously a factor in my planning. I'm pretty much against anything large falling on me!

 

[ultrarunner]

I found the weakest link on my D3 to be a small 180 U shaped hydraulic line for the blade plumbing...

Replaced 3 of them in 17 years... two on one side and one on the other... it is concealed and can get packed with dirt so the line just rusts out... about $40 each.

I did my brake bands once when I bought it... no issues since.

Keep your radiator clean and an eye on the temp gauge... mine was real steady unless the fins were obstructed...

I had the combo throttle and gear range selector which worker real well... and I really appreciated have the pedal steering!

Field mice liked to build nests behind my instrument panel... I did the fabric softener trick and that seemed to keep the buggers at bay...

I know you will enjoy it.

 

[GManBart]

I found the weakest link on my D3 to be a small 180 U shaped hydraulic line for the blade plumbing...

Replaced 3 of them in 17 years... two on one side and one on the other... it is concealed and can get packed with dirt so the line just rusts out... about $40 each.

I did my brake bands once when I bought it... no issues since.

Keep your radiator clean and an eye on the temp gauge... mine was real steady unless the fins were obstructed...

I had the combo throttle and gear range selector which worker real well... and I really appreciated have the pedal steering!

Field mice liked to build nests behind my instrument panel... I did the fabric softener trick and that seemed to keep the buggers at bay...

I know you will enjoy it.

It's funny, but I think the line that started leaking might be the same one you replaced. I think the leak started after I raised the tractor with the blade to check the rollers. The leak appeared to be along the top of the C frame and between the two vertical upright supports for the lift cylinders....which would be an easy place for mud to collect. Regardless, I like the idea of a $40 weak link!

I've seen other folks say to keep the radiator clean and watch the temps, so I'll be sure to do that....I was happy to see the coolant temp gauge worked when I ran it the other day. Now I'm just waiting for the delivery call

 

[ultrarunner]

It's funny, but I think the line that started leaking might be the same one you replaced. I think the leak started after I raised the tractor with the blade to check the rollers. The leak appeared to be along the top of the C frame and between the two vertical upright supports for the lift cylinders....which would be an easy place for mud to collect. Regardless, I like the idea of a $40 weak link!

I've seen other folks say to keep the radiator clean and watch the temps, so I'll be sure to do that....I was happy to see the coolant temp gauge worked when I ran it the other day. Now I'm just waiting for the delivery call

Wish I had the part number... it makes the connection inside the upright.

Included a picture of mine at rest in the back 20... nothing but steep in any direction.