What to look for when buying a dozer help us?

[markblake]

I'll admit it, I don't know jack crap about dozers. It'll be a while before I try to buy one to do some more cleaning, widening my driveway, build a pond, etc on my land.......However, when I want something like this, I start looking years in advance so I'll know when a good deal comes along.
I don't know what I'm looking at. I'm not partial to any brand or even any particular size but because of the availability of parts, etc. if you suggest me any useful Construction Equipment Video that will easy to find me dozers. I'd say I'm looking for a John Deere 350. What should I look for in one? What is this "undercarriage" see mentioned so much. What about rollers, sprockets, pins, tracks, etc.? How many hours. Do they make them in standard shift/shuttle, etc?

Give me a quick lesson, here....
thanks
.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I think you are going to be disappointed in a JD 350. I have a JD 550 at home and its just barely big enough o move some dirt. Non-Current Models | Construction | John Deere US Take a look and compare weights and HP. The older machines are cheaper because they either need fixed or are harder to fix. The plus side about the Deere's is the parts availability is pretty good. We just re did the undercarriage in the 550 and everything I couldn't get aftermarket was available from mother deere. Read the attached undercarriage guide. If you are going to own a dozer, you better be mechanically inclined and have a selection of HD tools. A 1/2" ratchet isn't HD either. A torch and a welder are almost required as well. Its not a question of if something will break, its a matter of when. Anything with tracks is going to cost you money.


On the plus side, there is nothing quite like running a dozer and pushing everything in sight listening to the tracks clanking, the smell of fresh dirt, and being able to see what you accomplished in a day!

 

[oosik]

I was going to buy a dozer many years ago. Friend down the way had a fairly new Cat. Think it was a 5 series. When I talked to him about my idea - he pulled his file showing the on-going costs of maintenance/repairs for the five years he owned the dozer. I darn near passed out when I saw the annual costs.

Unless you are prepared to be stripped naked - you better have a lot of high paying jobs to work the dozer on.

 

[fried1765]

I'll admit it, I don't know jack crap about dozers. It'll be a while before I try to buy one to do some more cleaning, widening my driveway, build a pond, etc on my land.......However, when I want something like this, I start looking years in advance so I'll know when a good deal comes along.
I don't know what I'm looking at. I'm not partial to any brand or even any particular size but because of the availability of parts, etc. if you suggest me any useful Construction Equipment Video that will easy to find me dozers. I'd say I'm looking for a John Deere 350. What should I look for in one? What is this "undercarriage" see mentioned so much. What about rollers, sprockets, pins, tracks, etc.? How many hours. Do they make them in standard shift/shuttle, etc?

Give me a quick lesson, here....
thanks
.

Here is your "quick lesson"
I bought a used crawler loader many years ago.
Part one of the lesson: It will ALWAYS be too small for the job you are planning to do!
Part two of the lesson: It will break down right in the middle of the job.
Part three of the lesson: It will cost you PILES of cash to keep it running.
End of lesson!
DO NOT BUY A DOZER!..... ANY DOZER!

 

[EddieWalker]

Apply the saying about owning a boat to owning a dozer. The second happiest day is the day you buy it, the happiest day is the day you sell it.

Having said that, there is nothing quite like owning one. My first one was a Deere 450G. It proved to be too small for anything except spreading already dug soil. The few things that I bought for it seemed reasonable, so parts where not too bad. It just wasn't big enough to move very much, and too light to break through the clay soil that I have.

After shopping around, I decided on a Case 1550. It's 170 hp, weighs 40,000 pounds and has a Cummins 6 cylinder engine. It's big enough to do what I want. I learned that clearing trees with it creates more work after all the trees are on the ground. Small stuff gets all tangled up, bigger stuff gets all tangled up, and medium sized trees snap off at the base, which means digging out stumps. After about ten acres of that nightmare, I no longer use it for clearing anything. Faster and easier to just dig them up with the backhoe.

For digging my pond, it's awesome. You just have to remember that it's not good for moving dirt a long distance. 300 feet is about max, and that's still a long time of going backwards for the next load.

As mentioned already, working on it is a nightmare. Parts are actually cheapest from the dealer, except for filters. Amazon is about the best for those. Finding somebody to fix it is impossible. If you find somebody that says they will, good luck having them show up. You need to be able to do all your repairs yourself.

Before starting it, you have to grease it, add fluids and inspect it, and sometimes repairs stuff that might take a few days or even weeks. You don't just jump on it and go. Once you get it started up, the first hour is great. It's fun, things are happening and seeing the dirt taking shape is very satisfying. Then it becomes work, and the next couple of hours are a job. After that, it's a torture session. Six hours is where I try to stop, and I'm a zombie for hours after. If I go longer, the suffering is more prolonged.

What to look for?

A dozer is three things. Tracks, hydraulics and an engine. Tracks wear out and they are expensive to replace. A machine with fewer hours will have better tracks, but the cost is a lot more. What is your budget? The more you spend, the better you will get, but even brand new, they brake down. Sprockets are the most obvious thing to notice, but also the easiest and cheapest to replace. The pins on the tracks are the most overlooked, and the most expensive to replace. Hydraulic cylinders have seals. Seals wear out, so don't make a big deal out of a leaking cylinder. For a hundred bucks, I can have a cylinder rebuilt if I remove it and bring it to the shop. Hoses also fail all the time. They can be easy, or a pain to replace, but they are all fairly reasonable cost wise to have new ones made. Just wait for it to leak and then take it to the shop to have a new one built. If a pump goes, panic. Pumps are expensive. Case wants $25,000 for a replacement pump on mine. I have three pumps. Instead of replacing it, I took it out and brought it to a shop that rebuilt it for $4,000 And the engine is just like any other diesel engine. If it's solid, you are good to go. If it's worn out, you will spend some money. It cost me $5,000 in parts to rebuild mine, and a couple months of working on it when I had the time.

Once I finish clearing and grading my fence line, I'm going to sell my dozer. I've had it long enough. If I ever need one again in the future, I'll hire it out and have somebody bring one here and do the work for me.

 

[TnAndy]

DO NOT BUY A DOZER!..... ANY DOZER!

Agreed. Owned a JD350 and a Mitsubishi about the size of a JD450.....except for a little yard grading and some minor road building on the farm, they did very little for me. My current mini-excavator has been far and away more useful.

When I need dozer work done now, I hire a neighbor with a JD 650.

 

[bcp]

What to look for when buying a dozer?

The door with the EXIT sign over it.

Bruce

 

[caver]

They folks on here convinced me I didn't need one without even posting ...just reading old threads. Now, having said that I would like to own an old Cat D4 but just to tinker with and do a light restoration.

 

[Old Red]

This has been a very entertaining thread to read. I now have a greater appreciation of the dozer work I hired out and what I paid for it. Goodness! How did those guys ever build the great alaskan highway!

Anyway, some of you had mentioned mini excavators….what do you use them for? Obvious you can dig ditches and trenches, but when it comes to comparing to a dozer…school me on this. I am intrigued by mini ex….

 

[oosik]

Ha, ha. When we first moved down here - I thought I needed a crawler tractor. The dealer had an old Oliver Cletrac(Sp) and I was ****-bent on having that unit. Well, I got it and you know, the only thing it did for me - as I went ripping, roaring and bouncing over hill, over dale - it made me feel like Patton must have felt on his many tank battles.

Otherwise, after a month of having fun - I called the dealer and he took it back, gave me full purchase price, I bought an much more reasonable Ford 1710. My days of playing Patton or Rommel were over.................