What to look for when buying a dozer help us?

[Sawyer Rob]

How did those guys ever build the great alaskan highway!

It was easy, they didn't start out with 3/4 wore out dozers like guys here want to buy!! AND they had GOOD mechanics along with them that could fix those dozers with unlimited funds to buy parts with!

ALSO, they used CAT D7, 8 and 9's, not little dozers folks on here want to buy.

SR

 

[oosik]

And it was a military project with unlimited funding, unlimited manpower and a VERY specific timeline to provide road access to Alaska from the lower 48. I had the absolute pleasure to meet two old black gentlemen who were in the military and worked on the Alaska Highway. Very few black men were initially allowed to use the heavy equipment - this eventually changed. These two fellows were heavy equipment mechanics. What they both remember most - other than the bitter cold, was the hoards & hoards of mosquitos. Many of the men on this project - both black and white - had never been out of the south and this project was their first experience with cold weather.

 

[bcp]

No D9's made yet, but lots of D8 and down. Cat and IH, too. And some jobs needed little ones, so they had them, too.

Bruce

 

[buckeyefarmer]

We had a small jd 1010 crawler on the farm, and it was very useful. I ran it a lot, and loved running it. We made a good bit of money with it.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Like one ALCAN worker said: "miles and miles of nothing but, miles and miles of nothing"...

I've been over the ALCAN 13 times, two times with my motorcycle. Today it's NOTHING like it was in the early 70's when I traveled over it the first time!

Yes they had smaller dozers when they built it, but they were not doing the heavy pushing, that was for the big iron...

SR

 

[oosik]

I've been over the Alcan eight times - Eastern Wa to Anchorage - but never by motorcycle. Our first trip, up the highway, was the spring I graduated from college - in 1965. It was a true adventure in '65 and fortunately we drove it in a brand new VW Bug. It was a slow, dusty, muddy trip to Anchorage but the little bug made it without a single hitch. My last trip was when we came out in '82, I understand the entire distance is paved now.

I spent my summers working in Alaska, starting in 1960. IMHO only, the spirit that was once Alaska, the days of the Sourdough - they are gone forever and have been replaced with modern technology. Now you can only find what Alaska was once really like by going so very far into the wilderness as to be lost forever.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

It will never be 100% all paved, there's always stretches tore up for repairs...usually about 125 miles...

SR

 

[ultrarunner]

My friend gives lectures on the building... he was an engineer and dispatched to get it done as in punch it through as once it was blazed others would come and improve it... very entertaining and glad I had a chance to hear it first person on hoe the Alaska Highway came to be.

My opinion of Dozers is limited to my experience and self taught.

Years ago the folks were directed to build and maintain fire trails on their land after the 1991 Oakland Fire Storm...

Got a couple of estimates that were out of this world... more than the rugged property was worth...

I approached Dad and said how about we buy a dozer and I learn to operate it and put in the cuts to satisfy the Fire folks... Dad was skeptical and talked to someone with a large paving and grading company who emphatically said NO WAY... because of inexperience and the steep terrain.

Being young I did not listen and found a deal on a CAT D3 with 6 way blade and rippers... Dad and I split the cost of 17K with the Dozer being mine when the job was done...

I owned that Dozer 20+ years and put in and maintained all the Fire trails... and only reluctantly sold it because I ran out of work to do...

Just realized I have never uploaded a picture of the D3 so here it is.

Bought it for 17K and sold it for 15K... did a lot of work, had a lot of fun, being I owned it I could work on my schedule AND when ground conditions were optimal which I quickly learned the importance of.

Going over 20 years of ownership I average $150 a year in parts/supplies... mostly lines, oil, coolant, etc. and I replaced both steering brakes... tore it down under an oak tree and dug in... while at Peterson Tractor I was offered jobs while waiting at the parts counter... owners had equipment to maintain and I guess doing my own work was enough to strike up conversations.

I can't say enough good things about Peterson CAT... always made sure to get me in and out... made lines while I waited and let me use their private reference manuals... treated me like I owned a fleet of tractors instead of one.

About two years after selling the D3 my brother bought a ranch and needed Dozer work... said how useful my D3 would have been... so I started looking again and brought home a JD350C that had belonged to the Irrigation District... paid 10K

So far it has not needed any parts in 3 years but did have to flush the fuel lines and tighten up some things... tracks are good... rollers so/so

The D3 had foot pedal steering which I really liked and the 350C has levers... so between steering and operating the 6-way blade my hands are always moving...

The 350C is really like a mountain goat... the D3 can be a little tipsy with a higher center of gravity.

The smaller 350 takes a lot longer to move dirt but has done some nice work...

My brother has been offered 12k for the 350C from a neighbor so I feel we did OK price-wise... the Park Service used a lot of Deere 350 to build trails and I can see why.

Like Eddie said operating can be taxing... about 4 hours on the D3 was about my limit before I got Loopy... you don't want to go right when you meant to go left on the side of a steep ravine... so I would call it a day and be mentally done for the day...

Maybe being able to do my own work made the difference.... or I have just been lucky?

The D3 is not quite double the weight of the 350... so only natural it could do more.

A nice feature of the 350 is I can actually move it with my PJ trailer and my brother's Diesel F250...

As with most things tractor related... if you can do your own work so much the better.

The D3 also saved my life... was just going down the trail not doze and a huge bay toppled and hit hard... the CAT ROPS stopped me getting killed.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I find you can get a lot more work done with a skid steer than a small dozer. Hire out the big jobs and buy a skid steer for all the other stuff.

 

[sixdogs]

Years back I had an old Deere dozer and I must be the only guy around that never put any repairs into it and sold it for more than I paid. Sheer dumb luck. Since then I've learned to stay away from them and sub-contract any dozer work.

The guy will have a correct sized machine, it will be maintained and the operator is a master at his craft. Saves me hours of time and no $8,000 repair bills like a friend of mine just got. He was figuring on $500. They all need something and all cost more than planned.