Case 310G Dozer

[GuglioLS]

From what you describe it sounds like it runs good and the steering breaks & clutches are OK. diyDave raises many good questions & things to consider. Get some good clear pictures of the front idlers, rear sprockets, track rollers, & track links. Are the tracks loose / tight? get a side picture of both tracks from front to rear. How much track tension is left?, you can tell by looking at the lower track rail toward the front near the front idler. Post those pictures for evaluation by all the experts here.

What year is it? there are many online parts brokers with links to old equipment being parted out so you might be able to find decent used parts if needed.

Since it's going to be for occasional personal "farm" use it should have an easier life with a good chance it will last longer that you might imagine. Start it and work it at least once a week.

I was sacred to death buying a dozer not knowing anything about them. At first the right steering on mine was not working at all. Turned out to be a simple adjustment. I got a decent discount because of that. In my case and so far (knock on wood) it's turned out to be a good gamble that has payed off. The smoke you describe on startup & throttle up sounds normal to me. Mine smoked terribly when first started and for 5 minutes. After working the dozer for long periods of time (several times) that smoke has cleared up. When I start it now, I get a few seconds of white smoke then clears up. Upon heavy throttle I get some black smoke, then as it reaches RPM the smoke is gone. I think the combustion chambers were loaded up from "dozer demos" on the sales lot, repeated starting, no load and only running for a short period of time so that the engine never really came up to operating temperature.


Get some pictures uploaded so we can see you potential new machine.


Larry

 

[rtimgray]

diyDave- Sorry that I had not mentioned the undercarriage. The rear sprockets are in good shape - the teeth are flat, not pointed. The pins are probably alright - you can feel some flat but they are still mostly round. The tracks seem to have about the right amount of tension. I can tell you that they are tighter than the last dozer (Case 850) that I operated. The track tensioner is mechanical and they both look complete and operable. The front idlers seem to be in decent shape - they're mostly round, anyway. The unit does have rock guards along the bottom rails and around the sprocket, so I don't know if that has helped it in it's lifetime or not.

There is no hourmeter on the unit, so I have no idea how many hours are on it. There are some welds on some of the blade carriage, so I know it's had some tough use at some point. When Joe (the current owner) bought it, it had no gauges and was being started with a screwdriver. Joe is a rebuilder of starters and alternators. He has a small shop in town and he rebuilds heavy equipment and road tractor starters for NAPA. He had a stack of rebuilds that were headed for NAPA - they looked like new. He also had a stack of local rebuilds that looked like junk. He said the difference was just in cleaning them off and painting them - but he got double the money from NAPA than from local - anyway, that's neither here nor there. Joe installed a voltimeter and an oil pressure gauge, a starter button, a pre-heat switch, headlight (only has one right now), rear work light, and associated wiring. He said he would try to come up with a water temp gauge (all of the gauges he put on were Case gauges).

I have misplaced my digital camera and will have to find it, then I'll get some pictures. Thanks very much for the advice - it is appreciated. Take care.

 

[EddieWalker]

The pins and rails are what costs the most money. The rest is pretty easy to replace and not as rediculous expensive as those two things. It's rare that they are round. You're lucky, because most of the dozers I looked at, they were either flot on both sides, or a few of them had been turned. The ones with round pins were way outside my price range!!! Mine have been turned and I'm on the good side. When they are worn, I'll have to buy all new pins and have them intsalled. The last time I asked, it was in the $5,000 range.

It keeps sounding like a great deal, and for what he wants, you really can't go wrong. Even if it dies on you, blows up and totally explodes, you can still sell it for half of what you paid for it easily.

Eddie

 

[AlanB]

FWIW from a Non dozer owner, I think you are fine, and you have the most important thing to me, someone you can go back too and ask for help when it breaks, who apparently is familar with that type of equipment and it's value and repairing them.

You are not in so deep that you cannot possibly come out, and I bet with the price of steel at the moment you could get a lot of money out in scrap value.

Sound's like fun, wish I had one but my wife would shoot me if I brought one home Course I wear the pants in my family, but then again, my wife picks them out.

 

[rtimgray]

Hi Guys - another brief update and round of questions. First of all, I'm planning on getting the dozer this weekend. I had one of my friends (who has an excavation business with multiple dozers, trackhoes, etc). go by and check out the undercarriage. He said it was in pretty good shape - he would guess 75% or 80%. I also suckered him into hauling it home for me (I don't have a trailer big enough for it) in the next few days.

Here's the questions, particularly for anyone who has an old Case with a 188 diesel: What oil should I use (I'm guessing 15w-40 but would like confirmation). How about the hydraulic system and final drives. By the way, I will be asking these same questions to Joe (the seller), but I thought I would like to here from you guys as well.

Finally, about the fuel. Joe said that the older diesels (such as this one) need to have some oil mixed in with the diesel fuel to help extend the life of the injection pump and injectors. He said he would tell me how much of what kind of oil to mix with 5 gallons of fuel. He said that it would run a long time without doing this, but adding the oil would extend the life. I've never heard of this and I've been around a lot of older tractors (mostly Fords and IHs) that we always just put normal bought-at-the-truckstop diesel fuel in, and they are still running. Anybody know anything about this?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[IH3444]

Great company to do business with.
Crawler Heaven - Construction Equipment Parts in Palmyra, NY - The Source for All of Your Bulldozer Parts Needs

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Go to a Case dealer and they should be able to get you the owners manual for a fair price. A lot of your questions will then be answered.

Good luck, they are good machines.

 

[rtimgray]

I've got an operators manual ordered - it was only about $40 including shipping, so I didn't think that was too bad. I just thought that I would check with you guys to see what you used in your equipment.

The seller indicated the following:

Engine/Air cleaner oil: straight 30W
Transmission/Final drives: 80w-90
Hydraulic System: AW-68 Hydraulic Fluid

He gave me a jug to measure the oil out in for 5 gallons of fuel (it looks like about 8 ounces or so). He said that this was due to a lack of sulphur in the on-road fuel. Any comments/experience with this is appreciated.

Thanks again for the help guys.

 

[rtimgray]

Another update - I just got the dozer home yesterday evening. Haven't had a chance to run it yet. It does have a few small hydraulic leaks that I'm gonna have to take care of, but it starts up and runs great. The seller gave me a wire screen (pretty heavy duty) to put on the back of the canopy. I'm also planning on fabricating and installed a brush guard on top of the dirt blade (for when I'm push brush) and a guard over the radiator.

I'll try to get some pictures this weekend and post them early next week. It does look like the left side track (as you set on the machine) needs to be tensioned just a little bit. I figure I'll get into that after I get the manual on it.

The fella that delivered it for me has operated dozers/equipment for a number of years and he tinkered with it for a few minutes. He was impressed with the steering and the responsiveness of the throttle and the hydraulics power/speed. He, too, thought that the undercarriage looked very good - pins are almost round, drive sprockets dull, the front idlers and rails have been built up.

 

[rtimgray]

Holy Cow - another update!!

I don't mean to be having a conversation with myself, but I've just gotta brag about this piece of old iron I just got. I got to spend about an hour and a half on it last night, and I am (at this point) 100% happy. When I first fired it up, I charged into a couple of old downed apple trees (they've actually been down since springtime) and pushed them together into a pile. When I first started really working it, it was smoking like crazy (uh-oh). However, after just a few more minutes, the smoking went away and didn't reoccur last night.

After doing that, I headed off into the corner of a field that I bushhogged about a month ago. It had several trees, including a thicket of thorn trees that I needed to get rid of. Basically, all I had to do was run into them with the blade up, moderate idle, push them over and ride 'em down, back up, lower the blade, and take them out. This was the same way I used the Case 850, I just expected my baby dozer wouldn't be able to do that. There were only a couple that I had to dig back and forth on a few times. Now obviously, the power of the 310 isn't close to that of the 850, but for most of my clearing needs, it seems like it will have the power and traction.

After pushing the trees down, I got them into some good groups to push into an existing pile (that we will hopefully burn this winter now that I have a dozer to push it together with). This little machine will flat out push a pile! I was hoping it would have comparable power to my DK45, as far as moving a pile goes. It pushes two or three times the amount my DK45 will, with ease! An of course, I don't have to worry about flat tires.

After that, I headed over and smoothed out a gully. Once again, I was really impressed with the dirt pushing ability, especially in our very dry, drought-stricken soil. It turned it right over and filled in the gully with no problems.

Sorry if I seem like I'm gushing about it, but I have to admit that I am a bit surprised with the power of the little machine. It does appear to steer to the left better than to the right. It looks like something that might be able to be adjusted, but I'll wait until I get my manual to get into that. I'm planning on installing some caging around the ROPS, some push bars above the blade and a guard over the grill. I've also got an hourmeter that Joe gave me to install and a water temp gauge to put in (its got an oil pressure and voltmeter gauge that work).

I'll get some pictures this weekend and post them of the machine.