Friend is getting a D8!

[Billrog]

The long lever on the right could be the Johnson bar for forward and reverse at least it was on old machines.

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't know anything about the D8 you are discussing. I looked at one before buying my Case dozer because it was really cheap. But there where so many leaks coming out from it once started, that I decided not to take a chance on it. I did talk to the parts guy at Cat before going and looking at it in person and prices for parts where reasonable, and available.

Always do a walk around and fluid levels check before starting it.

Until you are comfortable with it, there is no such thing as too slow. Everyone that I have ever let operate my dozer tries to go too fast. Go as slow as possible, and then try to go even slower!!!!

The blade is too wide to be able to see what is happening at both ends of it, so what happens is you pay attention to one side and lose track of what the other side is doing. Go slower, that helps you look back and forth to both ends of the blade.

I've never heard of gas peddle on a dozer, you start it up, open up the throttle to it's max setting, and then control how fast you are going either forward or backwards.

A bull dozer is probably the worse machine out there for land clearing. If the ground is still soft after the rains, it will push over some fairly good sized trees If not, it will snap them off just about the ground and leave a nasty stump to deal with. If a tree doesn't push over, you can dig down around the roots and loosen it up. This takes time and you will find that different species of trees require different amounts of dirt to be removed.

My dozer isn't anywhere near as big as a D8, it's only 170hp and weighs 40,000 pounds, so your results will vary, but I'm guessing you'll find out that they are the same too.

Once you have trees and debris on the ground, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER drive over them!!!!! Tracks will twist the branches and trees into the undercarriage and engine compartment of the dozer. If there is a way, a tree will destroy something on a dozer. I've had 2 inch thick pines forced through a one inch hole and tear off the oil pressure sensor on the side of my engine, I've had hydraulic lines torn off, and on my backhoe, I had a branch go right through the front part of the oil pan. If you get a branch stuck inside your tracks, or somewhere that it doesn't belong, stop everything and get rid of it before it costs you a lot of money.

The other problem with trees on the ground is cleaning them up. When you push them into piles, they twist up with each other and create a dangerous spring out of that one tree that wants to kill you or your dozer. Dirt gets mixed into them, which makes burning them pain. Ideally, you want something else to pick up the trees and debris and carry it to the burn pile. This is why I put a grapple on my backhoe. I can push down trees with my dozer, then get it out of the way and come back with the backhoe to clean up the area, and then come back with the dozer to smooth it all out. Be careful of pushing over more trees then you can handle cleaning up.

Never wack or slam into a tree to knock it over. It's very easy to break stuff on a dozer. Breaking means big money to fix. But even worse then the cost is the pain and suffering that you will learn to live with fixing the dozer.

Operating the dozer is painful. The first hour is fun, then it turns into work, and then before you realize it's happened, you've over done it and your brain if fried, your body is mush. It's 100% concentration every second. Once you lose focus, you breaks something that will be expensive and painful to fix.

Nobody is going to come out and fix it for you no matter how much you offer to pay them. Buy every size wrench there is up to two inches. Maybe bigger if you need it for your machine.

Have fun.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'd say that pretty much sums it up. Having a track come off is fun too.

 

[Rustyiron]

I'd say that pretty much sums it up. Having a track come off is fun too.

:laughing: yeah, always deep in the woods and on the side of a hill

 

[EddieWalker]

I'd say that pretty much sums it up. Having a track come off is fun too.

True. That was a lot of fun!!! Painful too.

 

[Jimmy in NC]

Another question, from the videos I've seen it looks like there are two levers for steering but it also looks like there are two brake pedals. Do you use these together? Also, where is the gas pedal? Or is it the longer lever to the right? Finally, it looks like this particular one will have 'direct drive' rather than 'power shift'. Do you have to stop to shift?

The long right lever is most likely the blade up and down.

Pull one steering clutch up top then mash corresponding brake to turn.

Far right pedal is a decelerator... opposite of your right pedal in your car.

Shift 1-2-3 on the go... I try to stop before changing direction on the older machines.

 

[N80]

Always do a walk around and fluid levels check before starting it.

Good point!

Until you are comfortable with it, there is no such thing as too slow. Everyone that I have ever let operate my dozer tries to go too fast. Go as slow as possible, and then try to go even slower!!!!

That's a good point too. For the three of us that might be involved in this dozer, time is not an issue. No need for us to hurry.

The three of us had talked casually for some time about buying a dozer together and maintaining it together. I had in mind something D6 or smaller in size which would have been more practical for my purposes. But this young fellow bought this on his own. He did consult his uncle (who is my B-I-L) and who has the shop and has worked on heavy equipment and owned one smaller dozer before. From what I'm reading here, I will probably not want to operate a dozer this big, especially since I won't be part owner. I could still offer to provide help with maintenance costs but again, for a dozer this size it might be cost prohibitive especially if I'm not going to be using it much or at all.

I've never heard of gas peddle on a dozer, you start it up, open up the throttle to it's max setting, and then control how fast you are going either forward or backwards.

Eddie, that was just my ignorance.

A bull dozer is probably the worse machine out there for land clearing.

He will be adding a root rake and rippers. From what I've observed that's pretty much what folks around here use for clearing. Most of his land has been logged. Clear cut in fact. Some standing trees but not many. Lots of stumps. some small ravines to be leveled out. My needs are even less. Maybe an acre or so of small pines. I cleared 4 similar acres with my little tractor alone but that took a weeks.

Once you have trees and debris on the ground, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER drive over them!!!!!

That's how my grandfather lost his leg.

Tracks will twist the branches and trees into the undercarriage and engine compartment of the dozer.

Yep. Same with a tractor. I was pushing piles of logs and brush with my tractor and a pine branch snaked into the engine compartment from behind, broke the fan and punctured my radiator. Another time one came in and pulled the fan belt off.

As I mentioned, I had several close calls with small pine trunks bending and swinging back towards me. I'm very careful now.

Once you lose focus, you breaks something that will be expensive and painful to fix.

That would be my main concern. I'm not worried about messing the job up on my place. I'd worry about breaking something or even having something fail under normal wear while I was using it. As I mentioned, I'll probably just drive this thing around in a field for a few minutes for kicks and that's all.

Nobody is going to come out and fix it for you no matter how much you offer to pay them. Buy every size wrench there is up to two inches. Maybe bigger if you need it for your machine.

That is the one area in which the new owner will be in pretty good shape. My B-I-L has the tools and the shop. He has a truck with a welder and compressor on it. He has the large tools for his own ag equipment and from when he restored the half-track. I'm sure there are other "large" tools he would need for a major repair but otherwise most jobs the two of them would be able to handle. Again, this young man crews (officer) on an ocean going heavy lift/salvage ship. He has experience with large equipment, cranes, winches, etc. All of our property is adjoining and the shop is a half mile down the road.

Thanks Eddie and all the rest for your advice and knowledge. Merry Christmas.

George

 

[EddieWalker]

I've always heard that people clear land with a dozer, and I'm sure for a very long time, that's how they did it. But everywhere I go, I see land being cleared with an excavator. I've been watching an area that I guess to be 100 acres that they where removing every singe tree from it. Project lasted for well over a month with three 20 something tonne excavators, lots of dump trucks and not one single bull dozer. It's been sitting bare for a couple of weeks now, and I have no idea what's next. I'm sure a dozer will show up eventually, but for just taking out all the trees, it was excavators elusively. Same thing with small residential lots to clearing fence lines. I'm using my backhoe to clear my land. I tried the dozer, it was fun, then it wasn't fun, then it was pure torture. The backhoe is faster, cleaner, easier and cheaper then using the dozer. I had a very large root rake that I thought would help, but if you can pick up the trees and brush, that's always going to faster and cleaner then pushing with a rake. The rake doesn't catch dirt, but the trees sure do, and the farther you go, the more dirt you will be adding to the trees.

 

[N80]

I think you could clear it with an excavator but you'd have a hard time leveling and smoothing with one. And getting both would be pricey. So for prepping clear cut for pasture with only one, I guess a dozer with rippers and a root rake is the best option. But I'm just guessing.....fortunately I'm not the one with the job or buying a huge dozer! Could end up being a huge mess. Glad I'll be watching from the sidelines and I sure wish he had gotten something in the D3-D6 range.

Talked to my B-I-L today and he says the deal has not been finalized yet and his nephew, the buyer, has shipped out for 2-3 months. He still thinks the deal will happen but not as quickly as he first thought......which was supposed to be next week.

 

[Industrial Toys]

They cleared the almost 100 acres next to me with a mid sized excavator working much of a summer. I mean burying fence lines. Old house, barn, outbuildings all gone. Now, it's one BIG field good for Cash Cropping with Big Equipment. I have very mixed feelings about it.

 

[Sonny580]

The hoe is the way to go, and yes you can level ground just as good with them as a dozer! ---I have done it when helping a friend with a new deere 450.---The first few hours get interesting, but after that it's just plain boring!
D-8 is a baby!!! NOTHING to be afraid of!--Learn the controls and pratice a few hours before getting radical with them and your good to go.
I have an IH 250-c series lll and it is the 4-1 loader. The guy that hauled it said he weighed it at a certified scales and it weighs 60,000 pounds.---I have been in some nasty areas with it and you can't see a thing from the seat,--only the back of the bucket! ---run one for a few hours and getting the feel of your own machine will give good results.



This is my 250 thanks; sonny580

 

[BobG_in_VA]

Back in the late '60s, I ran a D7 hydraulic (hydrostatic trans) and we had a D8 with the cable winch that raised and lowered the blade...a number of things come to mind...1: really important....never get one without GREAT hearing protection..(not so much going forward, but in reverse the tracks going back over the drive wheel will be so loud you won't believe it..) second, the D8 is a 6 cyl engine..the D7 was 4. both at the time, each had gasoline 2 cly. pony motors to start them as a regular "electric" starter motor wouldn't even turn it over once...once you get in the seat of a D8 you'll wonder how anyone can ever learn to run one correctly..the hood looks like its 15 feet long! (and is **** near it..). the "clutches" are the levers in front of you, pull the right one and the right track disengages, you will slowly turn to the right as the left track takes over...the right brake will hasten the turn after the clutch is pulled.. as far as the "throttle" is concerned (lever in the center between the clutches), once started/warmed up, goes as far forward as it will go (ie. wide open)...the third foot thingy (besides the 2 brake pedals) is the "decellerator".. when you want to come to a stop, push it, the engine will go to idle, change gears (do this to back up), let off the pedal and the engine is wide open again. NOW: MY ADVICE would be to never run this unit...the slightest mistake could cost you thousands of dollars...by the way you wouldn't even want to pay for the CAT guy to come out with his truck to even figure out what's wrong...pay your neighbor to do the work...you won't be sorry.. Good luck.. BobGinVA

 

[N80]

Thanks for the info. So far no dozer has showed up at his place yet. This one (D8K) does not have a pony motor. I'm still kinda hoping the deal will fall through and he'll get something smaller.

 

[yanmars]

As BobG mentioned: I have a brother that had a smaller dozer. Often said I could use it. I have so much brush, rocks, hills I just passed on it. Felt I would damage it in some manner. Hired a pro several times, money well spent. Knew what he was doing and did it quickly.

 

[BrokenTrack]

It takes some getting used to, but a bulldozer is the fastest way to clear land. That is because it does it all, getting the stump out of the ground, and smoothing the soil after. The bigger the dozer the better because it makes the field flatter across, just like a long hand plane makes a board smooth because it is rides over the bumps and planes off the high spots. Same thing on a big bulldozer.

To stump, you will want a 4 way blade; 6 ways blades are weaker and unneeded, angling the blade just makes them slip to one side anyway. So to remove a stump, tilt your blade to the right, (my preferred side, but I am right handed), then drop the blade about 6-5 feet before the stump. That lets the blade rip into the roots and get kind of gets under the stump. Think of it like a plate of glass with water, it is not so much the roots that hold the stump to the ground but rather a type of suction, break that suction and the stump rolls right out.

To do that, as the stump starts to nudge its way out of the ground, drive forward, but tilt the blade back the other way so that traction and hydraulics aid in removing the stump. Once it is kind of out of the ground, back up, get another push on it, and go at it again. To keep soil from going with the stump, lift the blade about a foot off the ground which lets the soil drop off on your way to the edge of the field. After about a 1000 stumps you will get the hang of it!

By the way:: I got my user name while land clearing on a mountainside last year. As I was putting it in reverse to make another push, my track snapped in half and I watched it zipper right past the cab piling up on my blade. It was only a John Deere 700, but still took some effort to put back on and fix!

 

[N80]

As BobG mentioned: I have a brother that had a smaller dozer. Often said I could use it. I have so much brush, rocks, hills I just passed on it. Felt I would damage it in some manner. Hired a pro several times, money well spent. Knew what he was doing and did it quickly.

That is what I have done in the past for critical work....site prep for the cabin, main driveway, etc. The work I need to do now is much less critical...knock down some small trees and stumps, put 'em in piles. The rest I'll do with my little tractor. But I get what you're saying. I don't like messing with other people's expensive stuff. Don't want to be "that" guy that breaks something. However, I have been called many times by folks in this family to operate their farm equipment (all of much bigger than my tractor) when they have needed help in a pinch....although I've never been asked to run the bailer or the hay cutter. They have also used my tractor when they needed something smaller than what they have. Anyway, all of that is to say that if, for whatever reason, I did run this machine it would not be like the brother-in-law putz from the city breaks the bulldozer....even though that's what it would look like on paper. ;-)

Again, for the small job I need doing, I'd get the owner to do it and pay for the fuel.

 

[N80]

It takes some getting used to, but a bulldozer is the fastest way to clear land. That is because it does it all, getting the stump out of the ground, and smoothing the soil after. The bigger the dozer the better because it makes the field flatter across, just like a long hand plane makes a board smooth because it is rides over the bumps and planes off the high spots. Same thing on a big bulldozer.

To stump, you will want a 4 way blade; 6 ways blades are weaker and unneeded, angling the blade just makes them slip to one side anyway. So to remove a stump, tilt your blade to the right, (my preferred side, but I am right handed), then drop the blade about 6-5 feet before the stump. That lets the blade rip into the roots and get kind of gets under the stump. Think of it like a plate of glass with water, it is not so much the roots that hold the stump to the ground but rather a type of suction, break that suction and the stump rolls right out.

To do that, as the stump starts to nudge its way out of the ground, drive forward, but tilt the blade back the other way so that traction and hydraulics aid in removing the stump. Once it is kind of out of the ground, back up, get another push on it, and go at it again. To keep soil from going with the stump, lift the blade about a foot off the ground which lets the soil drop off on your way to the edge of the field. After about a 1000 stumps you will get the hang of it!

By the way:: I got my user name while land clearing on a mountainside last year. As I was putting it in reverse to make another push, my track snapped in half and I watched it zipper right past the cab piling up on my blade. It was only a John Deere 700, but still took some effort to put back on and fix!

Good advice, thanks. Still no dozer has showed up on the property so far.

 

[N80]

He got the dozer. It is a D8H and not a D8K. It is old and looks old. Most of the dials don't work. Seat is all torn up. But, the treads and sprockets look good and he says it cranks and runs great. He has been learning to use it and has already done a fair amount of clearing with it. He says it is hard to operate well and you're working both arms and legs the whole time. Steep learning curve. He says it handles even the large stumps fine but it is a slow process and requires backing up at least once. He says it is a problem with the stumps taking a lot of soil with them but it is wet and sticky right now and will probably not be as much of a problem when it is dryer. He says he will eventually need a root rake for it. Can't imagine how much that must cost.

He says he wants me to come drive it (it is just across the road from my place) and I'll take him up on it just for kicks.

 

[fried1765]

He got the dozer. It is a D8H and not a D8K. It is old and looks old. Most of the dials don't work. Seat is all torn up. But, the treads and sprockets look good and he says it cranks and runs great. He has been learning to use it and has already done a fair amount of clearing with it. He says it is hard to operate well and you're working both arms and legs the whole time. Steep learning curve. He says it handles even the large stumps fine but it is a slow process and requires backing up at least once. He says it is a problem with the stumps taking a lot of soil with them but it is wet and sticky right now and will probably not be as much of a problem when it is dryer. He says he will eventually need a root rake for it. Can't imagine how much that must cost.

He says he wants me to come drive it (it is just across the road from my place) and I'll take him up on it just for kicks.

View attachment 540920View attachment 540921

Oh...the poor guy !
Wait until something major breaks.....and it will!
Major wallet fracture !

 

[N80]

Wait until something major breaks.....and it will!
Major wallet fracture !

No doubt.

Oh...the poor guy !

I wouldn't say that. This is an extremely shrewd and calculating young man (who is an officer on a heavy lift salvage and recovery ship. I suspect he has looked at all the possibilities and has taken them into consideration. And, as mentioned before, his uncle (who is my B-I-L) has a large shop less than a mile down the road in which he has restored a WWII half-track, maintains and repairs all his large ag tractors and has done major repairs on a previous dozer and a large articulated front end loader. He also has a mobile welding truck at his disposal.

Time will tell. Even the best laid plans can go belly up.