How much is this dozer worth?

[Phast12]

I have always found that the pedals will tell you alot about the age of a vehicle. Most people fix up all kinds of other stuff if they are trying to pull one over on someone but they never thing about replacing the pedals.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Just my opinion, but I think that it is a machine that the military got and never used. If you get it, you will be getting a NOS machine. As far as what it is worth, the auction will tell you that. If I had some extra cash, I would even bid on it.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[JoeinTX]

That thing is an enigma.


When I read tscott's orignal post I thought "BS" but as I looked through the 31 pics of it on the sales site...........I am not so sure. I don't see a dent, ding, blemish, mar, or gouge anywhere on it. Anywhere. The thing looks darned close to factory new.

The U.C. is very good and the blade face/cutting edges don't look like they've touched anything. Rear winch and hitch look pristine. Even if never used and only 25hrs on the meter, it looks as if it's sat in closed storage because there is very little weathering at all to it. Everything I see leads me to believe the hourmeter is correct and it was simply bought by the DOD and never used for anything.


But, that begs some questions too.

-As mentioned earlier, with around 1.4 hours of use per year in it's working life, that's a lot of idle time for things to seize up and dry out. Brake bands, seals, hoses, valves........I'd like to see a video of the thing working.

-The U.S. military has a lot of much older and more used equipment still in regular use....the local ANG Engineering unit still employs and early 1980s D-8. I would tend to think this unit would replace an older machine that then itself might be liquidated. Albeit, it's a gubbermint operation and I know nothing about their buying/selling practices.

-I've seen plenty of old ex-military dozers that display green/grey paint underneath their most recently applied yellow coat, but this thing has yellow paint under the green as can be seen around the ID plates. I thought gov't machines were painted in the factory per the contract not re-sprayed after the regular yellow shade was applied. Any thoughts here?

-I don't recall seeing military machines with bright, clear, new looking factory logos on them.......these things are generally left off or painted over since the military isn't looking to promote or advertise their suppliers. They look recently reapplied. I don't know how these government liquidations work, but it looks to me like someone got ahold of a little-used Navy unit and spruced it up a bit for the sale with touch-ups and logos


If I could operate or see it operated on video, then I'd be comfortable in the $30,000 area since it physically looks so fresh. I say this because there may be as many problems with it from lack of use over the years as there could be abuse over the years.

 

[IH3444]

Having been to Fort Leonard Wood several times, I have seen just acres of equipment sitting around for the never occured US-Soviet conflict. It is very possible it is what it says.

 

[DmansPadge]

I used to work for a municipality and we bought several pieces of equipment from the military. It was an auction but it was only open to local and state government, not the public. We got a JD 544 articulated loader that was about 15 years old and it only had about 300 hours on it. Its condition was very similar to this dozer's. And it did have the JD emblems on it. Here is the crazy part.... we paid $500 for it!!

 

[franklinute]

I think that it a fact to say that our government has over spent our money at times. Supposedly there exists warehouses full of equipment and supplies that were budgeted for and never used. I have always been told that I the budgeted monies wasn't spent and the extra monies returned then your budget would be cut the next year. It is possible that this has sat idle for years but I would still be leary. I would feel much better seeing it in person.

 

[newbury]

As I sit in both worlds - making equipment surplus and my brother-in-law buys surplus equipment (but not what I surplus) I can readily confirm that probably billions of dollars are spent on equipment which never gets used and is sold for pennies on the dollar.

I have almost cried when I've had to excess some VERY EXPENSIVE unused camera equipment and see it go to the great depot in the sky, equipment I would have gladly paid going used $$ for.

We have vehicles/systems we fielded in the '90's which to this day have the little "stubbies" or "whiskers" on their tires sitting in National Guard warehouses.

Don't get me started on computers.

My brother-in-law is a doctor in MS with a tendency and hobby to buy used military equipment. Last time I checked he had several running ambulances, a deuce-and-a half or two, some Jeeps and a TON or ten of miscellaneous stuff.

He purchased a warehouse, I think about 30'x60', that was made up of prefab panels to store some of it in, again from the government.

I've also seen stuff excessed that was so beat up that they should have just let it rot in place to save money.

So looking at the dozer I think the OP may have made a mistake showing us the sight, because one of us may outbid him for a great machine

Almost like the fabled "Harley's in cosmoline"

 

[Tscott9330]

So looking at the dozer I think the OP may have made a mistake showing us the sight, because one of us may outbid him for a great machine

Ya know, This thought crossed my mind before I posted the auction site. I almost posted it when I started the thread, but hesitated to show it to anyone who could bid against me. I then realized that no one would believe this unless they saw it. Truth is I probably cannot afford what the auction will run up to, which is a shame because I'll bet I could buy it, use it for my needs and then sell it for a darn good profit. So if anyone in the Jax area buys it let me know and I will rent it from you for a few months.

I do tend to think it is the real deal. I looked at the trucks they auction a few months ago and almost had the wife convinced we needed one, but we ended up with a more practical choice. The trucks were always sold as is, and i never saw signs of fresh paint and re-applied stickers. The government liquidation folks are under contract with the government and I don't think they spit shine anything before they auction it. I do see what you are saying about the lack of use causing issues, but one would hope that a mothballed item like this would receive a service every now and then to keep it viable if needed. As stated above the winch and the blade show no use, so I would tend to believe that the few hours on it are from scheduled services over the years. Oh well, even if the auction goes too high, at least it was a good thread.

Tom

 

[jenkinsph]

It is worth more than $150

You may check with your lawyer as to how to best proceed though.

With the age of the unit and so little run time I consider that to be a non plus.



Steve

 

[EddieWalker]

...I have always been told that I the budgeted monies wasn't spent and the extra monies returned then your budget would be cut the next year. It is possible that this has sat idle for years but I would still be leary. I would feel much better seeing it in person.

This is exactly how our government works. I've always told anybody who would listen that the best way to cut the deficit and reduce the budget would be to give half of the money people save, back to them. A whole lot of wasteful spending would magically stop happening.

I was the Supply NCO at the US Embassies in Yaounde Cameroon and Jakarta Indonesia. For eleven months, I would order what we needed for our daily operations. Then on month twelve of our fiscal year, I'd see how much money was left over in our budget. It was usually a few thousand dollars. I would then go through the catalog and spend all of it on stuff we didn't need, but hoped somebody would find a use for sometime in the future. Sports and exercise equipment was usually the first thing I bought. Then decorations and Marine Corps items would finish it off.

To my knowledge, every Detachment at every Embassy did this. Talking to the people in the Embassy, the State Department, AID. CIA and DOD, all did the same thing. Watch your pennies for 11 months and then spend like crazy before the year ends.

Some of the stuff that I bought was never used. It just sat there as inventory that I had to keep count of. Some things that had been in inventory for awhile would be thrown away. Even if it was still brand new and never used.

My guess is that dozer was bought to spend money to clear a budget. Since they didn't really need it, they just let it sit. Whatever agency that bought it, was responsible for it. They can't let others use it, probably didn't need it either. Now, after so many years, they are cleaning up inventory and just want to get rid of it for the space it's taking up and paperwork to keep it on the inventory.

Eddie