JD 450 bottom rebuild cost

[milkie62]

I have been looking at JD 450 dozers for my property. 2 driveways to build, 3/4 mile of wood road to maintain and 2 houses to build along with playing on my 100 acres doing food plots and things. My price range is in the low $20k range. I plan on taking a Cat mechanic from my FD to look at anything I may want to buy. If I find something in the 50% UC what is involved in bringing it up to the 90-100% UC range ? What parts are changed ? Can it be done at a home shop or does some need to be farmed out ? Hope I am asking the right questions.

 

[Peter 315]

It can get costly depending on how many parts are worn out drive sprockets ,front idler , track links (chain), bottom rollers, You can do it at home but its a lot of bull work, You could get a price quote from a dealer for parts and labor, Then price out aftermarket parts and your time... GG on here ( TBN)did his dozer maybe he will chime in........

 

[Sonny580]

track chains can have bushings turned if they have not already been done. That job takes a shop with a special track press ---some of them are 500 ton jobbers. as far as all of the other parts --- you can do that at home with a LOT of hefty friends to help.
If the chains are really worn---cheaper to get new ones and have something that will run a long time. sounds like you plan on putting a lot of hours on it so I wouldnt cut corners on parts to start with. just my .02

 

[milkie62]

I have approx. 100 acres that a little over half is wooded. A couple of logging roads to access firewood. My kids will be building homes so grading, septic , driveways, will need to be done. I also have about 1800' of hedgerow that I would like to reclaim by pushing out the brush and rebuilding the stone wall. Renting or having someone do it a little at a time would cost too much. I am retiring in march and want to play more. I was thinking $20k price for dozer and maybe up to $7k for doing u/c myself for the most part. About 100 hrs per year initially then just some property maintenance after that. Figure 450 size is good for what I want to do--no major earth moving but would need a 6 way blade for side hill wood road work. Want to make my field edges and one long hedgerow park like . Also a nice little metal carport for longetivity after steam cleaning and paint.

Also does anybody know if winches can be put on the rear of most dozers ?