Opinions on a t9 dozer

Presuming in decent shape, what are the opinions on a t9 international. Gas obviously.

I would like to put in a couple of small ponds and have more time than money. Most dozers I find are worn out and look like money pits. The two t9s I have run across appear to have good undercarriages. Would this to the job or were they not able to push their own shadow? I have read they were comparable to a d4. Is a gas dozer a bad thing other than a little more thirsty?

Any help is appreciated.

Jason
 
Well here is my take on this for what it is worth . I started my working career in the heavy construction as and equipoment operator - mechanic - semi driver for at the time a vary large company . If it came on tracks tires or rollers we had it . Every make and model from the D4 class on up . The dozers we had the most problems with were the I H's , A/C's and the Euclid's , yes even the Cat's would drop kick us but far less then the cats . The OLD dozer did build this country BUT they were NEW back then Now they are way past retirement age . They are SLOW vary unresponsive and when they do break down NOW rots a luck finding parts . Yep it is nice to fix one up like new for a show piece But to try and work it NAH . It will either break you or you will break it. In other words they will beat you up big time . No power assist on the steering levers , if the clutch is adjusted up correctly your left arm will feel like it is going to fall off before the day has really gotten started , then comes blade response shell we say SLOW and you will have washboards for a grade , then comes the fun part backing over that Yea that will beat the dog snot out of you . Ya want to get something done take the money your going to spend on that neat OLD dozer and go rent a NEW dozer in the same weight class for a month , just add fuel and some grease and if IT BREAKS down ya pick up the phone and make the call and tell them there piece of junk just took a DUMP bring me another one .
 
My father purchased a TD18A with a TD20 engine in it. It had a frozen right track clutch. I fixed that and worked it for 3 months pushing sand. It pushed a lot of sand and made its payment. It was a cable operated 14' Bucyrus Erie blade. I was 20 years old and sprouted new muscles every day of operation. If they run, move, and steer well (or at least one does) they will sure dig a pond. If in shale or yellow clay you will need a ripper to get anywhere. Jim
 
Just dollars and sense. My brother had some trees dozed out, cost him a pretty penny. Then he had a pond dug, more $$, now he wants to hire out dozing for a third time. Nah, if it were me I would buy an old dozer and use it til it breaks, and let it sit like yard art and buy another machine and do the same. Would be money ahead by far if the dozer even worked for a week.
So look at what the cost is to hire out your specific task. Buying an old dozer should then cost you about half that or less. Sure you gotta pay someone to haul it, but I am telling you, if it works for even only the first job, you win.
 
Well lets see here , we rented a NEW John Deere 750 J with a 6 way blade for a week , they allow 40 working tach hours . we put a few more on it . Moved a bunch of dirt in that time for a new Composting Barn for a 100 head of dairy cows. and it cost us 1250 bucks . Now had my friend had this work done by one of the excavators that gave bids on this job his low bid that came in was over 9500 bucks . That bid was for four machines and four operators and a grade man . Ok we had two operators and one graded man PART TIME . Had to buy a new transit and story pole (375) . About four hundred gallons of fuel used about a dozen tubes of grease and about three qt's. of oil Like i said moved a bunch of dirt with one dozer that everybody was going to use pan's - Scrapers to do this job . NOw the neat thing was that when we were done with the rented dozer i took the time to clean it up and had it fueled and greased ready to go for the next guy . The rental place called us and said that they would not charge us the extra 25 hours i put on it because of the way we returned it so they did not have to spend the time servicing it and offered us at any time a better rate on our next rental . I learned one thing on this that is for what we were doing the six way blade was not the best as it will not move what a 10 foot 6 inch semi U blade will . Now as for and older dozer there is only one that peaks my interest at this time and it needs work , just how much i am not sure as i need to take the time and go look at it . will it be worth the effort to fix it Don't know , How much of the work can i do and how much will have to be FARMED out and at what cost . Well they allow it to be repaired on there site after it is bought ?? does it have the new style track chain that unbolts or do you have to drive the pin out ( not into swinging a 20 pound sledge to drive out a master pin. No i don't have and OTC portable track pin press to use . ) So here again 7000 grand for a newer BROKE down dozer that needs fixen that at the lowest cost of repair will be two grand or better with no labor . Or rent the same class dozer that needs no fixen and do the job for over a month and have fun and enjoy the ride and ease of operation of the new machine . Or the worry's of hauling it . Keep in mind here anything over 8 foot 6 inches wide requires a permit each time you want to more it on the road. Just and FYI.
 
Old trick to get them to cut better was to screw the blade adjusting arm OUT and tip the cutting edge back , it did not take much to get then to cut in , unless ya hit shale or sand rock . Now on todays machines with the hyd tilt blade ya do the same BUT you tilt the corner of the blade down and use the blade to rip small trenches acroos your work area if you don't have a ripper . Now with the blade tipped forward in soft ground it will suck in so fast you have to be fast on the blade control . Ya want to roll sod like rolling a carpet then lean the blade back a bit . Ya never lived till ya have to restring the cable on and old cable machine , best to ware two pairs of leather gloves .
 
The blade was fixed in every direction but u and down. if I needed to get a corner in the ground, I needed to dig a trench going perpendicular to the intention, to set the track in to tip the blade angle. Nasty machine. Jim
 
Oh yea now i remember that blade , Cats you could adjust the pitch . I spent more time on Cats . , ran a few of the A/C's . All the I H's that were there had hyd. blades and you could not adjust them either. Last I h OLD dozer i was on was the neighbors TD 14 and that was like 40 years ago. I had to rebuild the left sterring clutch for him and end up running it to clear fence rows for new fence because he could not run it Old clumsy beast . During the blizzard of 77 they tryed to get it running and with temps down to 30 below she would not turn over , Sooooooo they got this bright idea to cut the bottom third of a 55 gal barrel fill it with baler twine and a mixture of gas and diesel and set it on fire under the belly pan . Nobody saw the ice in the starting tank sediment bowl . they never thought about the years of oil and grease layen in the belly pans . well the fire under it was warming things up till the sediment bowl broke and gas got down there as the tank was full and she got really cooken . My buddy saw it first and yelled and there were five of us shoveling snow on it to try and put out the fire . Damage was done . Hoses wiring rubber lines Gone . we were not going to use it anymore till it was repaired and that was not going to happen till the sun came out and temps got up to comfort levels . They almost lost there pole building with that stunt , only to be repeated the next year with his 766 when the hyd fluid froze up because he was to cheap to replace it when it got milky I was five degrees colder the next year . The only tractor that would start was my 460 gas and it was setting outside . Let him use it to grind feed.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top