Thinking about a crawler or a dozer

I've got a little hobby farm of 40 acres I mess around with. Mainly play farm about 8 of them, grow pumpkins, sweet corn and for the critters cowpeas, buckwheat, turnips and rye/wheat. I have an old Deere 4010 that makes quick work of it, probably less than 40 hours on the meter a year. The fields are surrounded by timber and I'd like to harvest some logs for the sawmill for lumber to build some outbuildings and for a small cabin say 16 by 20 or so. I have access to a woodmizer portable mill my brother owns and might even buy my own. No way in heck my Deere is going to leave the fields, no rops and muffler is too tall anyway to drive in the woods. A small dozer like a Deere 1010 or 350 would be just the ticket, even an older smaller crawler like a td9 would be fine for my small logs. Looking at rental costs I think I'd be ahead to buy a small dozer. Trick is I need to find one with an undercarriage and motor that has several hundred hours of life left in it. I doubt I'd put 20 hours a year on it. My budget is probably $5,000 maybe stretch that to 10K. How realistic is it for me to find a machine in that price range that will run 40 hours a year relatively trouble free for several years in you opinions? All this percent wear on undercarriage seems highly subjective and maybe a little unrealistic. Seen people proclaim 85% undercarriage on a 40 year old machine in ads.

Thanks
 
Find an old dozer operator that you can trust. Notice I said "Dozer Operator", not "Dozer Owner" (lots of us are owners). Have him personally look over anything you may be interested in. Listen to and heed his advise. Buy him and his wife a fine steak dinner for every trip he makes with you. It will be the best money you ever spent on a dozer.
 
I take our 4020 with 158 loader and back blade in the woods plenty of times ? I sure would not mess around with a dozer for a few logs.
 
Thanks fellas for your thoughts. I need to find a dozer operator! I didn't mention that the woods are fairly steep hills, my 4010 would feel plenty tippy. I used to have a ford 8n and if the wheels were set out at 8' it probably would have worked, but the older I get the better I can evaluate risk. No sawlog is worth a rollover. Tracked skidsteers seem to be out of my price range generally, and the guys on forestry forum are not to impressed with skidsteers for pulling logs.
 
Save some headaches and lots of money and let someone who knows how to judge and fall a tree so you get the best lumber your timber has. Not all trees make the best lumber for a building.
 
The thing to remember about crawlers is that they are relatively stable, but in certain situations they will tip over backwards. If the crawler is climbing a steep grade and has good traction, it can just roll itself over backwards. I learned that in the neighbor's silage pile using their TD9; I saw the top of the radiator start to bob so I hit the clutch just in time to let the crawler roll backwards down the incline instead of rolling over backwards. That was kinda scary. Turned around and backed up on top of the pile, which works fine with a crawler.
 
there are measurements you can take on the undercarriage to measure the % wear--there are charts around that will give new dimensions and 25.50,75,and 100% wear
 
If your land is more hills and not soft ground, you could also look at old cable log skidders. Much more sure footed on sloping ground than a dozer. If all you want to do is pull timber.
 
From my experience I think a crawler loader would be a better choice, As others have said find a "Good" dozer operator and listen to him. My choice would be a John Deere,350 0r 450 loader. Just my .02 cents worth. Jim in N. M.
 
If your thinking of and OLD dozer i sure hope you have a never ending check book and a vary well supplied tool box . and a OLD dozer is just that well used and abused. They are a high ware piece of equipment and if the initial price is CHEAP there is a reason . If you have never run one and have no idea what your looking at other then a nice Sherman and Williams overhaul then your already in trouble . Under carriages are not cheap and if you do not know what to look at and how to look them over and buy it only to find out that once your on uneven ground it throws a track because it is wore out and the joy of putting a track back on is no fun and gets wores as the size of the machine gets bigger. , then there is the transmission if it is a power shift or shuttle it may work while it is cold but after a couple hours of working it it may not move one way or the other . Then have a finial drive go out a tear up everything in there . small dozers are not built as well as a D10or D11 where they will run lots of hours with constant rebuilds , You have to look at the main frames well on smaller machines like the 1010-450's you have to look at the track frames also . at this time i am involved in working on a It was Such a good deal -------at first John Deere 440 , yea wright . What a nightmare . Maybe today or tomorrow i will have it running and like i told the owner once it is RUNNING and moves on it's own DUMP it as it still needs a TON of money put into it to make it usable and parts are vary hard to find . the one i should have went to look at was a 750 Deere with a blowed engine but here again it is buying a pig in a polk , Why did the engine blow ??? how bad were the hydro units how may gallon of oil does it leak everywhere . Can it be repaired , yea with enough Money throwen at it . I hear it all the time BUT I AM ONLY GOING TO USE IT ON THE WEEKENDS . They don't care what day of the week it is they will drop kick ya and you have two choices , one you spend money to make it work or you hope the price of scrap comes up . All work on any dozer is hard heavy and finger pinchen. If your dead set then find a heavy equipment mechanic to go with you and pay him a couple hundred bucks for his time and advice it will be the best money you spend even if you have to end up paying him a grand to look at several machines.
 
that's scary most of the ones I'd be looking at would be no ROPs. I've have to be pretty quick on the clutch myself a few times when the hood on a tractor started to come up trying to pull off the 3-pt mounted drawbar instead of the lower drawbar bolted to the pumpkin
 
For that purpose, a skidder is worthy of consideration, but if you have grading, clearing or similar tasks a small dozer is not a bad choice. Remember, without a log arch or similar means to hoist an end, you'll be gouging drag areas and loading up the bark with dirt, which is not so friendly to tools that cut. I sweep or wash logs off where I have to cut, but its nice to not have to drag them out with the log entirely on the ground, though some will turn to a a side that may work well, depends on the log itself.

I made a heavy set of forks for the 3 pt of my tractor, the front has a weight kit on it, and its got loaded tires. The log in the photo is a wet heavy american elm log, that could be sawn.

On the crawlers, you need to look them over carefully, and if you can get an experience heavy equipment mechanic to look it over, its well worth what ever it takes to get them to inspect the tractor. 350/450 deere are a nice size, but you had best check these over with a fine tooth comb. I've seen quite a few reasonable D3 cat's around, same with case 450's & 850's, those are both good choices in my book. I have 5 years full time experience on most excavation equipment, but I am not as knowledgeable as an experience mechanic, operating these is one thing, taking them apart and repairing them is another.

Undercarriage wear is not subjective. When the undercarriage is new, its 100%, (new with no wear). Once the tractor has hours on it, you have to measure the components to determine how much wear there is. You can see a few obvious things, but I'd like to meet someone who can "eyeball" a set of tracks and provide an accurate percentage of wear. That would be a lucky guess. It has to be measured, then compared against what the new specifications are. SOme of these tractors will get several undercarriages in their service life, so an old one can be 85%, or new.

Look over any candidate carefully, there are decent 15K tractors out there of the size you want, but you will have to find them. Some are obvious to a trained eye to be suspect of being worn out, thats the one you don't want to buy thinking its got 60% left on the tracks LOL !
a225238.jpg

a225239.jpg
 
I'd be looking for a low profile 4WD tractor with a logging winch on the back,as the tractor vet said dozers can be a bottomless money pit.Really the small amount of lumber you're going to
use a few trips to the building supply place will end up being a whole lot cheaper and easier in the long run.
 
Sounds like an awful lot of labor and trouble for logs to build with. $5-10,000 will buy alot of pre-cut logs that are straight and sized properly, and delivered to your job site. And unless you know what your doing logging on a hillside can be extremely dangerous. Also used dozers aren't exactly maintenance free. You must have alot of time on your hands.
 
Sometimes you can get lucky,too though.Right place at the right time.Bought this 943 Cat from an estate.High hours,but well maintained.Great for farm and other hobby work.Have had it for ovr 5 years,runs like a clock.If I had to make a living with it,I'd have to spend some money on the undercarriage,but Ill never wear it out.Only thing I've done is service it and put a winshield in it.Paid 3 thousand for it,11k hours.
<a href="http://s1268.photobucket.com/user/douga3/media/DSCN0525.jpg.html" target="_blank">
DSCN0525.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSCN0525.jpg
</a>
<a href="http://s1268.photobucket.com/user/douga3/media/securedownload.jpg.html" target="_blank">
securedownload.jpg" border="0" alt="Working on the Trail King photo securedownload.jpg
</a>
 
I have owned several dozers and the last one (D-4 Cat) will be the last thing I will ever own on steel tracks !! I was in the logging business and needed them for road building and snow plowing in the winter. I am retired now and live on 40 acres, I bought a bobcat T-190 wide track and that thing is the way to go in my opinion. When I cut firewood I have a grapple bucket and pile the brush and haul the logs to where I cut them up(no dirt). It is a expensive toy but the resale value is there. Also easy to move if I want to take it off site.
 
(quoted from post at 10:57:40 04/28/16) Sounds like an awful lot of labor and trouble for logs to build with. $5-10,000 will buy alot of pre-cut logs that are straight and sized properly, and delivered to your job site. And unless you know what your doing logging on a hillside can be extremely dangerous. Also used dozers aren't exactly maintenance free. You must have alot of time on your hands.

Gotta agree but sometimes you just need something with tracks!

Rick
 
Hi I have just come back from fixing a tractor for a guy, there is a case track loader sitting there. 3000 would buy it from what he said, biggest problem is the clutches are shot and the track gears even worse. it's a nice looking machine at 25 ft!. I fix equipment as I said that machine would be a money pit even with me doing the work.

I'm looking at a backhoe loader for my farm and a bit of custom work to. there is some junk out there at $30.000 and 10.000 machines are even worse for age and condition. A dozer will by nature have been ridden hard and put away damp in your price range. Plus the older it gets the less parts are around. good Used parts unless it caught fire can be hard to find now as well for some makes.
Somebody on these boards summed it up well this week. Send me the $5000, don't buy the machine and run away you will still be ahead! then I could go spend the extra on a way better digger L.O.L.
I'm not even going to say much about the inexperienced operator running round the woods with an old Dozer and a chainsaw. I think others have given you a good option to pay someone and stay alive it will be cheaper in the long run, and probably literally a lot less chance of getting a nasty head ache or worse from a widow maker.!.
Regards Robert
 
I bought this old case several years ago off a friend of mine that bought it new. Other than replacing some hoses I've never done anything in repairs. I don't use it much anymore.
a225267.jpg
 
An old pony start d8 sold at an auction near me for $2500ish. Ran one bad steering clutch. Pretty rough but alot of steel for the money.
 
You might consider a used mini-dozer! Dozers give you a lot of traction, but if you are going to drive along distance, stay with a wheeled tractor.
My 2cents.
Led
 
D4 size Dresser dozers sell in the $10k range around here (southern IN/IL). I have not inspected any of them but the rule of thumb is at least spend the purchase price again in repairs.
 
(quoted from post at 13:13:30 04/28/16) The thing to remember about crawlers is that they are relatively stable, but in certain situations they will tip over backwards. If the crawler is climbing a steep grade and has good traction, it can just roll itself over backwards. I learned that in the neighbor's silage pile using their TD9; I saw the top of the radiator start to bob so I hit the clutch just in time to let the crawler roll backwards down the incline instead of rolling over backwards. That was kinda scary. Turned around and backed up on top of the pile, which works fine with a crawler.

If you're on an incline so steep a crawler was going to tip over backwards, anything would tip over backwards. That's not a design error.
 
We have a TD6 IH on the farm that I used to pull firewood logs out of the swamp with. We don't really use it much anymore, but when we did, you could hitch up to half of a 24" ash tree and pull it out of some pretty nasty spots. Those little buggers will really pull. It blew a head gasket or cracked a head the last time we used it, it still runs but will heat up if you try working it much and will bubble the coolant out of the radiator, but, I haven't had the time to look at it, and since we don't use it much, it's pretty low on my priority list. We were going to just buy an M or find an M gas engine and toss in it. It has new tracks on it, but some of the links have started stickin from setting, I'll have start it up and run it around some.

Ross
 
I'm in Southern Indiana on the state line with Illinois. Where in Ohio are you? Might be too far. The dozer is yours, I am an engine guy and do not know what it is worth. Name your price. Sorry I do not know how to enable the email option. I'll play with it.
Thanks,
Bill.
 
I had a friend who put an M engine in an IH dozer, and there was no place for the starter. He rigged one to spin the PTO. A contraption, but it worked real good.
 

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