1968 JD 450 Crawler

I posted this in the dozer section earlier this morning. I haven't gotten any responses yet. I thought I would also post here because I might go look at this dozer again this evening and would like to get some input.

I purchased 14 acres of young plantation pines and built a home last year. I have all these ideas of things I want to do with the land but every time I think about the work involved to remove the trees it stops there. I currently have a few different projects I was getting ready to call the local excavator to come out. Probably 2-3 days $2,000-$3,000 total. And I'm sure I could find more for him to do if money was unlimited.

Been being nosey lately just to see what crawlers are out there and what they go for. Was at my buddies yesterday and looked over at his and said "yeah I've been looking at them online". He said "I have one sitting there I'll sell you". He thinks it's a 1968. JD 450 bucket. It's work ready. Engine was rebuilt 15 years ago and doesn't have but maybe 100 hours on it. I think he said the clutches were rebuilt but the left lever can be a little slow sometimes. As a newbie I'm not really sure what that means. Everything functions properly but the bucket leaks down. He said the tracks are real solid. Has a lot of iron hanging off the back.

I trust this guy as he is a good friend. He wouldn't knowingly hide anything from me. He has no use for it. He doesn't like selling things. He hangs on to everything. I told him I would give him $4,000 for it and he's thinking on it. I see these things listed online anywhere from $7,000-$12,000 in that year range.

What are your opinions? What things should I look at more closely on it? What are the things that break on these machines?

Also, the reason he is thinking on it is not because of the $4,000 price, but because it is an older machine and not that he knows of anything wrong with it, but it is an older machine and things break. I told him if he can get more for it go ahead and he said it wasn't about that. If he truly does want to sell it he will sell it to me for $4,000.

What condition is the undercarriage? UC can be very expensive to repair.

(quoted from post at 10:21:23 04/24/17)
What condition is the undercarriage? UC can be very expensive to repair.

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Not sure. These are things I need guidance with what to look for. What are the components that I'm looking at under there and what am I looking for?

I recommend finding an old lifetime trustworthy dozer operator. There's one in every neighborhood. Hire him to come with you to look at anything you're interested in. You'll get good advice, along with an education in what you're looking at. When you're done, buy a gift certificate for him and his wife for the nicest restaurant in the area. It'll be the cheapest money you can spend on any dozer, plus he'll be ready to help you look at the next one you become interested in. I'm speaking from hard earned experience. Good luck.

A machine that old might be like a Snowmobile , Work on it 6 hours to get 1 hour of work..

If it is in usable condition, $4000 is an average price for a loader. Dozer with a 6 way blade would be worth more. I could
of bought a 450 loader last summer for $3200. Those machines kind of scare me - but I was a Deere mechanic for years. 450
has a few potential problems that won't show up until it's been worked hard for a few hours. HL-R if worn can work great at
first and stop working completely when hot. Engine can also get worn balancing shafts and the result is good oil pressure
cold and near none when good and hot. Those two reasons alone keep me away from 450s. What would you do if you bought it and
a month later the HL-R trans stopped working? Would you spend $5000 at a dealer getting it fixed? Better ask yourself now
rather then later. If I had to pick a Deere, I'd rather have a 350.

Maybe a tractor with tubeless tires loaded with slim and a box of tire plugs handy in the garage. I had a set of 5:00-15 tires filled solid to eliminate flats on the front.
A crawler person is a stubborn cuss with a large well equipped shop and deep pockets.

Well I guess you guys have scared me off. It would be really handy for me to have that machine but the repairs to come are unknown.

Been there and done that.....don't do it. Like others have said, work it one day and work on
it 3 days. In my area you can rent a good late model 850 Case for $1500 for a 40 hr. week.
You can do a lot of work in 40 hrs. if you know what your doing. If not, hire it done and
write it off.