Purchase of a 1985 450D JD Crawler

Looking At A 450JD Crawler 1985.I Am Not Familiar With Crawlers,Do Have Knowledge Of Regular Farm Equipment.
Would Like To Hear From Some One Who Has OR Had EXPERIENCE WiTH Same.
tHANKS

Take somebody with you that knows about the under carrage, steering clutches and stuff like that.

I will second what Cole posted. You can dump a boat load of money into a crawler than runs and moves well with a worn out under carriage/tracks.

Also there are not many things more frustrating than throwing a track off. It is usually in some type of difficult place too. Like a steep bank or mud hole when it happens too.

The 450 is an impressive little crawler! My dad had a 350, brother-in-law had a 450, no comparison.

Hopefully a certain party that knows these quite well sees your post and comments, both what to look for on these, as well as parts support, the latter of which you may want to thoroughly check out.

Undercarriage should be measured, though some visual wear can tip you off, pins/bushings, roller flanges hitting pin bosses. If the seller says its got 70% left, meaning the track components have 30% wear on them, this should be determined by correctly measuring each component. eyeballing these parts resulting in a verbally communicated assessment to a buyer, talk is cheap, show me the measurements or I'll need to do it myself. These parts, though a 450 is a small grading tractor, can be expensive, a lot more on larger tractors, so if you pay full used market value on one that you were told was in a certain condition, that measures out to a whole lot less, you will not be so happy with what you spent your hard earned money on, would be better off renting in many situations.

There are some specifics to know about these, mechanically. I've run 1010's and 350's and 450's, at a few places I worked, someone always had one or two of these around, from an operators view, they were fine, maybe not so much power, but you work with what you have, work still gets done and for what we used them, maybe it took a little longer, seemed reliable too, but you will want some more detail on specific parts of these to look at prior to buying one. My neighbor has a 350 or 450, I can't recall now, its been sitting a few years, something with the reverser if I can remember, and I seem to think there is a problem, cost, availability or something, he'd be using it if that was not the case.

They all had reverser problems. BTDT to the tune of $3800 in 1994. Much more today. For that size of a crawler, I would get a large skid steer and add tracks if needed. Plus all the attachments can be rented. It will run circles around any crawler of that size. But if you need absolute brute force then get a crawler and a big checkbook. I am an ex 30 year excavating contractor.

When I was looking for a dozer that size, that was the model most plentiful, and recommended. Every one I looked at was junk, for one reason or another. I never got on one to even try it. I wanted full power shift/reverser, and a clear, flat operators platform with pedal steer anyhow. I ended up with something I never thought I would have. A Fiat/Allis FD5. It's been a good machine, and at this point doesn't owe me a lot. Can't be beat for pushing and grading. But for general all around farm work, the backhoe, (sometimes I wish it was an excavator), is still more useful.

The undercarriage is the moneypit with any dozer. For info on how to take measurements, and what they should be, go to IBdozing or nnalert. google each for the addy.

Google jdcrawlers, it should point you to a website that is specific to your needs. Bunch of good guys, and tons of info, parts, and advice.

Many Thanks To You Guys Who Responded To My Questions Regarding Purchasing A 450 D JD Crawler.
It was very Helpful.