case crawler

how are these little 450 crawlers?

You would have a hard time finding a better one. The steering alone puts them above other brands. And a diesel makes it better yet.

Oops, it's gas. Still a great machine and a few extra ponies too.

Fellow who used to do some work here had one. It was a good machine. As Jon alludes to, it took me a little while to figure it out! The only negative I see is if you're looking for the convenience of finish work with a six way blade.

When I worked construction back in the 70s, we had a 450 diesel with a 6 way blade that wasn't anywhere near new when I hired in in 76. GREAT little dozer. As long as it works as it should and the undercarriage isn't completely crapper out, you can't go wrong.

When they were new they were somewhat OK what i found were they were jerky a little to light but ok for light grading and finish grading . Now today parts are hard to come by problems with brakes . and a under carriage that that will vapor loc ya at the cost of repairs . And with old construction equipment that is or has been setting for a LONG time there is a reason why it is setting . Sooooooo if you don't know much about them before you dive in with both feet one would be ahead of the game to find someone that works on them and pay them to go look it over first. and even he may miss something . as that cheap price may end up costing you five times what you paid for it to get to make it run and use. Also here there is no ROPS on that machine , no limb risers and no seat belt . And for a novice they can be and are dangerous . And more then likely your wanting to go clear brush and trees and this is the last place one want to learn how to run one even if it has a rops and limb risers or go playing in the spooky old woods. One maybe ahead of the game to take the money and HIRE a PRO Just to do the work. Just sayen here . My one close friend needed a site built for his new cattle barn and got three bids for the project , he then asked me what it would take and how long to do the job . Lots of dirt to move and what it would take to do the job . I told him and he went and rented a 750 Deere dozer for a week First day we had problems with the rented machine and only got in three hours of work i had the job done in three and a half days and for far less then the lowest bid by 10000 bucks , one machine one experienced operator . And no repair cost just the rental and fuel. Then the rental company knocked off some of the rental because we cleaned the dozer up when we re done and sent it back full of fuel and greased ready to go to the next guy and he was told that any time he needed a rental he would get a preferred rate . Vernon talked about buying at one point and i asked him WHY buy old and then throw more money into repairs and upkeep for something you mqay only use for a 50-100 hours a year when ya can rent Newer and deduct on taxes . twice now he has rented and twice he calls and i go run it .

only wanted it to push snow round the yard. thought gas might be a bonus in winter.

You do not want a steel track dozer for pushing snow. When the ground gets frozen, and you get some ice it will take off like it is on ices skates ! Very dangerous. I took ours out one winter and went for one heck of a wild ride down the hill into the woods !

and one more thing, what would be a fair price? i would think its a late 60's to early 70's machine. and if i need to i would cork it. no hills here, and more worried about traction than it sliding. the way i look at it if then tonka toy tractors can push snow this should be better at it.

That being said, if all you want it for is snow, your money ahead and better off with an old pickup and plow.

(quoted from post at 11:53:05 01/04/23) You do not want a steel track dozer for pushing snow. When the ground gets frozen, and you get some ice it will take off like it is on ices skates ! Very dangerous. I took ours out one winter and went for one heck of a wild ride down the hill into the woods !

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Mike, How can it be dangerous on hills for Rustred when he has no hills???? You didn't say if.

lost my leg 45 years ago because of one of those wild rides. Lucky to be alive.

A pickup , that is the worst idea and will never work. I have a front end loader on my tractor and it would not push that hard snow once it blew drifts in 3 ft high and more. And I think this little crawler would be struggling also. I even got my neighbor with his D7 last year when I had to haul grain to clean around the bins and make a road. Some places he had 8ft high banks. I am talking serious work here.

As you already know and found with your own tractor hard packed and drifted snow takes power and weight to move just like dirt. I think you would find yourself happier with a D-6 Cat better machine and plenty of parts around for them. I think you will find that case to be under sized ans under powered for the job if you don't want to be weeks doing that deep hard snow. I think a blower would be a cheaper method with less work and now banks to deal with later. If we got snow like that I would probably just go with a blower for it. Rusty is closer to you for the best opinion on this since he has both loader and blower.

It'd be handy to have around for sure

Handy, if it starts and runs reliably, doesn't leak copious amounts of oil, moves forward and back, steers left and right, and can make the blade go up and down.

Otherwise, it's one of the most unhandy paperweight lawn ornaments known to man. If it needs repair and the parts costs exceed what you pay for it, or if you can't get the parts, you're not going to fix it.

If you want an old dozer, I think an old Caterpillar would be your best bet. Those guys never seem to have trouble finding parts.

(quoted from post at 12:28:19 01/04/23) That being said, if all you want it for is snow, your money ahead and better off with an old pickup and plow.

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Providing you have the room, I agree.

We're also flat ground, and we don't have to worry about snowfall amounts like Buffalo and other such areas. For us, a 10in snowfall is a fairly big event. Started off using a JD 4010 open-station gasser with a JD snow blower, but it did a messy job; left too much snow behind for my tastes. Eventually bought a 2001 Ram 1500 and put a Western plow on it. Also put a piece of 1 1/2in steel pipe on the blade to keep it from tearing up the ground. Haven't looked back since! That 1/2-ton truck has worked like a dream for us. Heated cab, power steering, radio, etc, etc... I don't even use chains.

Also, our snow is usually dry; not wet and clumpy. So maybe a dozer would work better for you.

I like Ultradog's machine. He's got a sweet setup. Ford tractor with front and rear blades.
https://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=1602189

This post was edited by kcm.MN on 01/05/2023 at 05:58 am.

Words are free. Only responding to what you write just push snow around the yard. If you need a D7, that case will be useless also. Sounds to me like you need a decent old Payloader.