I'm in the same boat as you Barney, I have a large wooded lot and recently purchased an old '69 International crawler/loader. Before I bought my crawler I tried to research the various brands as well as I could. In the end it's not an easy question to answer and it can even start "flame wars" when discussing brand allegiance (kinda like the Ford, Mopar and GM guys get into). The bottom line is that all the major manufacturers make or have made great crawlers in the past. There are several questions you will have to consider before selecting your machine, and then go with your gut when the right one (and the right deal) comes along. Here's a brief list of a few brands and what I've heard about them: 1. Caterpillar - Cat is generally conisdered to be the best. They have come to dominate the world of heavy equipment for a reason, and I believe that reason is because they make a top notch product, and they provide top notch service and parts availability. Downside, higher price than most of the other brands. High prices on parts too. Also, "special" tools are frequently needed to perform major repairs on Caterpillars. These tools are very expensive, forcing you to pay a mechanic to come out to your ranch and fix it for you...which is also very expensive. 2. Komatsu - By all accounts Komatsu makes excellent products. They are Japanese, and like their cars, the quality is second to none. Komatsu and Caterpillar are considered worldwide to be the standard of excellence. Downside, parts are very expensive, especially recently because of the exchange rate between the strong yen and the weak (american) dollar. 3. John Deere - Generally considered to be the cream of the crop for farming equipment. Maybe a step down or two for heavy equipment (crawlers), but still a strong competitor with Cat and Komatsu. Parts are supposed to be supremely expensive, or so I've heard too many times to tell. I considered some of the JD crawlers and decided to pass based on this and their somewhat higher asking price for well used machines. 4. Case - Many owner operators swear by Case. Their machines are reliable, rugged and can be worked on by anyone with normal tools (unlike Cats). If they are operated and maintained properly, they make great machines. Great deals can be had on older crawlers too. 5. IH - I decided to buy and IH crawler because there were so many of them available and they were priced quite a bit below the average. The TD series of crawlers are great machines, you just have to get one that isn't completely worn out...unless you want to rebuild it from the ground up yourself. But in my area the IH crawlers provided the best bang for the buck, although the older machines might not be the best bet for a professional who will be running it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for years. Parts availability can be a problem for older models, but still lots of new and used stuff available at dealers, aftermarket suppliers and yards. 6. Allis Chalmers - I have heard good things about the various old AC's. I view them as being comparable to old IH stuff. Some of the parts are getting harder to find for the older machines, but up front prices for used machines are usually quite cheap. That's a starter, if you know more specifically what type of crawler you want to get, let us know and maybe we can help narrow it down for you. Good luck...
IllinoisI am planning to purchase a dozer for farm use and will be using it to clear fence rows, build dry dams and other various farm work. The budget is $20-30K. My options are a Case , Deere 850B and Dresser 15C. These machines are all aged in the late 's/ early 's. Caterpillar would be great, but a D6H from this era will run twice the money as the others, and older than an H seems too antique in operational function compared to the other makes/ models listed.
First, correct me if I'm wrong about the Cats, and then give me everything you know about the other 3 models listed. Maybe a Komastsu 65 would be okay too?
I need a 35K pound machine to perform this type of work adequately, and as with all older construction equipment would rather not have to spend what I give for the machine in repairs the first year.
Please give me all the information you can.
Central / West TexasA cat 6d or 6c with powershift will last you alot longer than a case and dresser is pure junk in my opinion. Cat parts can be easily obtained too. Just cause a machine is cheap does not equal good buy. Dresser is like the yugo of dozers. I have a cat 6d and a 6r. Differential steer is nice but not really necessary for clearing alitte but of fence or pushing dirt for a tank.
Edited by srsu99 1/20/ 20:45
Arlington, KYBe very carefull here! The way you talk you need to stay within a budget here. If you are not familar with heavy equipment take someone with you to look that what ever you intend to by. You can easily pay 30K for something and have to spend anouther 50K for a complete rebuild. i personaly know people this has happend to. I prefer Cat, we run 2 Cat D6RXLs. Deere is also good and has a hydrostatic drive instead of powershift. Run from the Dresser do not touch it. The TD15 Dresser has had a history of engine trouble. They used the DT466 tractor engine and it will not hold up in the dozer application. Case has never had a good name in dozers. My choice would be Cat 1 Deere 2 possibly a Komotsu. Komotsu parts I think are higher. We bought a new Komotsu excavator and it was great machine but I thought the parts were high compaired to Cat and that says a lot. We now run Deere on the excavator a like it well. Its still under warraty but I think the parts are priced well. Just remember when it comes to dozers Cat will ALWAYS cost more but will ALWAYS bring more. Hope this helps.
Brazilton KSWe have a and we're happy with it. It was a fraction of the cost of a comparable age and size Cat, and I think it will outwork a comparable hp and weight Cat in the light clearing and finish work we do a lot of, due to the advantages of the hydrostat.
Hydrostat is considered to be a disadvantage by some due to the potential for repairs, but check out the cost of final drives, transmission, and torque converters before you get too hung up on that one. The hydrostat will do a lot of work while a clutch machine is dragging one leg around trying to get pointed the right direction.
There's no way on earth the is comparable to a D6H though.....the Case is about 10 tons light for that class. A D5H or maybe a D6M is more in our class, and we need some ballast to handle the 6M....but a 6H or 6E is considerably out of our league. HP isn't a lot different but we just don't have the mass to do what they can.
Obion,TNWe run a 200d deere excavator and a 750c dozer. I have run all of the brands you referd to and if possible would try to find a c model deere. We have hours on ours other than undercarrige no major problems and with the hydro drive anyone can run it. The b model deere is ok but has a driveshaft running to the rear hydrostats that will give trouble with age. In the c model this is eliminated. Hope this helps
Somerville, Indianafor all the qualities listed, budjet is less than 1/2 of purchase and first year maintenance to bring an older machine up to dependable quality.A buddy of mine has a 15 either c or E... I forget which, but I know it's an 88 or 89 model. Powered with a C series Cummins. It's somewhere around hours now. They ran her for years on commercial land clearing. I don't believe they've done much to her other than the undercarriadge which is normal. She's also been afire a few times and got a good cooking when it was new in a forest fire.... It was rewired and re-plumbed by the dealer and has been a good machine for them ever since.
That's a ~ # machine with a ripper. It should be a bit more than a 6H.
The 6H would be my choice too, but I doubt you'll get one in your budget range. Komatsu is a good machine too. I don't think you'll really go wrong with any of those from the late 80's onward. Hydro is the standard now too, so that ought to say something...
Just check ANY of them over well for function and problems.
What I think you don't want is an old clunker with straight clutch and brake steering. They're pretty well useless on a hard push because they can't turn. The TD-15 can walk around with the 2 speed drive, and the Cat's with differential steering will also get around...
Rod
I would look for a little smaller dozer with possibly Hydrostat and mandantory 6-way blade. We have a JD 650H and it will do just about as much work in a day as an old D8H 36A with MAMT (manual angle, manual tilt ). Its easy to haul, and nobody complains after running it a day. We thought we needed a bigger machine untill we seen what this will do, plus efficient on fuel, and if you ever get it stuck it can be pulled out, it weighs about 22,000# w/ripper. Get an earlier 650 or D5C and you'll be happy. Take your time buying, watch UNDERCARRAIGE and drivetrain can get $$$.
With competitive price and timely delivery, HBXG sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.
After seeing all them stuck pics on here the other day, it makes you wonder how big a machine you really want. An old cat skinner told me it usually takes one size bigger cat to pull one out or a wheel tractor twice as heavy. He also said If you do steep work check the walking beam.
Good Luck and HAPPY DOZING!!!
sw corner ia.budget will be smoked first time you lose a final in the field.
Less than 30K means an older tractor than you are thinking of. Late D6C with pc turbo might fit here, but you will not like the dry non assisted steering brakes as well, but if it is good will do all you want for a long time. Long time.
If the hydro goes on deere or case (and they will unannounced ) you can figure considerably more on repair than you spent on the tractor.
West Union, IllinoisA friend in the business told me I couldn't afford to buy one for what I could get it done for. The economics are such that unless I am using that crawler 6 months out of the year it is cheaper to hire it done.
For more Case Bulldozersinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
Not that any of that ever stopped a farmer...
central - east central Minnesota -I've had the same advice and acturally yeilded to it. I considered rental to be better option (I still get to be the operator ) and not have those kind of $$ invested and the breakdown/repair $$ not to be worried about. Most recently, hireing it out works out best.I rented a small dozer this fall. A little TD7E dresser. It did what I needed to do, well, mainly, and when it was over I didn't have to worry about it. Next dozer I rent will definately be bigger, though. I have some waterway work and tree clearing to do, and it's kinda small sections and not a whole lot of pushing. It's hard to get contractors interested in a two day project when there's plenty of work to do.plowboy
Posted 1/21/ 09:15 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: Which dozer for the farm?
Brazilton KSI don't know where everybody gets such high purchase price numbers on everything around this place. Do you guys not know how to look for equipment or what? Twice Morgan has told everyone that tractors such as ours cost twice what it did, and he was standing beside Terry's truck when we drove it off.
Our is a 91. It had hours on it when we got it. By the time we put a new undercarriage under it, we will be getting close to $30k in it, but shouldn't quite be there yet and we will have done somewhere between and hours of work with it to help with the repair bill. I'm hoping to make it another year the existing rails and rollers, maybe two if we don't use it much. We put grousers on it last summer.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Track Bulldozer China Factory.
dave morgan
Posted 1/21/ 10:57 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE:Cats are like kids
Somerville, IndianaWe all hope for the best, but less than wonderful things happen. No one is immune. Been there many, many times.armerfayoybay
Posted 1/21/ 23:00 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: Triplegfarms