International T340 Capabilities

[Wdj]

For the work described you might be better off with a blade machine.

 

[the tractior vet]

Educate me, where is the idler supposed to sit in a non warn out condition?

With a DECENT under carnage ya should have three to FOUR inches of track frame left . that one has woren rails, woren idlers and plum slap wore out bottom rollers and Sprockets . And to repair and replace that today would involve big time money IF ya even could find the parts . crawler/ dozer/ loaders are not put up for sale till the COST of keeping them going out weighs repair costs . . Novices like you find a CHEAP crawler for a job you have in mind and do not know what your looking at only HOW MUCH it costs up front , not the under layen cost of fixing what is wrong to get use out of it . while running a oil field service company i ran a FLEET of dozers , John Deeres And Cat's working in some real nasty conditions and the smaller J D 550's with out Salt tracks ( A salt track is a sealed and lubed track with a tougher chain ) we could squeak around 35 to 4000 hrs out of a under carriage on the larger dozers we may get up to 4500 hours but they worked in the mud and water . . A dozed / loader are high maintenance and mega bucks when it is time . A J D 550 ran around 5500 bucks and the larger ones it was easy to drop 12-13 grand and that was 40 years ago . The 340 has not been made since like mid 1960's and I H has long been out of the crawler market . I have been around a lot of the old I H crawlers since 1959 and what i have learned over the years is that they are NOT that great , Yep i love the FARM tractors but not any I H industrial . Have i run any yep , not impressed , have i worked on them YEP . Do i want to work on them now NOPE don't call me . At around 1800 hours to 2000 hrs we would pull the chains remove the pads and sent the chain to a company to turn the pins and bushing and we could get another 1500 to 2000 hrs out of the track chain before it was total scrap . It was NOT cheap but a 1/3 of a new chain and we would replace the sprockets and check rollers and idlers and replace what was needed at the time and even after we may end up replacing bottom rollers when the seals let go and ate up bearings and more down time for the unit . So when your not and expert the wise thing is to find and OLD GOAT who is and take them along to look at the piece and flip him a 150-200 for his time and a dinner and take his advice as it could save your THOUSANDS .

 

[Steve in VA]

I’ll try to keep this short. I have some land that has some trails I’ve been wanting to widen, and cut some new ones. Not a huge project but requires a fair amount of dirt to be cut and moved.

Near me I have found an IH T340(gas) with a Drott 4 in 1 loader. I’m not looking to knock over 200 year old oak trees but I will need to cut into a good bit of dirt. Would a T340 get the job done?

I want to add one more element. As a novice I bought my first crawler knowing that it was clapped out and slapped together. What I bought was a basic machine that taught me how to use it and what to avoid for its replacement. I calculated that if I only got a limited number of hours, I could sell it for scrap and break even compared to hiring or renting the job. Experience is profit.

 

[the tractior vet]

I want to add one more element. As a novice I bought my first crawler knowing that it was clapped out and slapped together. What I bought was a basic machine that taught me how to use it and what to avoid for its replacement. I calculated that if I only got a limited number of hours, I could sell it for scrap and break even compared to hiring or renting the job. Experience is profit.

OK and at current scrap prices how much ya going to get out of a 4 ton machine ????

 

[Blackhole49]

I want to add one more element. As a novice I bought my first crawler knowing that it was clapped out and slapped together. What I bought was a basic machine that taught me how to use it and what to avoid for its replacement. I calculated that if I only got a limited number of hours, I could sell it for scrap and break even compared to hiring or renting the job. Experience is profit.

You could rent one for $4,000 and "experience" a whole lot more "profit" without ever turning a wrench while saving a whole lot of money.

 

[Steve in VA]

OK and at current scrap prices how much ya going to get out of a 4 ton machine ????

Not much, however, my particular machine was very cheap, i ran it a pretty high number of hours so counted rental/hire, and even if I got 0$ for scrap, I was ahead. I used it as a learning opportunity. What I learned meant that when I bought my D3CXL, I was comfortable knowing what I wanted and what I was looking at.

 

[Steve in VA]

You could rent one for $4,000 and "experience" a whole lot more "profit" without ever turning a wrench while saving a whole lot of money.

In my case, I ran the numbers and that wasn't even close to true. I just toss this out as a factor in deciding.

 

[Dennis K (WA)]

New undercarriage parts for a 340 are unavailable anymore as is the case for most small, older dozers/loaders. And by the way, the track pictured is on backwards which causes a much higher wear rate than if it is on the right way. Also, it appears the roller flanges may be riding on the pin bosses of the links which would signify wornout rollers or links or both. Hard to tell for sure in the picture but would be something to look at. Interesting canopy. Is that a logging arch on the back with an electric winch?

 

[Dennis K (WA)]

Here are some wear specs for a 340. Take a ruler, straight edge and calipers. Measuring track pitch, pin to pin dimension, you should stretch the track tight by putting a block or pin in the sprocket then back up a bit.

 

[GermantownGreen]

What part of the tensioner are you looking at? Just trying to learn some things

You need to look up C C equipment from South Indiana. On YouTube .. Clint does a great job explaining tracks etc.... plus they show a lot of the work that everyone above is referring to. GG Wes

 

[the tractior vet]

You need to look up C C equipment from South Indiana. On YouTube .. Clint does a great job explaining tracks etc.... plus they show a lot of the work that everyone above is referring to. GG Wes

Yep he does , BUT on machines that are still usable and not darn near 70 years old . He works on stuff from the 1990's and Cat's from the 80's . Mostly john Deere's and Cat's . I H left the market in the early 80's . sold off several times to other company's that slowly did away with parts and support . . even great mother Deere has dropped parts supports on the older 350 and 450 line up . Try and find parts for the Case line up from back in the 70's and 80's . we went that route on a 580 B back hoe and loader that was Dumped on me with a transmission issue . All i needed was clutches and Disc's and seal's NOTHING . and easy repair turned into a vary expensive repair and a make shift cobble job . I normally did NOT take on industrial repair work as i did not need the head aches involved in fixen OLD industrial . I got envovled in putting a John Deere 440 crawler dozer back together for a customer who had taken it apart YEARS back and forgot how o put it back together , parts in five gallon buckets , parts scattered here and there . and a main shaft plum missing from the shuttle to main clutch totally missing . We found a new one and the cost was shocking . Once together and running we found that the shuttle shift was junk and NO parts needed could be found .

 

[ss55]

I’ll try to keep this short. I have some land that has some trails I’ve been wanting to widen, and cut some new ones. Not a huge project but requires a fair amount of dirt to be cut and moved.

Near me I have found an IH T340(gas) with a Drott 4 in 1 loader. I’m not looking to knock over 200 year old oak trees but I will need to cut into a good bit of dirt. Would a T340 get the job done?

I don't know your experience level with that type of machine, but from your questions it sounds like you might not have much experience yet.

It might not cost any extra to hire out the work. If you know what you need done and can either draw it on paper and walk someone through the site, get a few quotes from local earth movers. An experienced operator can get a lot done in a very short time, easily five to even ten times as much per hour as someone who has never driven that type of machine before. That also give you an opportunity to watch and learn some dirt moving techniques.

If you are looking for a chance to buy a cool machine you can always buy something in better condition later. That crawler/loader is pretty much just a parts tractor or scrap, as a working unit it could still be over priced if it was free. The trailer might be worth something, pintle hitch? Do you already have a dump truck to pull that trailer?