Best general purpose farm dozer?

[FarmerJ]

I"m looking for a general purpose older dozer. I want to use it for small trees, water-ways, terraces and small ponds. There are several coming up for auction in my area. There is a D-6, 3 D-4s and a TD-20 at an estate sale. They seem to be in good shape, the guy was a collector. Then a JD 450 at a State auction. Which would be best and what price range I"m I looking at? Thanks in advance.
Jim

 

[Pete@Pequawketfarm]

For the small trees and small waterway reconstruction a D-4 would be fine. The D-6 would be better suited to digging ponds and such. The 450 is also a good unit but maybe a little light for pond work. We run a 350B and wish it had a little more "oomph" but if you take your time almost anything can be accomplished with any of those you have mentioned. Just check over carefullly as they are somewhat expensive to repair. A ROPS feature with a canopy is almost a must- nothing worse than cooking in the sun with dust blowing all around. As to price range - anywhere from 6000 on up depending on model and condition. Happy hunting. Pete

 

[thurlow]

Ever heard a boat described as, "A hole in the water into which you pour money"? A dozer is (can be) in the same category. Not trying to dissuade you if you've got your heart set on buying one. Our first one......1n 1968.....was an A-C machine a little smaller than a 450 JD; we used it a long time, but every time I climbed into the seat, I wished we had gotten a bigger machine.

 

[Gettin started]

Those models are all good machines. Take a good look at the under carriage. If the sprockets and bushings on the track rail are shot then that can get expensive. Also look at the track pads if the cleats are worn down you won't get good traction. The condition of the blade can tell you weather the machine was abused or well cared for. Look for areas that have been welded or patched. The old IH/Dresser TD-8 and TD-9 were pretty good general purpose machines. The TD-20 and Cat D-6 would be good if you plan on digging a pond or moving a larger quantity of dirt. A 6-way blade is best for finish work. Just like farm equipment you get what you pay for.

 

[PhilDekker]

J.D. 1010 crawler 1956 front bucket and back hoe. 4 cyl. diesle just rebuilt $3600

 

[Pete@Pequawketfarm]

BOAT- Break Out Another Thousand

 

[Anonymous-0]

Something to consider is a clam shell bucket for grabbing trees etc. Usualy around a farm, they simply are a better option. If its straight out pushing, that is a different story.

Now if we are talking about playing more than profit, it probably makes sence. As a general rule it's not cheap if someone gives a older wore out maching to you and tapes a couple thousand dollar bills to the seat. If you hire it done you have a good idea what it's going to cost you, if you own a cat you never know when to give up the fight.

My sons fater in law got a AC 16G. (G stands for Grouse loader) The winch on the back weighed I was told over three ton. That old sow could clean up the farm. I watched him pick up a old AC combine in the bucket, raised it over the hood of the cat, and we hooked the winch on another old IH combine and took off towards the house driving over small trees that got in the way. It never cost him a cent in repairs, but was hard on his back, and very clumsy. He traded for a small Case with a loader, and finaly after over $6,000.00 in parts and alot of his labor it was gone for less than he invested in parts. Perhaps if he would have been dishonet he could have made some good money on it, but he was honorable / honest. Since then if you mention it, his vocabulary gets real limited.

 

[bruster]

My dad bought a D-4 few years nack, and enlarged his pond first thing from 60' X 80' to a 1a. "l" scape. The deep part it 11' and it took him a weekend to do it. It's a handy machine for all around general purpose work.

 

[johns48jdb]

i worked for a man who had money to buy what ever he wanted and bought a 850 jd without a cab. a few months later he had 35 yellow jacket stings that he could see to count when he got into moving some old brush piles. i have an old junkt back hoe and every week i wish it had a clam bucket.

 

[Handsome Jim]

A 450 isn't a bad machine, you can get a lot of work done with one if you know what you are doing. Also, they are easy to move, with the right trailer, you can move one with a single axle two ton truck. On the down side. Even a C series, the last 450 built would be close to thirty years old now and probably with a $hit load of hours on the engine, transmission and finals and the undercarriage. You can dump a boat load of money into any of them.

 

[Mike M]

A Case 450 as you have power on both tracks when you turn.