Dozers.....

[Sparktrician]

We are looking for a dozer for our farm. I think i would like a trackloader more than a straight blade machine. what is a good machine for my needs. dosent have to be in the greatest of shape, or look the prettiest. Located in sw ohio. values of different machines??

 

[RobMD]

A good john deere 450 crawler loader.

 

[Anonymous-0]

BE CAREFUL, EXPENSIVE MACHINES TO REPAIRE

 

[NCWayne]

I"ve got to agree with Rob, go with something along the lines of a 350 or 450 Deere. Make sure it has a 4-n-1 bucket because that alone makes it alot more versital, as well as easier to sell later if you want, than a machine with a GP bucket. I have several customers that run the older Deere machines doing clearing and light grading work with them. Based on what I see they rarely have any problems out of that aren"t related to lack of maintenance or something like the occasional blown line or whatever. Looking at the trader papers they can be had for a fair price, which is to say they are usually less than a comparable sized CAT in the same condition. Just make sure before you buy you know what your looking at or have someone check the machine out that does. I recently had a customer looking to buy a larger CAT machine. I found him one online that looked good in the pics and sounded pretty good too when he talked to the owner. The day he decided to go get it I offered to ride with him, on my own time and at no charge, to check it out before any money changed hands. He went alone and I wound up with a pretty good amount of work when he got home with it. Several thousand in parts and labor later I finally had it in good enough condition to actually put to work. Like one post stated a loader is a big expense and can be expensive to work on so just make sure what your getting before you jump in.

 

[2x4]

Komatsu D21S is cheap, plentiful, small. Handy little machine around a farm & easy to move on single axle truck or tandem axle equipment trailer. At auction about $8000 USD

 

[buickanddeere]

How about a medium sized articulated loader? They will out push one of those dozers, travel at speed on the road and have no undercarrage to worry about. And be able to lift loads to truck height too.
If you plan on driving it over rough ground. Foam filled tires cost no more than a couple sets of track rollers.

 

[TxFarmallFan]

Buy a Cat. You'll pay more, but you'll get more, and they have better resale.

 

[Anonymous-0]

A 4 in 1 bucket can be a real curse if you're doing brush work. Lots more hoses and steel lines to get hooked on branches and other stuff. If you find a loader that appears to be too good of a deal, it probably is. Cat has way better manuals for repairing and less trans. problems than the JD's. Get someone who really knows the machine(s) you're looking at. Any piece of construction equipment can be a money pit. Cats have stronger track frames than JD's. Cats usually cost a little more but do have better resale value. You're better off to spend a little more and get something in better shape than a fixer upper. A larger skid steer might also be an option. Dave

 

[Mike (WA)]

Ditto the Mitsubishi BD2 series- about the same size, about the same price, good machines. Mitsubishi makes the small Cats, by the way.