fjh Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 I have been looking for quite some time for a machine for the claim! Was wanting 4x4 back hoe But this unit has appeared ! small bull dozer | Classifieds for Jobs, Rentals, Cars, Furniture and Free Stuff (usednanaimo.com) Wondered if Any of you guys have any experience with these! Runs decent the track tensioner springs are broken As you can see there the tracks are tight the chains and sprockets are decent how ever For light use around the claim here think it may be OK for my endevers around the claim here! toting logs around and some gardening projects for the wife! The steering brakes are a bit slow to react !Other wise still functions OK! Have know idea how many hours on it ! The oil looked decent ! Like some opinions Mechohaulic / Others??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjc transport Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 they are decent machines for their age. the clutch adjusters tend to seize and when they do turning gets very difficult. and around 10 years ago parts were no longer available new. even used parts were next to impossible to find. also the neutral safety switch is in the trans on the shifter and they tend to wear out so you have to platy with the shifter to get it started. 1 Quote when you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember you only came in to drain the swamp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjh Posted April 16, 2023 Author Share Posted April 16, 2023 Thanks Terry the clutch disengages good both side the brakes looks like I can tweak these with out getting too deep will see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 that's exactly the machine i would want for the 12 acres we live on (rent) 450/ 555 with 4in 1 bucket rear backhoe. how are the tensioners modified if they are broken . must have high hrs based on pads are down. like the JD 1450 I did clutch on , parts unavailable is definitely a challenge today. 12 K for a yard flower pot if something breaks that can't be repaired. at least it wasn't given a fluff and buff paint job to hide stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 outta likes agree 100% with tjc . great machines . built better then new stuff. part-time use with you being user can make machine last yrs. parts needed ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjh Posted April 16, 2023 Author Share Posted April 16, 2023 53 minutes ago, mechohaulic said: outta likes agree 100% with tjc . great machines . built better then new stuff. part-time use with you being user can make machine last yrs. parts needed ???? Yup I can bandaid and make shit go! Thats no problem Parts also can be band aided to a point! The lady that has it is selling cause her hubby got dementia an can no longer use it! Were missing a few bits lower pin for mounting the hoe is gone Can improvise that the operator seat is gone for the hoe can also improv on that Replace a few hoses etc do able! we will see, Might offer her ten .still got to get it moved its about 40 miles away I know a few Guys with equipment trailers shouldn't be an issue! got to go by the scales Thats my only little concern mid size excavator should be similar in weight! so packing this home should be OK! Under the circumstances I don't want to be a cheap ass but on the other hand don't need a 9000 dollar lawn ornament either worth maybe 1000 bucks at todays scrap prices!😂 Thanks for your in put Guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Day Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 We have a 450 G that was a great little machine until one of our crew decided to use it to push a road through rock and broke a final drive and I need to look for parts again they are hard to find, if it hadn’t been abused we would still have it to use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZB755V8 Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 I did not have a Deere track loader but... Had a Cat 931B track loader with that same pin on Deere backhoe. Used it a lot for building my house, barn and maintaining the 18 acres of woods I had for years. I could not give it away about 5 years ago. Actually Sold for $2000 made me Sick but went for Scrap price. It looked good and did not need even paint. There was Noting wrong with it but age. It did not have ROPS and that was a issue. It had a 4&1 bucket as well. Rebuild tracks, new shoes, new sprockets, new oversized hinged lower mouth bucket, Engine with 250 hours, drive clutches, brakes. Hoe needed bushings but dug anything I wanted. Only used about 4 gallon of fuel and hour. Always started and ran well even when it was close to freezing. You do not want to drive a track loader on frozen ground or snow!! It was the perfect machine for anything around the property. With that 4&1 hauling firewood & taking out tree stumps was a piece of cake. You can hook a log splitter up to the hydraulic hoe lines and just leave the engine idle and split anything. Could really carry about 2 1/2 tons in the extended bucket with the hoe on the back, needed the counter balance weight. Open the bucket and push like a Dozer. If I still had property it would be the machine to have. These older machines are not hard to work on just heavy parts and big wenches. Cat charges $$$ for parts but only thing I sent out was the engine block to get bored and line honed when it was rebuilt. Weight came up here The 931B with hoe was 22,000lbs. The Deere should be no more than 16-17,000. You should be able to haul this on a 20,000 tilt bed equipment trailer. Think the hoe pins are 1 1/2" Dia. Just get round bare stock and drill the ends for carter or spring pins. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjc transport Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 15,700 lbs for the machine. figure another 2,000 or so for attachment, so between 17 and 18 thousand pounds. Quote when you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember you only came in to drain the swamp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjh Posted April 16, 2023 Author Share Posted April 16, 2023 1 hour ago, AZB755V8 said: I did not have a Deere track loader but... Had a Cat 931B track loader with that same pin on Deere backhoe. Used it a lot for building my house, barn and maintaining the 18 acres of woods I had for years. I could not give it away about 5 years ago. Actually Sold for $2000 made me Sick but went for Scrap price. It looked good and did not need even paint. There was Noting wrong with it but age. It did not have ROPS and that was a issue. It had a 4&1 bucket as well. Rebuild tracks, new shoes, new sprockets, new oversized hinged lower mouth bucket, Engine with 250 hours, drive clutches, brakes. Hoe needed bushings but dug anything I wanted. Only used about 4 gallon of fuel and hour. Always started and ran well even when it was close to freezing. You do not want to drive a track loader on frozen ground or snow!! It was the perfect machine for anything around the property. With that 4&1 hauling firewood & taking out tree stumps was a piece of cake. You can hook a log splitter up to the hydraulic hoe lines and just leave the engine idle and split anything. Could really carry about 2 1/2 tons in the extended bucket with the hoe on the back, needed the counter balance weight. Open the bucket and push like a Dozer. If I still had property it would be the machine to have. These older machines are not hard to work on just heavy parts and big wenches. Cat charges $$$ for parts but only thing I sent out was the engine block to get bored and line honed when it was rebuilt. Weight came up here The 931B with hoe was 22,000lbs. The Deere should be no more than 16-17,000. You should be able to haul this on a 20,000 tilt bed equipment trailer. Think the hoe pins are 1 1/2" Dia. Just get round bare stock and drill the ends for carter or spring pins. Inch and a half good to know! Thanks ! i belive I got some old shit laying around brake cams and stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmackpaul Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Those big coil springs on the outside arent track tensioner springs, they are recoil springs So if you hit something hard or something gets in your walking gear it can go around without breaking something Broken recoil springs are fairly common A huge job to repair and you need to know what your doing, people have ended up dead fixing them The most important thing to look at is the walking gear, have pins and bushes been turned, whats the state of rollers and carrier rollers To do up the walking gear costs more than most of these old machines are worth Find out what the measurements are meant to be for the rails etc and take a tape measure out and measure these Unless your really familiar with these machines I would advise not guessing the state of the walking gear I wouldn't trust a mates eye or feel for this stuff, I would actually measure the walking gear Everything else is comparatively cheap compared to this Aside from that it looks like the perfect tool for some land scaping It may take a while to find parts but I doubt they would be to hard to find once your find out were to look, I doubt your local John Deere dealer will be of much help but Google is y our friend with this old gear Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70mackMB Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Awhile back (ok way back) when l worked with a guy who had one of these. He mentioned once with the hoe on it was tail heavy. Without the hoe it would be unbalanced toward the front. l never ran it so l had to take his word for it. .....Hippy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjc transport Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 i will verify with the hoe a wide track dozer is very tail heavy. never ran a loader with hoe attachment though. Quote when you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember you only came in to drain the swamp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 for clarification , it's not the tensioners broke but the recoil springs. wondered how the chains were so tight if tensioners were failed. memory serves me correct the chains on that machine are adjusted by the "wish bone " (not twinkie) being pushed out with a grease gun on front idler.. when written tensioners were broke I mistook it to be the seals on adjusters leaking past resulting in constant loose chains. knowing history/ reason for sale helps , not being sold due to internal problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 3 hours ago, 70mackMB said: Awhile back (ok way back) when l worked with a guy who had one of these. He mentioned once with the hoe on it was tail heavy. Without the hoe it would be unbalanced toward the front. l never ran it so l had to take his word for it. .....Hippy when running without the hoe most machines had a rear counter weight installed. if a counter weight isn't found where machine is located (ask the owner ; one might be hiding in high grass ); making a concrete weight to hook on rear hinges wouldn't take much. won't mention any names ; but I know someone on here that's mixing a lot of bags of cement for a garage floor ,possibly he can mix a couple more for your counter weight LOL LOL 😁 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjh Posted April 17, 2023 Author Share Posted April 17, 2023 15 hours ago, mrsmackpaul said: Those big coil springs on the outside arent track tensioner springs, they are recoil springs So if you hit something hard or something gets in your walking gear it can go around without breaking something Broken recoil springs are fairly common A huge job to repair and you need to know what your doing, people have ended up dead fixing them The most important thing to look at is the walking gear, have pins and bushes been turned, whats the state of rollers and carrier rollers To do up the walking gear costs more than most of these old machines are worth Find out what the measurements are meant to be for the rails etc and take a tape measure out and measure these Unless your really familiar with these machines I would advise not guessing the state of the walking gear I wouldn't trust a mates eye or feel for this stuff, I would actually measure the walking gear Everything else is comparatively cheap compared to this Aside from that it looks like the perfect tool for some land scaping It may take a while to find parts but I doubt they would be to hard to find once your find out were to look, I doubt your local John Deere dealer will be of much help but Google is y our friend with this old gear Paul So just using the sprockets as a guide the rails /chains are worn some odiously its old ! the sprockets are some what oval! That said the amount I will be traveling on the claim would be minimal mainly packing logs to the mill pulling out stumps for burn piling them! Still on the fence on this as if you figure how much it would cost to hire a excavator hoe with a seasoned operator to come in and do the work stump wise Way cheaper to hire ! But for doing the logging and loading the mill specially with the 4/1 that is priceless in my mind ! Dunno Going to have to think on it! I'm going to go up there this week and mount the hoe on the machine for her and see what other stuff it might need ! even if I don't buy it this needs to be done in order for her to sell it! They did invest in some new battery's and the 4/1 has been totally re plumbed new hoses and hard lines before the guy got placed in a home ! They hired a local wrench to come and do it! I have heard of the guy so I may give him a call see what his take On the machine is! Just got to find or make a pin for the lower hoe mount even something temporary! Some of the hoses on the hoe need replacing all that stuff Is elementary! The worst part is I ain't getting any younger nor is the machine ! If I need to do any bull work I'm not up to the task! The body hurts all over! Years of suspension work and humping drivelines, tranys in and out and bull work has taken its toll! This is intended to make less and lighter work not More! I if I do pull the trigger may have to get Joey to cast me up a counter weight! ! 😅 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 even with you as owner/operator , worn suspension could be a problem :: travel track worn too much might keep throwing the chain. have taken worn rails and built up ends with welder. front idler on bad rails goes crooked tilts idler =chain jumps track (like on news lately). if it runs and bucket raises ; how bad are the teeth/ shanks / cutting edge??? any caps missing and shanks worn to point of not holding new caps.?? can't imagine how Joeys name came to be in this topic LMAO😄 there is that possibility the proper counter weight is there . big cast with notches to rest on rear hanger brackets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjh Posted April 17, 2023 Author Share Posted April 17, 2023 59 minutes ago, mechohaulic said: can't imagine how Joeys name came to be in this topic LMAO😄 there is that possibility the proper counter weight is there . big cast with notches to rest on rear hanger brackets. Well I can read between the lines sometimes there are some guys on here that tend to get off topic AS you know!😇 roomer has it His cement finishing skills are second to none! 😂 The camber looks decent when looking straight on at the idlers Don't think throwing a track is going to be too much of a problem just my gut feel on it! Its weighing off the purchase against Break downs and band aid efforts! As you might remember I bought a new miller 211 works like a hot dam couple of spools of wire and gas and I can build up sprockets and shit if need be ! There are some teeth caps missing I can replace them! Long as the engine don't pack in should be OK!Going to think on it awhile get the hoe mounted on there! see how things ARE! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Yeah,,,. How did I get pulled into this one?? 💕 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjh Posted April 17, 2023 Author Share Posted April 17, 2023 You know how the roomor mill works buddy!🤨 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 I feel special.. let me know if you need a concrete block.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjh Posted April 17, 2023 Author Share Posted April 17, 2023 55 minutes ago, Joey Mack said: Yeah,,,. How did I get pulled into this one?? 💕 WELL You Know! How the roomer mill works!😂 These things get around! Actually got a plan to build a rack on the back side to mount a bunch of pier blocks so I can handle taking them off by my self !So your off the hook buddy! should be effort less on your part! 😅 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Okie Dokie... Let me know if I cant help again.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjc transport Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 take a few pictures of the sprockets and rollers for us to see. that will help in identifying condition of the undercarrage. track loaders used smooth grousers on the tracks. dozers used big cleats on the grousers.. Quote when you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember you only came in to drain the swamp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjh Posted April 17, 2023 Author Share Posted April 17, 2023 It has street pads! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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