Dozer Undercarriage

[hillbillycwo]

JS,
That is what I was wondering. I am clearing about 35 acres on some hilly ground. I have some roads to fix also and would like to put in a few rention ponds to help with erosion of my spring and creek so I do have some heavy work to do.

Thanks all for the great advice!! I sure need it. The lessons learned here from your experiences are way cheaper than learning them myself on my farm well...for me anyway!

 

[JSCATTLE]

A big dozer older dozer really isn't good for cutting grade .. it can be done but its tough they just aren't as responsive as a smaller late model.. but you can do your heavy work and rent a small dozer for a week to finish and fine grade..

 

[Nesikep]

I hear what you say about the JD 550, the newer, bigger cousin of our JD 350... we haven't broken ours yet, but I was trying to fill in that ditch with the JD and it was just really hard on it, and would have taken me about 4 hours... today I was moving some manure/compost piles around and again, the old allis can push so much in front of it that it really pays for itself in saving wear on the smaller crawler... I still use the JD for pen cleanout and to make nicer piles once the most of the material has been moved... I just feel the reverser and steering clutches screaming at me when I try and work it hard, so I think it's wise to use it minimally at this point

I do also hear what you say about the older dozers not being great for grades and cleanup work, the blade on the Allis is pretty wobbly and it's hard to get it to scrape a small amount of dirt off without taking a foot off (and associated rocks)...

Another thing to consider is whether the crawler you get has spring suspension or a 'hard bar'... pretty much all loaders have hard bars because of the weight, and doing a fine job of levelling is next to impossible on a dozer with springs, however, it's much easier on you and the machine if you're travelling over a lot of rock.... I'm investigating a way that I can have a hydraulic lockout on the springs, and I am also looking at making a tilt cylinder for the blade... all in due time though

 

[hillbillycwo]

I have a grader box and I seem to do a good job of leveling/grading after the rough stuff is done. I think for the area I need to grade the 4x4 tractor and grader box would work okay. The field is going to end up pasture and I am planning a pond on it as well. So with that in mind I am leanindg towards a larger dozer. I did see the following on craigslist:

"JOHN DEERE 450E DOZER WITH WINCH, 6-WAY BLADE, 80 % TRACKS, MAY NEED A LITTLE TRANSMISSION WORK, $14,950,"

I have no idea what the tranny problem is but I do have a good mechanic friend that I could trade some labor with I am sure. What about the price?

 

[gimpyrancher]

What size older crawler would I want to look for if I wanted to clear most of the trees (trunks) on 160 acres and then cut a few roads? Or would I be better off hiring a logger to clear them? Not sure if I want to sell the trees or cut it into firewood and sell it off that way. I'm retired so I have the luxury of time. :???:

 

[JSCATTLE]

I would look for something equivalent to at least a d6 cat.. he bigger the better .why don't you have someone look at your timber and give you a price..and go from there.. you might be able to sell it a buy a dozer or track hoe..

 

[Caustic Burno]

Remember this a dozer will not push up stumps you have to dig them out, very time consuming.
Now a D-9 and a shear blade will take care of about 15 acres a day of stumps. I have cleared a lot of timber you need a timber cruse. It depends on the value on the stand of timber, I have had it cheaper to push the timber over on a stand and burn it versus selling the timber. One stand I sold for 20,000 and spent 27,000 on dozer work. Had a eight acre hay field cleared in one day with a D-9 and a shear blade, it was cheaper to burn that stand.

 

[JSCATTLE]

Most of the time the root ball comes out better if the tree is still attached .. the extra weight helps pull it up ...