john deere mc

What is the good and bad on the mc. Theres one on a sale that's not all beat up and looks good so what do you guys think a guy should pay for it if it runs good and turns good. It also only has one lifting cyl on the side for the blade. Thank for any info.
 
I had an MC. That cylinder on the side is for lifting implements. There should be a place for a strap to pin the blade up so you can take the cylinder off to use it on a plow, harrow, etc. If it turn good then the clutches and brake aren"t seized. You can pull both levers back leaving the main clutch engaged and have live power to the PTO, good for bush hogging. I paid $1500 for one in 1956, traded in for wheel tractor. I bought a 420C with stuck engine 10+ years ago for $2500. I know how to adjust clutches, etc.
 
The MC was a nice little machine if it was used as intended,a crawler,not a bulldozer.I believe there was only one blade made by John Deere for them,the model 61.It used the one piston.They had kind of an odd three roll track frame,and the rolls would get loose in the frame.They didn't have bolt up rolls like the later 40,420,430,etc.Steering clutches take some funny twisted up wrenches to adjust,but not the end of the world.Mostly look for broken,cracked,and poorly welded castings.Look at the rivets that hold the track frame cross bar to the main frame.Also look at the bolts where the torque tube meets the transmission housing.The bolts may be loose,or have been run loose,cracking the housings.Those are two big signs that the tractor has been run in high gear a lot over frozen ground.
 
If you want something to take to shows it would be fine. Really can not use it for much. Not rugged at all. It is really for pulling a plow, disc, etc. If you have real lose soil it might be okay. Parts are very hard to come buy and they are expensive if you can find them. final dives are weak. find some that has been welded up. no good. a good one fully working 10 years ago would maybe bring 2500/3500. the market for them has really taken a hit. look at it, buy it but remember when you do you may have a problem getting your money back out as there is not lot of people who would pay much for it.
 

They are nice little crawlers. They aren't a D6 though, ie- don't expect to push a bunch of dirt, much less hard packed dirt. Back filling a foundation or pushing manure is more their pushing speed. They will tow a plow or harrow or logs pretty nicely. The biggest thing with any crawler is the undercarriage. The rest of the tractor can be 100% but if the undercarriage is shot it's just scrap metal. I'd suggest finding the site jdcrawlers.com and read through the "Early Models" section of the forum. A later 420, 430 or 440 is a lot more machine. Parts for the MC aren't that hard to come by...except for undercarriage parts. You can change things around and run later model tracks if you have the $$$. Might run $1500 or more to do so. A decent MC or 40C with decent undercarriage will bring $2K or more most of the time. I wouldn't pay much more than $2500-3K for a good one or $4K for a perfect one. You can usually find a decent 420 or later for that money.
 

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