J.D. 40C

These machines are quite useful, and getting rather hard to find, even in bad shape. What else are you going to find at $6,000 that's been rebuilt?

As far as selling it in a year, you'll have to wait for someone to come along that needs a small bulldozer. If you held out, as the current owner is doing, you'd get most of that price back.

For what it's worth: I turned down a lot more money for the 420c that was my dad's after he passed on. I had a real offer from a JD dealer and collector for mine at just over three times what the 40c you're looking at is priced at. This one has nearly all the options on it (no 3-pt) and was very well maintained. Our undercarraige and tracks were rebuilt as well. The only thing wrong with it is that it still sports its' original paint, and even though it was kept in the barn most of the time, she looks like an old machine.

My reason for buying it is much the same. I have 60 acres that I want to build some 4-wheeler trails for my family to ride on. It was clear cut 12 years ago so this machine will handle the size trees I need to remove. I've cut a lot of the trails but the ground is too uneven to be safe for my children and grandchildren. I'm retiring in three years so this might be a fun toy to play with. I was raised on a farm and have had tractors but never a crawler. After driving this one I felt it was a lot of machine for the money. Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it.

I was born in 1961, so I grew up on our 36 acres of mountain with the 420 simply a part of life. I learned to operate the crawler several years before we got a 40s wheel tractor. There's no end of jobs for a crawler/dozer. Want to get a tree for firewood? Need to make a road? Want to change a grade? Gotta plow snow? No problem!

Later, in 1990, when my dad retired, he moved farther North into the Adirondacks and took the 420 with him. I stayed on the mountain where I grew up and got a Ford 1720 tractor/loader. After that first winter, I decided I needed a crawler/dozer of my own. I picked up a 1968 JD350 from a dealer I knew. They'd rebuilt the U/C, on it, but the owner got in financial trouble and couldn't pay for the work. They wound up owning it, and sold it to me for $9,000 (which wasn't a bad price at all).

I used the JD350 until I had to move to NC for work reasons in 1994. At that time, I sold off all my tractor equipment, except for an old JD 'M' (pictured in my YT Tractor Town page) that I couldn't bear to part with (the rebuilding of that tractor is a long story). When dad passed on in 1996, I brought the 420 down. There were far too many interested parties in it, and I became concerned that it would disappear one day. It might take my mom a week to notice it was gone.....

Now, having had both the 420 and the 350, I can tell you that the 420 is actually more useful. The 350 can push more, and it had a larger blade on it. However, it is clumsy in the woods between the trees. The 420 is much more nimble out there. It also doesn't make nearly the mess when working that the 350 did. That makes for easier cleanup with the tractor later. Of course, the 350 can do a job more quickly than the 420, but we're not on a time clock with our jobs.

Some things to keep in mind with a crawler over a tractor. One is that you're on the end of a whip, so steer slowly. Crawlers turn different from tractors, and you'll understand this as you use the machine. Another is to drink lots of water when using a crawler. The seat cushion is all you get here. No tires. The vibrations stimulate your kidneys like crazy! And if you go a lot, you'd best drink a lot.... Finally, when heading up a sizable slope, do it in reverse with the blade kept as low to the ground as you can. They can flip if the blade is uphill, but if it's downhill the blade hits the ground and saves you from some possible trouble.....