my first track loader

What would any of you recommend as a great all-round dependable track loader. I'm hoping to keep it between $5000-$10000.

Thanks for any advice.

I have considered a skid steer and have used them around construction sites. My concern is that they may not be powerful enough. Also, how is the stability? My property is quite hilly, with the occasional rock popping out of the grass.

Thanks again for all your comments/regards

So, as of now, I have 15,000 pounds of scrap steel. Yes it runs, but it cannot be used the way it is. I have had a ball working on it and have learned alot along the way. I plan to do the in-frame soon. I then plan to replace sprockets and start welding rebar to the pads to milk out that very last bit of use before I put new tracks and bottom rollers on. Remember, this is just a toy for me, so undercarriage reliability is not all that important. As of now, I have about $4500 in it. I expect to put $1200 in the engine including boiling the radiator. Then another $800 in the undercarriage to include sprockets, rebar and welding rods. Hopefully, I will have something I can use for minor cleanup/dirt moving. If I had been more patient, I could have found a comparable machine for $6-8K with 50%+ undercarriage and running. But heck, then I would have missed out on all of the fun. My advice: ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS. If you do not know the right questions, hire someone that does. It may save you alot of money.

Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving in Ontario. David in SC

Your sound a lot like me except I got a lot better deal when I purchased my 450 Case Tracker Loader on E-Bay. The person I purchased the loader from was helpful,, but Like you I didn't know the right questions to ask.

He said from the first that there was oil in the engine oil, but that wasn't much of a problem. Someone had worked on the engine and somehow put the rocker arm assembly in backwards. A local mechanic quickly fited the engine. The real problem is the right track and like you I didn't know anything about tracked machines. My last trip back the Texas I got the track off and figured out what needs to be done. Also like you I am much smarter than before

I bought a 1968 model Case 450 about a year ago to clear some of the 10 acres of woods I purchased. The Loader (with 4n1 bucket) was $8500 plus tax. Overall I"ve been happy with it but I"ll caution you that if you are going to spend less than 10K on an older used machine (that has not already been rebuilt) you should expect to put another $2000 in it over the next year or so.

So far the work I"ve done has been minor. Rebuilding the brakes (which were stuck on or else I"d have left them alone). I re-wired everything. Replaced most gauges. Changed the non-functional generator over to an alternator. Replaced various gaskets. New muffler etc. Having run it for say 20-25 hours now its developed a lot of blowby on the engine. This means that I"ll be doing an in-frame rebuild in the next month. Approximate parts cost $675 when you count new fluids etc. I was hoping not to have to do major engine work, but at the same time I was prepared to be able to rebuild it if necessary. Its part of the gamble when buying an older machine. There was no way to tell that this was going to happen beforehand.

Overall I"m quite happy with the Case 450. Parts are available from the local dealer (although most have to be ordered and take a couple of days to get here). Parts prices are not too bad. The dozer is a little hard to work on, with cramped areas and heavy parts but not impossible.

Pick a machine thats big enough to do the job but not too big to work on. The smaller loaders use less fuel too, which will add up eventually.

The only thing I"ve heard bad about the John Deere 450 series is the dry steering clutches. I"m not sure when they dropped them but keep this in mind. The steering clutches are okay as long as they are used regularly.

Take your time and good luck,
John
1968 Case 450

I have a 15 acre lot that I needed to do some logging on, build an 800 foot (244 meters) driveway on, and clear a building/home lot on. To make a long story short I did a lot of research and soul searching, and came to the following conclusions:

I came away with the impression that the Case 450 loader would be best for what I needed to do. Why? Because it was big enough and durable enough to accomplish what I needed to accomplish (within a reasonable timeframe). Case's are second to none for their reputation of quality and ease of repair. And because JD's of similar size were more expensive to maintain (JD parts prices are renowned for their expense), Case machines are very well built and could be maintained/fixed using ordinary tools. In contrast, Cats need specialized tools that you either have to rent or simply pay a mech to come out and fix it for you (thanks to GeorgeMD and others for clearing that up). Prepare for BIG $$ to operate, own and repair a JD or CAT.

But where I live older IH crawlers were (a) more plentiful (b) cheaply priced, and (c) do not require specialized tools to maintain/repair. I had a hard time finding a decent Case machine, but I quickly found an IH machine that could do the job and was cheaply priced.

Without going into agonizing detail, obviously IH is out of business. Which means the parts and availability for IH machines is somewhat suspect. This made me hesitant to buy an older IH machine. But in the end the price was so alluring for this old machine, which was mostly all rebuilt that I decided to take a chance and go for it. I ended up buying a 150 loader (same thing as a TD9B Drott loader). To make a long story short I have run this machine for over three hundred hours since buying it last winter. It has been a great machine, very reliable. It has successfully built me an 800' driveway, much of which was digging out deep culverts, pushing over BIG oaks, digging deep pits and performed a whole lot of road grading. Plus when I first got it I did a bunch of logging and log towing...overall, no problem (other than getting stuck in the mud a few times), the machine has been awesome.

And although the only parts I've replaced on it are all the filters (tranny, oil, fuel, air, etc) and a few hydraulic lines, I've since found sources and workarounds for most anything. This is especially a concern considering that IH has (a) been out of business for years and (b) the age of my machine (1969) appeared to make parts availability a problem. But I've learned that as long as you are willing to do some legwork to find the parts you need (via the dealer, many new after market and used sources and via ebay etc), and employ workarounds (via talented machinists/welders like GeorgeMD) then you can keep these old crawlers going indefinitely (see the old IH redpower site if you don't believe it).

In short, if you buy an old machine (which you must do to satisfy the price constraints you specify), then you can definitely do what you need to do. Just be willing to go through the extra legwork that might be necessary in the event there is a mech problem...

good luck

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Thanks again to George and Deas Plant for giving me outstanding advice!