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That's a very broad and open ended question, tough to answer quickly and easily. I'm afraid there's no easy way about this, you'll have to learn about crawlers over a good amount of time by constantly reading and learning on this site and others. Plus chatting with real people who are experienced with the type of equipment you're interested in. If this thing is coming up for sale right away and you might be interested in it, the only real option you have is to take an expert with you to look it over. If you have to pay someone to look it over, then so be it - it must be done this way or you may very well end up one unhappy camper. But there are a few things you could do to "screen" the machine before you pay a professional to look it over for you. First, hopefully jdemaris will chime in and give you some specifics to look for on that particular model (sure you have the model right? doesn't look familiar). Second, go see the machine and get the complete story from the owner. Ask lots of questions and write down all his answers so you don't forget what he tells you. Take notes on what type of tractor, year, hours (if known), general condition etc. Take lots of digital pics of it, especially clear, detailed close ups of the complete undercarriage. Then have him demontsrate the machine and demonstrate all of the functions and controls to you so you can verify (as best you can) simply that everything works. For instance, make sure the blade tilts both ways (if applicable), it goes forward, backward, turns left and right, shifts through all its gears, the engine starts and runs decently while providing good power with no excessive smoke or bad noises - that sorta thing. Do the obvious stuff - check all the fluids, see if they are up to level and clean with no milkiness (water) in them. If they're not, and this is even when the guy is trying to sell the machine, take a wild guess how well he maintained it during his ownership of it. Check for leaks, see if there are signs of "clean up" to conceal where leaks would ordinarily be. Then if you feel comfortable running the machine, and the seller is willing to let you run it, try it out. See if it will push a load of dirt hard so that the engine settles down and starts chugging. If the clutch(es) are bad you'll tend to see it here. Other problems with the engine or drive system might also surface as well. Try working the blade in all directions and ensure all of the controls work properly. If you're not an experienced operator (like I was when I first test drove my machine), there's not a whole lot more you're going to get out of it, but still it's important to make the basic observations. Again, when you're finished with your test drive, take a look under the machine while it's still running and see if there are any leaks again. Especially look at the final drives, rollers and under the engine, radiator and transmission. Jot down your impressions of its performance along with the other notes. Then talk price with the seller and see what he wants, don't commit to anything or express enthusiasm. Then take your pics and list home and if it's a JD go to a JD website (and here) and post your pics and the notes and info from your visit/test drive. Get some feedback on whether it's even worth pursuing any further. If the experts say it might look promising and the price is reasonable, and YOU are convinced it can do the job for you, THEN go pay that professional to go out with you for a followup visit. And bring cash with you to seal the deal if it turns out to be a keeper. Good luck
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