looking to buy a used Dozer

In regard to foreign makes, I've heard some good things about the Italian Landini crawlers.

I've worked for many Deere dealers in New York State. We found - that if you wanted to buy a used small crawler in New York - the machines tend to be in much better condition if bought from "down south", like lower NY black-dirt farming areas, Long Island, or New Jersey. That - because they have softer dirt and less hard pan - and fewer loggers who tend to tear crawlers apart.

The last dealer I worked for was in Oneonta, New York on the borders of Delaware and Otsego Counties. We had a fleet of rental 350s and 450s - and they often got used by loggers and guys with small rock quarries. They tore those crawlers to pieces - especially the 350s. Same goes with backhoes since we have so much rocky hard-pan soil around here.

Why do you think that none of the major tractor manufactures make a small crawler anymore? It seems like there is a market for them- I guess maybe the skidsteers today would be too much competition?

Several state conservation agencies throughout the country have regs that require #1 using a US made machine - and #2 crawlers must be under a certain weight-class. Since there are NO new US crawlers that meet these specs - Deere came out with the "Certified Relife" program. State of Michigan DNR bought many - and it's pricey. If, lets say you want a "new" Deere 350 - it goes like this. First - you must have one to trade in - and it has to be a C series or newer. Then, Deere updates it - including putting in a new 179 engine - and a new serial # tag - and charges around $65,000 for it. So, total cost is $65,000 plus the value of the original crawler - and - you do NOT get the old parts back. Many states have bought 350s and 450s this way. Our tax-dollars hard at work, I guess?

I wonder where all those old parts are going - like 152 and 164 diesels, torsional isolators and flywheels, final drive parts, rollers, etc.?

The 1010s and early 350s used a conventional spring-dampened clutch disk instead - and it worked fine. But, starting with the 350Bs, Deere used the "torsional isolator" instead. When the 350D came out - it was finally eliminated and a totally different setup was used - and it is much more reliable.

The older 350s can be updated - but it requires a new flywheel as well as the other new parts.