I'm looking to buy a dozer for limited home use and found a 76 Case 1150B in my price range. Seller says it has a hydraulic line leak on the blade for the tilt (metal line vs. hose) and one injector line is leaking at the fitting. Other than, that he said the undercarriage is good. Sounds like a small trader/dealer who has not has personal experience with this machine. No sense of hours, past use, etc. I was hoping to find a machine I could put a few hours of use on, buy it right and be able to sell it for what I paid (or close to it) when done in a year or so. I'm pretty mechanical with cars and such but never purchased heavy equipment before so I was hoping to get some non-bias advice on what to look for with this particular machine given it's model and age and also, how the other brands compare, what models/years to avoid, etc. This 1150B may be a wee bit larger than I need so open to other suggestions. The seller told me the controls are more 'old school' than newer machines. I'm open to paying a little more if I can still get it back out, I have a more reliable, easier to use machine while I own it. I know lots of questions there. Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer some insight! Link
Hi whfh99, Good luck on the Case, that 1150b is a nice machine, and like dad told me, ck the oil, and forget about that 73 Pinto..LOL..sam.
Hi WHFH99, Probably the best thing you can do is find someone experienced with dozers or other track type equipment and take them with you to inspect the machine. The prospect of selling it for what you pay for it is a fine one; however, repairs can be a killer! Good luck.
Well the 1150B used the 451 case engine, around 105 hp. It was not old school as far as the trans, case was one of the few that could counter rotate, and do a power turn, other than a hydrostat machine which was very rare in that time. The issues with the 1150/1150B was the track frame and the cost to repair the torsion bar and lever equalizer which when worn out allowed the nose to drop and frames to walk outward. A lot of the frames were welded up with steel blocks to level them in the area around the equalizer leveler links when they stripped out. Case changed that with the C/D/E model and went to a equalizer beam like most other dozer makers. The 1150's have done a lot of work for many owners, the controls are easy to use and take a little getting use to, most will never use the brakes. I would try to go to a C model or newer but if the machine checks out (get a wrench to check it out with you) check fluid levels and a run for a hour, watch trans pressure gauge and tq converter temp, engine oil, water temp. Low pressures and high temps mean trouble.