Looking at a dozer in decent shape. Guy seems pretty honest, the ad says needs complete undercarriage. If I hauled it right to deere, about what would the bill be?
I only have a couple case 450 machines but my uncle has a JD 450J. He Did a partial undercarriage rebuild, Idlers chains sprockets and some rollers(not sure how many rollers). He had a local JD dealer do the work and the bill wind up over 18 thousand . I feel this is extremely high for not even being a complete UC but I'm not sure as I haven't had to replace one myself. Someone with experience in it will come along shortly... 90% of the dozer's you see for sale ends up needing an UC... Farmers and small contractors work em tell the UC is just about gone, find out the amount of BIG money its gonna cost them to replace and then try and pon it off on someone else.. I'v seen a guy sell and Amish fello a dozer and told him it was good to go for 2000 hours with a new undercarriage... He had pulled a link... everything was completly shot except the brand new pads, it was to the point the tracks wouldnt stay on... Amish fello seen the grousers and thought it was a dandy.. I felt sorry for him, some people are just down right crooked.. Research.... Research ... Research... Learn as much as possible about a peace of equipment long before you debate on buying it... Best of luck to you...
Should be able to buy a complete u/c for about 12 to 14 grand , not installed.
That is a rotten thing to do to anyone but the Amish part even brings it to another level for some reason. I got a quote for parts and labor all done from the local tractor place. Total was 8k. I felt like he must be missing something so I asked if that was basically every moving part in the UC, basically worst case scenario and he said yes. I still think he was missing something. I have another question. Is an LPG machine essential to building septic fields or will a standard track 450 be ok?
That price has got me considering a newer dozer A UC for my B, complete with pads is around that going with Berco. I would have thought it to be atleast 10-12, but once again, never had to replace one on a JD either. My unc paid JD Dealer for install, we all know how ridiculous that can get.... 8 sounds more than right to me... I love an LGP when you dont have much beneath you, but I log with mine and I'm on nothing but dry rocky, steep hillsides so I like narrower pads myself....
I can't imagine you are getting a complete SALT undercarriage installed for $8k. On a hydrostat machine you really need to be careful what you get since the high speeds kill cheap U/C parts. I wouldn't install anything but SALT chain and stay away from Vtrack Idlers & sprockets.
I hear plenty of complaints about the cost of undercarriage but not that many about the income the dozer produces. From my point of view now days, if you can't earn enough money with the dozer to pay the operating costs, you shouldn't have it. Undercarriage is thought of the same way as tires on a car or truck. Every time it moves, it wears out. Put some of that income in an account somewhere instead of buying toys and you won't have to cry when the machine is so worn out it won't move.
John C. > well said ! I actually have a separate business savings account set up just for my ''wear parts'' such as dozer UC , skidder tires, trailer tires and so on...
My last small dozer u/c quote was for a complete u/c on a D4G LGP. Using OEM Cat parts it was $16,000 installed. Labor was just shy of $3k. I installed it myself I just wanted to see what they wanted to charge me.