Hello, I’ve been scanning through your forum here and thought I’d ask you guys thoughts on me buying a 1983 977L and my use case. We farm gently sloping paddocks that have contour banks run across them to catch the water and direct into water ways. These silt up and water breaks over sometimes in big rainfall events. These are generally built with a dozer understandably but I was wondering if a big track loader would work in this situation building, repairing and cleaning out these banks? I’m guessing a dozer of same size allows tilt and angling of blade a a lower push point for deeper cuts? But I’ve seen a few of these track loaders pushing up dirt and seem to be pretty handy. I like the idea of a track loader for versatility for completing other tasks on the farm. Any thoughts be much appreciated. Thanks
Run away from that thing ! It's wore out and not worth $10,000.
^^Agree, someone did a 5 gallon rebuild
Undercarrage wore out pass on this it is used and abused
Many thanks for input guys. Pricing in Aus is tough but I get where you are coming from. sorry for my ignorance but if you have 5 minutes - when you say undercarriage worn out what are you looking at specifically here?
Pads are racing slicks someone has the tracks banjo tight to keep them on and sprockets are pointy. Can't tell about the rollers but the guards are all bent out so its safe to say there spent too. And the bucket is plumb worn out. RUN!
See this thread. It has a lot more photos and explanation. It should give you a better idea of what to look for. Help Inspecting Undercarriage - 977H Fellas - I just picked up a 977H. The price was right (free), so I didn't worry to much about condition of the undercarriage. From what I'm seeing, it doesn't look bad, but would anyone care to take a look at the pics to tell me what you see? FYI - one of the sprockets has bolt on segments... HeavyEquipmentForums
I'll give my $.035 in addition to the worn out UC. That bucket has been used for a while with no teeth, shanks, cutting edge or center bits. Anyone that would run a machine that long with a bucket in that condition is probably not taking care of the rest of the machine either. The overall condition of the machine shows one of two things - an owner that didn't give a **** about the machine or a moron that didn't know better. Neither option is a good one when buying old used heavy equipment. Oh yeah - Welcome to the Forums! Glad to have you!
Yes, a good track loader on a farm/paddock would serve you well, especially one with a 4 in 1 bucket, but not this one unless you wish to spend some coin getting it back in good shape, looks like she's spent way too much time in the red light district yet still has the fresh face paint for appearance.
Great info thanks. I will admit I was taken in by the paint job. I had to ask for a photo of bucket and rippers. I’ll start learning what to look for.
The idler blocks are almost at the end of the track frames and the rails are shot. The rollers probably are too. The rock guards are almost rubbing on the track pads. Actually the sprocket segments are probably the best part of the undercarriage. That's the definition of a Dupont (paint) overhaul.
It’s scrap
I see a sign on the side says it weighs 24 tons. What is 24 tons of scrap worth in his location.? Offer him that value, you never know....... But if he does bite be prepared to invest a lot of time and money into it to get it into anything like reasonable condition, or pass and wait until a better machine comes along.