So I bought an "estate" dozer. A mystery machine with a "known" bad starter. But I was assured it ran and moved by the seller. Its a Komatsu D31A-17 With ROPS and a 6 way blade. It has pretty new chains/rails and sprockets. It does indeed run and it does indeed move. I spent a day fixing the starter. The brushes plate was about burned into two pieces. A trip down to R&E Electric got me a new brush plate. A little polishing and the starter was back in action. Got it started and it runs ok. Has a knock that was evident after it started to warm up. Water pump leaks. Radiator was empty so I filled it up. Now after running it again the radiator has a pretty thick layer of oil on top of the water. The left cylinder leaks hydro oil. It moves front and back but does not seem to steer. The clutch handles don't feel like they have any resistance. Im going to tinker with it a little tomorrow and see if its worth continuing to put my time into it. Or,, sell it as a project dozer, or,, part it out for the undercarriage and trans etc and scrap it, or???
Komatsu is pretty well supported here. The D31 series of tractor are desired on farms as not too heavy to move on a typical gooseneck trailer, yet heavy enough to do some good work. I'd do some good pressure testing of the engine and cooling system and analyze these findings before making a final judgement call. From the sounds of it with good undercarriage, I'd bet the tractor is worth working with. Thinking it's an auction purchase you have a bit of room to work with and not be upside down into it. You would probably come out ahead on parting it out as the series is popular still. Those engines are not cost prohibitive to rebuild if not blown up so don't make it that way.
sounds like a complete can of worms. It runs just enough to lead you on into the money pit.
Usually anything older like this at an auction is the proverbial "money pit". However, if you don't have to pay upwards of $200 an hour to have someone work on it citing your own abilities, there is plenty of room to make it workable. I still see several of the series being worked around here as it's popular and again well supported by the local dealer, (Roland Equipment) in Peoria, and Springfield, IL.
I don't think he'll get it done in time to do my driveway job..........
Im gonna fart around with it a little more today. If things dont start to improve without much effort, then it’s going up for sale. Anyone have any input about brake pedals? I’ve found that some of these ol turds have normal brake pedals R/L and some have a brake on the right and the pedal on the left is an “inching” pedal?
Here is a pic of the offending iron.
Somebody must have been driving over a lot of loose rocks or straddling ditches to bend ALL of the pads like that and they are narrow pads to boot. I'd hazard a guess it's a very abused machine and is the definition of a money pit.
Not that it matters and it's just me, but I probably wouldn't have bid anything above scrap value myself. That one has been used very hard and given limited care. I'd wager there is a lot more to discover once you get into it that is not favorable.
Well, hell! Your raking in the loot selling axles at the auction. Come buy this dozer form me. You can afford to fixer up and then list it at your local auction.
Im not into it that bad. Wasn't from an auction. Local FB marketplace is to blame for this fiasco.
Hey I get it. It's a really handy size. The dozer like that a guy could do a lot of things with.
Either re-sell it or be prepared for some serious money to be spent . I don't see any redeeming features in the photo . If its a hobby tractor , money has a different value to a viable business proposition .
So far the best thing this dozer has done is make me appreciate my D4D even more! It was loved its whole life and shows!
Do you still have the four?
It's got the cheap version of a curated cutting edge on the blade as well.
I do.
That's a sweet rig with the winch and all the screens. The last one I got to run was borrowed from the neighbor this little C with rippers. Note the chainsaw scabbard on the rops column
What are you guys talking about? It just has the aerodynamic pads option.
I’m leaning towards oil cooler problems or a head gasket issue. Or both, lol I just drained it and it’s had about 3 gallons of coolant and one gallon of oil in the cooling system. It started right up but run kinda rough for 30 seconds or so a d cleaned up. It was 36 degrees out tho
It has the optional low friction easy turn pads.
I thought they were the golf course "greens rated" turf saver variety. Shows how much I know.
Turf saver-traction impairer. They make smooth tracks for CTL's. I know a golf course that switches between the standard tracks and the green turf tracks. Seems kind of a hassle to me but apparently it's too bad a job to switch them.
The photo is not enough to determine whether the undercarriage is total scrap or not. But I'm guessing with pads that bad, the track chains and rollers are not far behind in their condition. The tractor has certainly been well used and abused. With machines like that, you need to sit back and make up a list of what level of money is required for each component area, to see what you're up for. If the engine cleared up and ran O.K., it may be a simple and relatively cheap repair as compared to needing a full out-of-frame overhaul. Then, all you need is to determine the level of money required to be invested in the undercarriage. The track frame area appears to be in quite good condition, not badly corroded, buckled or patched, like so many abused machines. The blade is definitely in need of repair, maybe a good used blade might be a better option? That is a real handy little tractor and is probably sought after by a lot of people once it's in good working order. The main thing is to determine how much money is required to get it that way, and whether you're prepared to invest the time and money. Around here, little tractors like that bring good money.
I don’t know about the rollers, but the sprockets are nice and the rails are thick and the pins have no wear pattern able to be seen or felt. Some one obviously put the old junk pads back on the new chains. The hour meter works and shows 7600 hours. I’m just going to list it as a project machine and pass on what I’ve learned about it so far. I’m gonna fish around $4500 and see if anyone bites.
A complete engine rebuild kit with new pistons n liners and the works are $650-$800. So it’s not that bad to rebuild. For a hobby/farm machine a guy would have $5500-$6500 into it total if he was doing his own work. None of it is that difficult. Im Pretty sure an engine overhaul and a little tinkering would be all it needs to be a good farm dozer.
It sounds to me like its well worth repairing, if only the pads are in poor shape. It would sell easily around here for that kind of money. They're a very good little tractor and well worth spending a few $$'s on, if that's all that's required to bring it up to good working order.
I think it would be quite a bit more than $800 to rebuild the engine. It depends how much machining is required, if it needs a new rad, if the injection pump needs work, etc. If just the pads need replacing it's easily worth over $5000 in my opinion, maybe about $6500.
I could use a machine that size but i needed a backhoe worse so thats what i got( what my wife would allow)
I know of a pretty nice D41 series coming up at estate sale before much longer. Known the family for years but no inherent knowledge to the dozer other than it runs well.