I have recently purchased some property that I plan to build on within the next year or two. I’ve been reading for a month or so on what dozer would best fit my needs and I can’t seem to decide. Here’s what I plan to do with it: grade a 1700’ driveway through a current ag field, make a pad for house and shop, clear some smaller pines and saplings for a portion of the back yard, clean up and re grade some washed out areas and trails, and clear/maintain about 2.5 miles of logging trails that haven’t been used in about 3 years. I was leaning towards an older jd 350 or similar at first but now I’m thinking that may be too small and am looking more for a 450, 650, or D5. What size range would you guys recommend for these tasks? Do I need a 6 way blade or will a straight blade suffice? There are considerably more machines in my price range with straight blades but I’m sure a 6 way would be handy. I probably will only put about 500-700 hours on it the first couple years then maybe a couple hundred a year after that so I’m not looking for anything fancy or wanting to spend a fortune. I have run plenty of newer machines for work but have never owned a dozer. I appreciate any advice you can give.
I moved a Case 450 tracked/loader here from Il. OK for a start, then went to Dresser TD 7G (17,ooo#) with 6 way blade. You don't want a straight blade in dozer below 30K.
Thanks for the input. What’s the reasoning for not wanting straight blade in dozer below 30k? Not questioning your reasoning I just don’t follow
New property in the country ? Road to grade , knock down some trees & hog out a spot for some buildings . I would recommend a Ford 545 Dozer . Allot of people did not realize Ford built a dozer . LOL 4 wheel drive with heavy loader up front and 3 point hitch & PTO in the rear for attachments . Bush hog, box blade , post hole auger ……. Can't think of any task it wont do … Will flat make a monkey out of a small dozer or CTL on cost maintaining rural ground https://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/81389321/2001-ford-545d
Not a bad idea. I have a jd 2155 with ample attachments for the 3 pt. but may not be a bad idea. I just figured it wouldn’t do the job on cutting a road in or grading. Maybe I’m wrong. My soil is fairly sandy.
Ford 545 don't ask questions . It just performs . Like " get out of the way " . LOL !
I think td25c has the right idea. I had the same question a few years back, and many of the same tasks on my list as yours. I ended up with a backhoe. The plan was to sell it when I had finished the list. It's so handy to have around, I would't think of getting rid of it. The only thing I'd do different would be to get one with 4WD and maybe a 4-in-1 bucket.
A skid steer is another good option if you already have a tractor with a 3 pt. hitch. Could do the heavier digging and is easier to see the grade as you are going. Could use 3 pt. hitch implements for maintaining the driveway and/or in conjunction with the skid steer. A wheeled skid steer would have the lowest maintainence costs compared to a tracked dozer or tracked skid steer.
Can you sufficiently grade with a backhoe or skid steer on undisturbed soil? Seems like it would be pretty choppy. I don’t really have any experience with it.
One thing I forgot to mention is I have access to a mini ex and tractor with front end loader from a buddy down the street if that changes anything.
A skid steer is ideal for grading as you can see what the bucket edge is doing. It is hard to do fine grading with a front end loader/backhoe. Depending on the machine you can get it somewhat close but not as precise as with a skid steer.
I think this job is a little above a backhoe, skidder, or even a good MFWD tractor's pay grade, JMHO.
How big are the trees you plan on popping out ? I would use a straight blade for medium size trees 6-12 inch,using the corners of the blade to push with.
650H or J. I had a 650H for years, great machine good size for doing a lot of jobs you describe. I would try to find one with a ripper, makes moving hard soil a lot easier plus the extra weight is a little help. Mine was a XLT witch is a long track not a LGP. I think you only need LGP if you are in really soft conditions. After I sold the 650H I got a 700J with ripper. I really like the 700.
6” is about the max
After a quick glance I think the h & j are going to be out of my price range. I’m hoping to spend $20k or less
You want something about 20,000 pounds. My Komatsu D39P was 19k pounds - a good size for a ranch. Large enough to push over trees and a 6 way blade for grading. I bought it at auction for about $20k with 1800 hours. Good machine.
When in a tight spot and not sure what to do …. Bring on the WD-45 Allis . That tractor has forgotten more about dirt then most will ever get figured out . http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/1/7/177-allis-chalmers-wd45.html If the WD ever quits it's out of fuel . LOL !
My vote is for a John Deere 450H or newer with a 6 way blade. Wide tracks are a plus. I put hundereds of hours on them. They are awesome finish dozers.
A large 4x4 skip loader would be up to the grading. You can angle/tilt the box blade for contours.
Why a 6 way blade--can angle and grade. If blade is always at same angle as tracks, the you can't change much about keeping surface graded to get water off quickly or clear the ditches. Tracks vs tires??? depends on use, I have both--JD 4020D, Kubota L3400, Dresser TD7G, CAT 311C, Kubota SVL75. Have had wheel NH & BC skid-steer, BC track-steers, the Ford trac. mentioned ,etc. All depends on terrain & use. If you have thorns, which I had on farm in IL which caused me to get the Case 450 dozer, they eat tires!!!! Track units are much more stable than wheels. Most of my TN place is inaccessible or at least unsafe with wheel tractor though my Kubota 1140 CPX is great on timber trails. I'm almost 80, so I'm looking for the easier way to do things. I should have added regarding weight of unit. I had long time operator with 65K# dozer here with straight blade doing what mine cannot do, & I mentioned the difficulty of holding steady with my Dresser. He said that it is much easier to hold position with the big unit. And a small unit without angling would be pretty useless.
Total BS for the most part. I do agree that anything below a D6 size machine is much more capable of high production with a 6 way blade. I ran every size dozer and push cats from D10s down to D3s. Each one has its place depending on the job being done. I spent many years cutting grade with D8s. H , K and 8Ns. They all had tilt blades. A D5 or JD 450 class machine with a 6 way blade will do everything the OP described in his opening post. I had to cut grade for some of the most demanding site engineers that ever came on a job.
I would agree. If I was only gonna have one machine it would have rubber tires. Dozer would be second machine.