I am new to the forums and am trying to research a dozer that I may look at if the seller can motivate me This is a 1994 year model and it is suppose to have just over 1000 actual hours. I plan on taking someone much more experienced than myself to look at the dozer but I wanted to ask the forum about this particular model and year to get all the comments and opinions that I can. If there is something inherit to this machine that is particularly bad then it is best I consider it now.
Well I was able to determine that the unit I am looking at(or giving consideration to going to look at)is a 6 cylinder. I understand that is preferred over the 4 cylinder. Is there any other particular part of the machine that I should pay extra close attention to?
Well with only 1000 hours i cant imagine anything serious is it a hystat or powershift?If its a power shift the cams on the steering vaves wear out and the bearings that push the stem on the valve.Other than that and the track pin and bushing wear.check for milky looking oil which means water in the compartment(hydraulic,engine,transmission).
If it is 15 years old and only has 1000 hrs on the meter I would be looking that meter over real close. Look for any disturbed paint where someone may have swapped in a new meter. If that is the true hours you will most likely encounter some seal problems from sitting a lot as well.
Well today I found out a litlle more information. It does not have 1000 original hours as was suspect. It does however have quite a lot of work done that is 800-1000 hours old. I do not know the original hours but am told by the mechanic that worked on it that the engine, a 6 cylinder, was overhauled about 1000 hours ago due to a piston that dropped the entire skirt. The owner was fanatical about that kinda thing and ordered the entire overhaul. Then shortly the transmission and hand clutches and brakes. Pictures should arrive shortly and it sounds like it may be worth looking at if I can get it at a bargain. The mechanic told me the latter was billed at around $15000, seems if it has had all that, that it should be good to go. What else should I look at?
My thoughts on this are who did the work, is there any paperwork to go with it and what about any remaining warranty on the work. I've run into too many machines where recent work wasn't defined. Last week, last month, last year or the last ten years are all possible. If work was done by the owner I just consider it basic maintenance. They overhaul to the amount of money they can get by with. If they have invoices for service or parts I want to look at them to see what was replaced. No one has invented X ray eyes that allow you to see inside the components so anyone can say anything they want. Usually you will see a lot of soft parts and not many hard parts on invoices. If they say they overhauled the engine then they should be able to show you an invoice with piston and liner kits, main bearings, rod bearings, head work or replacement and so on. If they can't do that then walk away. Basically they lied about the hours in the ad to get you interested. Now they may be lying to set the hook.
John C and all above, thank you and I consider all the comments to be excellent advice and I will be looking for much more detail and receipts. I really appreciate your experience and suggestions that I know will help keep myself out of trouble. This can be be kinda nerve racking when you don't have enough experience to know what you should be looking for. Thanks again and if anything else comes to mind please chime in.