Howdy all, got me a situation here on my hands. Trying to start my own circus and looking at equipment. One piece I'm looking at is a JD350c Dozer w/ 6way blade that someone I know well has. The undercarriage is shot. You can't turn without the tracks falling off. The blade valve leaks so I'd have to fix that, can't grade easily with it, it lets off pressure. Float is good though! Steering is fine. It has a rebuilt engine that fires in the coldest of temperatures and runs just like a song. Anyways, he said he'll sell it to me for scrap price. I'm not sure what they go for in scrap money, but anyways, I got a quote for the undercarriage parts from RFE Distribution for 6,646.10 not sure if that's before or after freight. I've never done an undercarriage job, but I've done things that are sorta similar to it. I'm not sure I have the right tools to lift this thing up in the air either to do it, unless I use the blade and logs. I also can get a backhoe from my boss to use for the job I'm sure. I have torches, air compressor, tools, them things... Anyways, what yawl think? I found a dozer nearby the guys asking 8k and claims the undercarriage is at 80% but I don't know if this guy measured it or if he's just guestimating when really it's at 10%... my thoughts are, I could poke around and try to find a more ready to go unit, or I could buy this one, put the work into it, and have pretty much a new dozer. Thanks!
Bump
Have a 350B at the camp trying to sell. Rebuilt blade pivots, clutches, brakes and engine. That said parts are still available, very good machine for dirt and brush on a budget but if you plan on doing real trees its on the small side.
It's a matter of time and money. If you have lots of time, repair skills, shop, and can tolerate somewhat lower reliability then a fixer upper may suit you. If you need a dependable, ready to go machine that is ready to go to work everyday reliably, you need to spend more money on a better machine. As mentioned a 350 is a little small for many jobs, it's ideal where minimum size or weight is a constraint. I used to see a lot of 350's finish grading residential lots with topsoil etc, but a lot of this work has been taken over by skid steer loaders and the rubber tracked versions recently. Good luck and welcome to HEF.