I would like to eventually purchase a dozer for various farm jobs. One of the primary jobs would be pulling a tile plow. I'm thinking a Crary. I would also like to shape ditches and waterways to stop some of the gulley washing. I would also like to clear trees from fence lines and field edges. I've read that the 950 is not a deere dozer and have had some issues. What's people opinion of the 950 j and which would be a better fit. Thanks!
The 950J is not a Deere design, it was part of a joint venture with Liebherr where Deere rebranded a PR744 dozer to have a larger dozer to sell in the states. The design is very different than the 850 which has always been made in Dubuque, Iowa. The 1050J was also a Libherr PR754, but starting with the 1050K, Deere redesigned the machine from the ground up and is manufacturing them in Dubuque, Iowa. Liebherr also used to buy the 700J design from Deere and sell it as a PR714 in Europe. Deere is starting to bring all its designs in house like the K Series Crawler Loaders, 1050K, etc. I'll let other people speak to what'd work best for farm work and pulling a tile plow, but just wanted to point out that the 950/1050J machines are quite different than the 850 and smaller Dozers that Deere makes in Iowa.
Just my .02 , look around for a larger Cat dozer , 8K or 8L. They can be picked up reasonable. Buy a 850 Deere for the terrace work. The Cat would work well for the tile plow. I've never done that type work so its just a thought.
The 850j is a great dozer with a well proven history. The 950j is a good dozer as well but is completely different than the 850j. The 850j is a lot easier to work on and because of the amount of them produced parts are cheaper and more available and it is a Deere engine and Deere supported powertrain. Since the 950 is a Liebehr machine and engine it is a little more difficult to diagnose when it has a problem. The 950 size isn't the most popular either which might affect resale value.