New poster here. I've been reading thru several pages of threads and I'm very impressed with the amount of good advice being given. That said, I'd like to ask a question. I recently purchased a 65 acre piece of land. Which is 95% forested with a mix of light and heavy timber. I'm thinking about getting a dozer to help clean up the place and would like to get some advice on sizing. Here are my requirement: 1) I would like to be able to push over trees 3 to 4 inch in diameter and get the root ball out of the ground fairly cleanly. 2) I would like to be able to navigate in fairly tight quarters and pile up the 100 years of down limbs and trees that are ever where. 3) I would like to be able to scoop and haul piles of outcropped rocks that are laying ever where. 4) I would like to be able to pull it short distances (less then 30 miles) with my powerstroke F-350 and a good GN trailer. My ground is a mix of all dirt in some areas and mostly rocks in others. I was thinking about a 455 case track loader or similar sized other brand. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
well, I was thinking about a jd350 or 450 size dozer until i read the part about scooping and hauling rocks. So I suppose any track loader that size would fit the bill. Small enough to haul with your truck and big enough to do the job. Hope this helps, and good luck...
have you thought about renting an excavator to do the job? might be worth considering . . .
I hired a dozer to come out and did some of the work, I figured out pretty quickly I could pay him to live there for a year and probably not have done what I want done. He did a great job and have no issues, it's just a massive amount of work. I've ran a fair amount of heavy equipment at my time at the rock quarry, so I'm pretty good there. I've also been in and out of maintenance almost my whole life, so I think I can keep an older machine running. I guess what I don't want to do is buy a machine and not even be able to push a 3" tree over and pile it up. When I paid the dozer guy to come out he let me run his 953 on a couple of occasions to do small projects and obviously it had zero issues with trees in the 6" to 7" range. On a slightly different note I have friend who's is willing to go in with me on a dozer if I'll build him a pond. The problem is he want's a very large pond, with a track loader and a small dump truck to move dirt I assume you could do it would just take a very long time. Is that a logical assumption or would you hit material at say 10' to 15' deep that a 12k pound machine simply could not dig up (assuming you don't hit limestone floaters)?
case 455 with a 4/1 would do the trick:usa also can be purchased for very cheap , id say 7k to 10k would do the trick but be prepared to own it forever because they are not selling at all and if you do find a guy like yourself that has a project, figure getting 1/2 what you paid for it to make it move, the idea of a excavator would be a option but 20k is a used 30k class machine with a **** load of hours also you will need six wheel dump at a minimum to move material or the shovel any distance, good luck , p.s. there is a super clean 455 at the local dealer from the original owner with really low hours, i think its 9k but im sure could be had for less and shipped for 1200ish , f and w equipment corp .com k it out
No advice on dozer or track loader but on clearing small trees. If you are wanting to get out the root ball, you will need to clear only when the soil is loose and damp/wet. If it is dry clay and rock from a Summer of drought (like here in NW AR.) , all you will do is bend those little things over and snap off at the ground. If they come out at all. I find the best clearing time is after the Winter freeze is out of the ground but the leaves are not on the trees yet. Fall can be good as well if it has been damp. If you can do your clearing when the conditions are good you can get by with a small dozer or track loader.
I know there is some difference between the 455's with some having wet brakes and some are dry, is one much more desirable then another? Are there other things to really look for?
Hi psmith and welcome to the forum. I have a 455C that I purchased new in '86 and now have nearly 10,000 hrs on it, original motor, trans, finals, these machines are capable of a lt of hours if treated well. Case really got everything right on this model from the start. When Case discontinued the 455C in '91 I think, they had improved them in a few ways, but they were basically the same machine. The improvements were, wet brakes, modulation on the transmission for forward/reverse as well as high/low. Third brake pedal that braked both tracks without de-clutching, and rectangular work lights. The brakes and trans improvements are a welcome asset, but they were not problems prior to the improvements, so if you get a late one, these would be a bonus, but an early one would still be fine. I have seen some of the 455's you have in the US for sale and they are very cheap for what they are, but you will have to look carefully as it is amazing how someone can let a 20yr old machine deteriorate even though it has low hours. There are no inherent weaknesses that I can think of to look for, it would more be a case of how it was looked after and maintained. Baz
i'm not familiar with the case models but what does a 455 weight. depending on how you combo you truck and trailer 14000 is your max trailer weight. at lest legaley in pa if you could go a little heavyer a 455 or 555 john deere is what i would recomend.
455C in loader configuration is around 16k lb or 7.5k KG, depending or counterweight/ripper/ bucket config Baz
not familiar with the ones mentioned above. I have a Komatsu D31, use it on my farm (160 acres) don't have rocks down here but it has done just about everything I needed so far. LOL with a little judicious planning and undercutting the roots I've knocked over trees upto 24" in diameter with it Lost a lot of big oaks and pecans from Katrina, some oaks were 5' in diameter, the dozer was a life saver piling and cleaning everything up. The big oaks were a bit much, had to cut them up into a little more manageable size. Currently enlarging a pond with it. Bought it used probably 10 yrs ago for 15000 and have had almost zero problems with it. Just now going to do some undercarriage work on it. I haul it around on 99 F-350
I also have a Komatsu D31 which I have used to clear areas as you described minus the rocks. The biggest tree I have taken down is a hickory tree about 22" at chest high. Like Monkey said, use the 6 way blade to cut the roots coming out from the root ball and push it over. It's hard to explain unless you have actually done it but, with a 6 way blade, you can tilt the blade back to one side, close to the tracks and then down to use the outside bottom corner of the blade to actually "POP" the trees out without distrubing too much soil. The 6 way blade will allow you to slide the corner of the blade up under the rootball and lift the 3" or 4" trees out.
10-4 on that those directions :thumbsup
I knew I had came to the right spot, alot of good information there. I know I will be 2 or 3,000 over my truck's rated capacity but again I'm only going to move a locally. I don't plan on working the loader but I have friends and family that I will probably help out once or twice a year. Now that I've narrowed the field down the search is on. Thank you for everyone that weighed in.
I've found a John Deere 350c with 4/1 loader for a pretty fair price. Anyone have any comments on these machines? I've tried to find the weight and only found weights for straight dozer blades, anyone have a weight on this machine? Besides trying to get detailed pictures of the U/C is there anything else I should do? It's along ways away and I'd have to be pretty sure I'm buying before I drove up to it.
I know someone who had a JD 350. It has the same size bucket as the 455C, but it is nowhere near as powerful or robust. We worked together on a few jobs side by side, and the 455C ran rings around the JD. They are still an OK machine, you will just do everything a bit easier with the Case. Baz
gotta agree with baz :drinkup the 350 is undersized , that case in the northeast at f and w isnt on the site anymore, i think it sold ,,, there is another on equipment post.com ,, dont know much about it but maybe a site member close to it could take a look for ya , pm me i have another option that might work as well
What would a person offer for a 450b John Deere that has been tore down to replace the steering clutches and never put back together? I figure it's worth about 1100 in scrap I was thinking of offering 2500 for it. I would much prefer a track loader but hey cheap is cheap. He says it will start and he has the equipment to move it to my location dismantled. I think he thinks it has a high value in spare parts so he might not be interested in low ball offers. I thought sense I'm not in a hurry I might just put in a standing offer.