The guy wants $2500 and says it has a good Deitz diesel motor in it. I apparently it doesnt roll and the motor is out of it right now. I am trying to get the hours and year but here are some pictures in the meantime. What do you think?
Go for it! You can do it. A little elbow grease and a couple trips to Autozone for parts and She’ll be like new.
If it has a Deutz diesel in it, and if the diesel needs work, you need to run. Go find something with a Kubota engine, it will be cheaper to get parts for in the long run.
I have no problems putting in some work (also my father in law is retired and always needs a good side project) Just wondering if this thing is worth it.
Any chance you can see the engine run? Why was is pulled? Any attachments included? Definitely be resealing that tilt cylinder. I'd go by with a prybar or something to check how worn the pins and bushings are. Check how dry rotted hoses are, backs of the rims for wheel seal leaks, critter nest under the cab, etc. Get an idea where you're starting. It's going to be a project (and a money pit) no matter what, so it's all up to what you want to do with it. That said, at $2500 and in need of a project I'd be tempted to bring it home myself.
Its about 1hr away. Doesnt roll apparently so loading it might be interesting. I was told it ran before pulled but I am going to assume it will need to be rebuilt at least. Probably new seals and possibly pumps. Probably all new hoses. Needs tires thats for sure. If im going to tear it that far down ill probably have it painted. Ill have to check the pins and bushings. Might offer less considering what unknowns are out there...
So found out the hours are 2910 as for making an offer he is moving at the end of feb and it just needs to be gone. So i told him considering all the unknows and the knowns ill make an offer.
Now i gotta figure out the logistics of it. I have a trailer so thats not a problem but getting it on will be the problem Any way to make the thing roll?
Looks like the tires are junk, so getting it to roll isn't really going to help much with getting it loaded. I'd call someone with a wrecker and have them pick the whole thing up, back the trailer under it and set it on. Do the reverse when you get it home.
Early 80’s model. It isn’t going to roll with the drivetrain set-up it has, the tires skidding will not overcome the drive chains and drive motor. If the engine runs it may be a good fixable machine.
thanks. We will probably get the trailer as close as possible and drag it on. My father in law was thinking sliding it on with plywood.
If you are going to get a wrecker, why not get a roll off and have them drag it onto the deck. They can then tilt the deck at your place, and you can drag it off, if it won't slide off.
Unfortunately a wrecker wpuld cost me more to tow it down here (4hr one way trip) than this thing is worth. There is a forklift there to help load it. He gettin more pictures. He said the motor does turn. I am thinking with 2900 hours more than likely the hydraulic system is still good just will need a good service and probably a few new lines. Also with those hours the pins and bushings should still be in decent shape right?
You're going way too much by hours. I can see what appears to be significant slop in the attachment plate pins from the pictures, and the repair on the boom crossmember doesn't make me optimistic either. That being said if you're willing to put in the work you can probably make a functional machine out of it, just don't expect it to be new.
You could Flintstones it with plywood and some round posts to roll on if need be. Don't trust hour meters if you don't know whether they've been replaced or unplugged for any amount of time.
You are probably right, I can hope for the best but will just have to see how it all shakes out. I should have some more pictures and info tomorrow. I found some tires locally that I will probably pickup this weekend.
Worst case, you could probably get your money back by parting it out. If the project becomes a money pit.
Looks like a good machine overall they were solid and simple. The pins and bushings and paint jobs have to wait until you get it running Were you able to get the story why the engine was removed? We will be looking forward to the rebuild
Got some more pictures. It has been sitting for a while it is a little worse off. As for cost I might be able to get it for much less as he was going to scrap it when he moves. At this point the biggest investment will be the drive up there and the time it takes to load it up.
Overall to me it looks like it’s got potential for that price. Someone has repaired the tilt cylinder mount and the crossbar of the arms like jacobd has pointed out, but from the pictures it doesn’t look like a bad repair... in fact, to me it looks like they’ve beefed up the structural metal that the tilt cylinder bosses are on, this is a common failure point on these machines, one of my 732s (same machine just a Ford gas engine) had a failure there. For $2500 you really can’t go wrong, you’d easily get that back parting it out. There is a way to make it roll, an easy way ismjust to disconnect the hoses from the drive motors... Good luck and keep us posted!
Thank you for that info. Are those under the seat? Which ones specifically ? If you dont mind taking a picture that would be greatly appreciated
No disrespect to any of the members here but as a35 year equipment mechanic here-I don't want to rain on your parade but you wanted opinions so some may not like mine but to each his own. That said, here's mine. There's no way I would give 2500 bucks for that. I'm not cheap, nor do I lowball people. I hate that. The thing is this-that machine is old. The motor is out of it for some reason you don't know. They didn't pull it out for giggles-something's wrong. You have NO IDEA if it runs or even can be made to run, or what it could cost. The hydrostatic pump may be bad-don't know. It's a big question mark. It could cost a fortune to fix it even if you do it yourself. That's just facts. You don't know what may be missing either. If you're lucky just bolts. If not look out. Stuff tends to go missing on stuff that sits. You can look to repack all the cylinders if you get it running-not a deal breaker but it costs money. Are the rods rusted and pitted? Add that cost if they are. It can be a money pit in a hurry. It needs a tire or four as well. They aren't free. I think you said he talked about scrapping it when he moves. As it sits now it's worth about scrap price. If he'll take scrap price then I'd take a chance. It's a good ways away and you have too many unknowns to give a lot of money for it. Unless you can get it cheap I'd pass on it. You'd be deep in the hole at 2500 bucks. You don't want a machine you have 8k in that's worth 4k when your done. That's a bad decision. You can buy a running machine and come out cheaper in the long run. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Thank you for the insight and I came here for just that the good, bad and ugly. Thank you, Im going to talk to the owner again this weekend last I talked to him he is more than willing to accept an offer. I would like to get it for $500 or less considering what I know it needs right now. You are 100% right it may be only worth scrap or parting out, and I wont know that until we start messing with the engine.
"I heard" and "They said" gets you in trouble. He said it ran when they pulled the motor out, so why was it pulled to start with? If the motor was running fine then the Hydrostatics must be giving trouble. Be real careful bud. IF he's talking about scrapping it I'd give him scrap value and save him the trouble of hauling it in. I'm not being ugly, but that ain't no '69 Camaro barn find. It's an old, non-running tractor with no history. Price it accordingly. You may wind up at the scrapper with it yourself if you find out it's junk. A reman pump in an 853 was 2200 bucks a couple months ago so keep that in mind. Good luck.
Just my 2 cents, and I have been a Mechanic, diesel and auto, for 40+ years. I agree with Tractormech 100%. I can t tell you how many times I ve seen someone dive into a restoration, with high hopes, only to give up 3 years and many thousands of dollars later, because the scope of project was way to big, and they didn t have the skills or enough money to finish. Unless you can get it for next to nothing, I would look around for something a bit more together. Again only my opinion. Good luck, what ever you do.
I absolutely can’t disagree with tractormech or Arny, their advice is rock solid. Having said that, it seems around here if it runs and moves people want at least $10k for such a machine these days. I bought my latest 732 for $2500 non-running, guy selling it to me told me it worked until it just quit one day. I had no way of knowing the condition of it either but it looked ok in the pictures so I took a chance on it, figured worst case ontario I’d use it for parts for my other machine if I couldn’t get it running or there was something major wrong with it... I lucked out, didn’t take much to get it running but the engine was tired, but luckily the rest of the machine was fairly sound. I used it as it was for a few years while I rebuilt a spare engine I had for it. Now I have a very useable machine that I didn’t pay an arm and a leg for, in fact just this evening I spent 2 hours on it at -20 dealing with the foot of snow we got today. If you can really get it for $500 or less then you’re laughing. So if you do get it you can undo the hydraulic hoses right on the travel motors, they are behind a cover on the outside of the machine between the front and rear axles on either side. No need to remove the seat. I think they’re either 1 1/18 or 1 1/4” wrench size. Once they’re off the machine should roll with not too much persuasion but be careful, it will roll away on you if you let it. If you still want some pictures I can remove the covers on mine and take some once all the snow melts off of it in the shop...
Oh well some things are just not meant to be. I just called him and its gone someone picked it up this morning. Back to my search for another machine. Thank you all for the help.
Don't let it bum you out. That was in my opinion a blessing in disguise. You'll find one.
Thanks guys. I figured it will work out betwr this way. Now the search continues