Going to take a look at a TD7G in the morning. Need any quick info on what to test and look at besides the obvious.. Help me out quick here guys!
I do not know that particular machine but I do know from my own purchasing experience.... Make sure you test it long enough to let the tranny fluid get hot, and check the radiator for rust. I bought a machine that slipped tracks when fluid was warm as when I tested it but as it got heated lost all drive.
It is hard to know what you mean by other than obvious. I bought a Dresser TD7G a year and half ago. 91 - 92 vintage made in Korea. Nothing has risen up and bit me. It has been good so far on my woods roads. Work it when hot as stated above. If it is like mine it will take some to get the converter oil hot. There is a guage. It is a cool running machine. The rollers will be impossible to see if it has rock guards. But you can lift front with blade and at least reach up and feel if they seem right. Bring a 9/16, 3/4, and 15/16 wrench and you can get any panel off for a look inside. Check for a leak around the injection pump throttle rod bushing. Common on that CAV pump. Post some pics. good luck.
Went and took a look at the TD7G today. It runs nice, pushes hard, U/C is pretty worn, pins and bushings have not been turned and feel like they need to be done. Can you do that with SALT tracks? Rollers feel pretty rough and the sprockets are pretty pointy. Asking price is $6500 and might take a little less. I'm looking for a wrench to take a look at it now. I'll see if I can attach some pics .. Who has a serial number guide?
OK, 5 picture limit, here are a few more -
one more of the back of the machine.
Serial No: 441 - TD7G 0023 - 6 Way Blade w/ Rake K - Made in Korea 005001 - First Korea unit 1989 I think 005419 - 1990 The external muffler makes me think it has the International Harvester D239 engine
g-Man - Is the IH motor good or bad vs. the Cummins? I know it was either replaced or rebuilt in the past 500-ish hours
I know the earlier machines had IH motors and the later had Cummins. A deisel mechanic told me the Cummins 239 was a solid motor and preferable over the IH given the choice. He didn't say anything negative about IH. I don't know. I can only tell you what I have been told. Before a year and half ago I never even ran a dozer. I did replace the track chains, sprockets, a couple rollers, and rebuild the track adjusters on my TD7G before I ran it.
I think the 7E's had the International engine and the 7G's had the Cummins. We had a 1987 (Not positive on the year) 7G with the cummins. It had more power than it could use. It would spin the tracks all the time if you didn't ease off the throttle. It was one of the first years they used that engine and at low rpm's it vibrated everything loose. The newer ones had better motor mounts and were smooth. Don't get me wrong it was a great dozer and engine. I think they put TD8 tracks on them in later years also because they pulled so hard.
You are probably right oarwhat. I guess the motor ID tag will tell what is really there. But I thought the units with the cummins had the little flat dog house on the hood where the exaust came through. You can see it on this phto of mine when it sat on the for sale lot. Maybe it was modified. If his serial no. didnt start with 441 I would have said that it was a TD7E by looking at it. I have heard so many coflicting things about Dressers in those days.
Yeah the tracks don't match the Crawler heaven TD7 track specs so I am guessing they are TD8 tracks. It does pull very hard, sink the blade and it just spins like crazy. Nice looking 7 there G_man - Did you replace the chains and sprockets with new or good used? Would you care to share cost of parts? If I do get this one and we do have to do the undercarriage I'm betting I'll have to replace all of the rollers. They do feel pretty rough.
This was May 2011. I could have saved a little by ordering on line but after shopping around decided to go with local Komatsu. There price was very competitive to what I had seen and they were willing to take time and answer all my dumb questions and give me pointers. I was totally green. I swapped the pads from my old tracks. (2) V-track by Passini 6" pitch, 34 pads per track SALT chains $3120 $1560 ea (2) Sprockets $360 $180 ea (264) 9/16" pad bolts and nuts (one set comes w/ alegator chain) $176 (2) Track adjuster seal and wiper kits $64 $32 ea (2) Track Rollers - After Market $278 $139 ea (3) Rock guard spacers and bolts (had to cut some to dissassemble) $169 $43 ea Misc bolts for rock guards, rollers, etc $100 Set of Op, Service, and Parts Manuals (Yesterdays Tractor) $250 That was it I guess. Except for filters and oil
I saw your thread about doing it yourself, and others suggesting getting a pro to do it. Do you regret it doing it yourself?
Not at all. I enjoyed it. It was, however, a challange and a lot of hard work and I had to buy some bigger tools. But I had the time. I use it in my own woods doing my hobby logging so if something goes wrong I am not out a pay check or behind schedule.
I have a HE mechanic coming out tomorrow to take a closer look at everything, pull oil samples and the like. Hoping its more good news than bad.
I worked as a wrench for two dealers that handled the IH line and the Komatsu IH line. The G series machines started out with the IH motor that was actually made in Germany. You can tell which engine was in a machine by the throttle linkage. The IH engine had a start position in the throttle and when the engine caught on you move the lever to the run position. The Cummins engine was a retrofit when the older IH engines died. The H model machines all had the Cummins engine. The flat dog house on top of the hood was a retrofit from the factory that just added more room for the muffler and stack to vibrate in and not hit the hood. That fix came out for the H model machines and the dealers found out it would work on the G models as well. The quick and dirty fix for the problem was to just set the low idle up higher. I believe the Cummins was available in the later G model machines. I've seen many machines that were retrofitted with the Cummins engine. The equipment side of IH was purchased by Dresser industries first who then entered a joint partnership with Komatsu which Komatsu completely bought out a year or so later. The TD line of dozers has been made in the US, Korea and Poland twice. There were always some problems every time they switched countries. I've always considered the line the best of the small dozers up until the juice drives came into play. They were of simple design, easy to work on and very dependable.
John, Yeah this has a run/stop toggle on the dash not a start position. My mechanic has the flu and was not able to make it in Hopefully later this week or next weekend. I went in and pulled panels and looked for leaks and everything looked great some minor seepage around the hydraulic controls but nothing fresh. For the price we can't pass it up.