To make a long story short, I’ve killed my old tractor (MF165). Which was never the right machine for me. I’ve convinced myself that a used track loader is the best bang to for the buck. I live in NE PA, my property is fairly hilly with a small swampy area. I’m looking for a machine to primarily use for skidding firewood, grading and basic loader work around the house. I probably will use it about 150 hours per year. I think I want a crawler that is in the 10 to 15,000 # range. What loaders should I be looking at, which ones should I avoid? Case 350/450, Cat ???, JD 350/450 Example look for JD450c because it had this problem or that issue. There is a JD450 locally with a winch, but it is gas model. I haven’t seen it, I’m told it in the barn in good shape but has carburetor issues. I’m not really keen on a gas, there is a Case 450 with a 4 in 1. But, I’ve just started looking and, I don’t care if take s me a year to find the right machine. I’ve lined up a heavy equipment mechanic to evaluate any thing that I find. I will happily pay for his service to protect me from myself.
I would check around for a 455 or 555G. Parts still can be found. They are for the most part easy to work on. Great power. Start up usually pretty quick. The 4045 deere engine in them has been around for quite some time and still use a version of it today. Visibility is good. And you can find them with either hand or foot steer. The 450c's are a good little dependable machine but parts are starting to get somewhat scarce.
Deereman, thank you for the reponse. That is exactly the type of info that I am looking for.
Personally I would look at the case loaders. A lot of them came with the 4 in 1 bucket which would be handy for what you want to do. I worked for an outfit that had 5 of them and they were very trouble free. They are very reliable, mechanically simple, easy to work on, and parts are readily available. Another thing to look at is how close are the dealers of the equipment that you are looking at located to you.
I have been around track loaders all my life and we have owned over 20 and about the only make i would generally stay away from is case. i have never had one but i have been around more than one and they have been known atleast in my area for major transmission problems and if it is your first piece of equipment like this they are in my opinion the hardest to get use to operate.In the size for what you are needing and they will about all be a little over 15k pounds i would look at a 931 cat or a d31 komatsu they are both good machines.some of the john deere's are also good if a 455g model could be in your price range i am sure it would suite you well.i could probably help some more if i knew a little more about what you are wanting to spend.
Major transmission problems on a Case? IME on the CASE 450B/C's, Case850D, Case 1150 & Case1455B we've run, it'll only happen when the haven't had regular maintenance/oil changes or massive abuse - about the only thing suspect we've found in the transmission is a little spring that sometimes fails & needs to be replaced, relatively easy though a bit time consuming , & if you're paying someone by the hour to find the 'fault" who's unfamilar with Case & is learning as he goes.....it'll cost big $$$$ IMO, Track loader operation is not easy to master & each make/model has it's own unique "polarising style", mostly it comes down to personal preference......the one thing thats common on all track loaders & dozers is they can cost a fortune if anything major goes wrong.