Well all the honey suckles have died down for the winter and i was driving down the road and seen a piece of yellow sticking out. found out its a 941. i dont think its a "b" model as it doesnt have any rops. the fella who owns it I know so tomarrow I,am going to call him. my friend told me the engine is hurt,said the owner had the engine inframed and it never run good after that ! so i,am craving a loader bad and this might be in my budget right now and the owner has a way to haul it as he bought a newer hydro john deere loader and has no use for the old cat anymore. you fellas who have experience with these what do you think would be highest offer i should make ? I know I havent given you much info but assume it needs a going thru at least engine wise. I have a shop and know some cat guys who work on engines on the side so I dont have to go to cat dealer. if I owned it I,d pull the engine and bring it to bare block and start there. anything worth doing is worth doing right imo. all thoughts are appreciated. I,ll know more in a day or 2 and post up. thanks bob
Ex boss had one, used it at the Duck Club to keep levees cleaned up and maintained. Was not a bad machine.
Thought you were going to take what ever you bought to the dealer and have it totally rebuilt?
IF I BOUGHT A 955L I,D HAVE TO BUT A 941 is alot smaller and easyer to handle the components.
Start it and see how it run. Might have vibration from ballancers not timed. If you pull the engine it will need to be aligned when installed, may need that anyway, look for torn rubber on drive biscuits. Later Bob
I used to operate such as this track loader one size above that one. I found them to be aa enjoyable machine to operate. Well, they are rarely to never used anymore, they were common as mud from the 80s and older.
Well went and looked at it. has great sprockets, tracks have about 3/4 to 1" of grousers left. no dents,welds etc to be seen. the loader arms look like they need new pins and bushings has aboth 1/16" to 1/8" of play. all was really greasey which is a good thing. side pannels are off in engine bay. bucket looks good from what i can tell sitting on the ground. serial number on tag reads 80h5532, engine is a 3304. i was thinking it was a early model seings it has no rops "but" it has the pads where the rops mounts so bet it came with rops. left a message for him to call me. will post more when i know more. its a bigger machine than I thought a 941 was. weighs 20k. now if I can get it cheap & delivered. how can it be moved if it isnt running and bucket is down ? regards bob
It's a B model, 80hp weights 25K http://www.ritchiespecs.com/specification?type=construction+equipment&category=Crawler+Loader&make=Caterpillar&model=941B&modelid=93218 We moved my D3 on my trailer with a large forklift. Raised the blade up then put a chain on it and wrapped it around the rops. Then pushed the dozer on the trailer after releasing the brakes. Need to find something to attach the chain to. This machine weights more but just need enough pushing power. It will come off easy enough do to gravity
boy am I glad to hear its a "B" model. that richie link is exactly what it looks like to the T. makes me want it even more even if the engine is hurt. I,am chompin at the bit wanting to talk to the owner.i can probably find a used rops. 3304 is a pretty nice engine too from what I read, wonder what year it is ?
Let me add something, the 80H prefix is for a 941B, but the serial number 5532 shows up as not valid. That said the 941B shows up with a range of 3884 to 5702 so it's probably a SIS tracking thing
I bet the owner will know exactly. he's owned machines for as long as i can remember and done work for my family several times. he wants my hay for his cows also. I just got that feelin this might be the one for me. think it will push down trees of medium size ?
Wow just noticed iron record is back, and iron record says its a 1974 and says it's worth 10K to 21K in running condition retail.
Just noticed iron record shows prefix 80H as a 941 and a 941B model. Sounds like the same thing that went on during the 85J and the 955K and L model change over in the mid 70's. The serial number comes up with both 941 and 941B. Will look into it and see what the differences are
From this it does appear to be a B model but as everything else with old equipment there could be other issues http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Caterpillar_941/941B_Crawler_Loader
Yes looks 1973-1974
Yes, it will push medium tree's. I've pushed pretty good size with a 931, you just have to dig around them and know how to do it. Did you notice if it had segmented sprockets?
NO SEGMENTED SPROCKETS, I did notice that. i talked to the owner just now. he said his deceased brother had our local cat dealer build the engine and ever since it has used a bunch of oil. like 5 gallons in 1 day so he parked it ! something bad a miss in the engine and it needs to be downed. he also told me last time he drove it there seemed to be 1 track not pulling so i,d say the finals need attention also. he said it was 1976 or 1977 best he remembered. he said his brother installed new sprockets,had the idlers welded up and turnned back down also had the pins turnned. were supposed to meet this weekend to talk it over. he said he had the engine side covers but no rops. seeings the finals and engine needs work it will have to be cheap. I,am thinking 2k max. what do you-all think ?
I'm thinking scrap price, and at that I don't know if I would want to start pouring money in to it. I think you could buy a good running 941 for around 10k, and you could atleast run it before you bought it.
i,am with you on scrap price. its .08 cens a pound here now. so thats 2K $ if it comes to it i can part it out as all the track stuff is really nice.
Parting a machine out often doesn't work as well as a person would think if your not in that business.
I'd ask if he knows if it was burning the oil or leaking it. Not running it woukd have to be cheap for me to gamble on it. We had a 941 on the farm that needed the engine aligned, it lost a rear main and would drink oil... Otherwise was a good running machine. I cleared about 90 acres of hedge and locust brush from 4 inches to 20 inches with it. Definitely get an rops on it if you are going to push brush. We lost a dear friend to an oak tree and an open top 955 years ago. Limb risers and cab screens are even better. John
There's a couple at l and l you might want to see. Personally I would rather buy a running machine that needed undercarriage than one with good undercarriage that has a bad motor and only one track pulls. http://m.landleq.com/List/Machinery/ForSale/10434121
i,am thinking "if" cat didnt do the engine work like he said but did use genuine cat parts bet they didnt align the engine up to the trans and it got the rear main seal. bet i have to pull the skid pans to do good looking. so does these machines weigh 20k or 25 k for sure ? i,am lookin for rops and risers used now. cant seem to find any.
They weigh about 25k. I think just a Little less, but close.
here is a pick of my cat 941 S/N 80H2365. i have put a lot of money in mine and it needs more.lol but it is a fun machine to run. i have pushed over some pretty big trees and some i have had to dig the roots out.i would like to see some pics of yours if you get it.
Scrape is going for 200 a ton so that's $4900.
Scrap has not been over $150/ton here for over a year, weighs less than 25k in metal, 24900 operating weight so have to remove the oils/fuel/coolant/soft parts from that. Even at that 24k at current $140/ton CLEAN scrap would be $1700 scrap AFTER cut it up. A ton is still 2000# and 24000/2000 is 12 ton. Clean scrap is less than 3'x3' and/or less than 100 pound pieces with no oil or coolant. Rough scrap here as complete farm machinery or cars are less than $100/ton as they then have to crush or break down.
Yes, scrap isn't 200$ a ton here anymore. I'm thinking 1500$ for this machine, and personally I wouldn't buy it for that.
Your right and I know a ton is 2K pounds, didn't know where my head was this morning. I am glad steel is going down, makes it less profitable for the thieves and drugies
SCRAP is going for .08 cents a pound here now,I checked. as soon as I meet with the owner i,ll post up more. I feel sure the rear main seal is leaking because they had to drop the crank down a little to roll in the new main bearings and the seal being old I bet it got it. i,am going to pull the skid pan off it soon as soon as i get it and hopefully crank it up. if theres a leak it shouldnt be hard to find. if its going out the exhaust there will be oil smoke. I cant wait ! I,am more excited than if i was getting a new machine... lol you fellas dont know how much I appreciate you. I was a owner /operator trucker for almost 25 yrs and built all my trucks from gliders and did all my own maint except transmissions. I have a 80x80 shop with a 10,000 lb crane,big compressor 1" drive impact and smaller. I really think this is the loader ment for me. just got that gut feelin. I ,am on the hunt for a genuine rops and 2 front brush guards I think you call them. gotta learn the terminology for components so you fellas know what I,am talking about. lol do any of you 941 guys have pictures for the devises to hold up the loader bucket when its at max height,looks like I might have to make me a set out of sch 40 or sch 80 pipe. measurements would be really good too. p/s i,ll get ya'll some pictures asap also.
ROPS extensions to the radiator bull nose are called sweeps, don't know if I've ever seen a 941 with sweeps.
Look at parts on machinery trader. There's sevarel listings for 941s being dismantled. I highly doubt that rops are going to be hard to get.
IT wasnt rainning here today but pretty cold so i went to have another (closer ) look at the machine. i went all around it best I could ( I,am crippled ) and the growth around it made it a little tough but I pressed on. got all info off the I.D. tag,will post below. all I seen that needed attention was 1 loader arm cylinder ( center of machine ) needs re-sealed all of the rest of them was dry. the track spring guard on the right side of the machine had about a 6" hole rusted thru it. no cracks/welds anywhere on machine, engine is completely dry on both sides,no coolant or oil real clean in fact. looks to me like cat did do the engine as it looks to be completely painted and color matches machine perfectly. couldnt check all the fluids because they was padd locked ( which is good i think. I did get to check engine oil, it was basically very clean showing no water-antifreeze. engine side covers was off so i got to the dipstick ! the fuel tank has a couple mild dents,not creased about 1/2" deep max and 6" around. other than this and track chain guard plus needs a new seat all looks super to me. bucket seems good and thick all around,not bent anywhere, teeth on bucket looks as close to new as you can get. pins seem round to me in tracks, top roller has no lip from wear same as front idler. pads are double grouser and about 1/2 used up, sprockets look as new. tracks dont sag. has muffler and bracket on hood to support it, exh pipe has rain guard and it was closed nicely. heres all the info off the i.d. tag. I,ll take some basic pictures of it tomarrow and post em up. top row 941 80h5532 1V3080 BOTTOM ROW 3304 78P16734 4N3801
The guys I was working for back in the early 80s bought a used 941, and it had the sweeps on it when it arrived, but they took them off pretty early. It also apparently had had a backhoe attachment as well. They kept it til about 15 years ago. A few years later, I was out driving some back country road two counties away, and found it parked in a field. It was obvious it was still working for a living. It was a good machine. I had a lot of fun running it.
WELL met with the owner today to disscuss buying the 941. heres what went down 1. he went from him delivering it 1 1/4 miles to my shop to i would have to pay "his" buddy with a rgn to load,deliver & unload it. 2. he had no paperwork for the stowers cat engine overhaul. went from 1 track not pulling to both tracks were weak in pushing power. 3. loader arm in center bottom of machine was and has been leaking for some time. 4. he priced it starting at 6k which is redickulous i said 2k which was what i thought reasonable and he countered at 4k meeting in the middle. i think even 3 k is too much so i told him i,d have to think on it which i made up my mind then if 2k wont buy it then i,ll just pass and keep looking. whats you fellas thoughts ? he did seem dissapointed I didnt buy it today so given some time he might meet the 2k price ,even then it will be a big gamble on my part. thanks bob
I think you did the right thing by walking away. Even if he meets your price you would be well served to have a person look at it with you that has experience with crawlers. This is worthwhile on any machine. They can empty your piggy bank pretty fast. It did seem like the fellow was at least telling you tht things were not working right.
I,ve know him for years and his family and mine have good history. i think he,s attached to his machine and dont look at selling it from a buyers point of view. i cant end up paying more for it in the long run compared to what i can get a good runner for. and this isnt even considering my labor to fix it in the picture. he knows I,am a retired equipment mechanic. well i asked GOD for his guidence on this and as normal he lead me down the path he wanted me to travel so to him be the glory.... thank everyone of you for your comments,views and thoughts. they was greatly appreciated and taken to heart. regards bob
http://eastky.craigslist.org/hvo/4878983629.html Here you go , found this earlier today. I have no idea how far away from you it is.
http://eastky.craigslist.org/hvo/4831092670.html And another one. Its easy to spend other peoples money. If this one is in decent shape it would be a decent buy at 25 or so. I would bet the u/c needs attention immediately but you never know.
THANKS I ,ve seen both of those. there seems to be a few to pick from lately. question on the newer hydro machines like 953 +963,s are they joy stick controled or do you use your feet also ?
The serial number checks out as built 12/1/1979 955L but it looks smaller then mine. Doesn't have the rear counter weight and I count track 36 links (mine has 40) so maybe this is the so called big bottom
in a 955l imo you want a 13x machine. easy to spot as the have the dual filter screens in hyd tank and pedels hang down from the top instead of going thru floor. 13x is the latest of the 955l machines
Then what are you waiting for, go talk and bring it home. According to the book the 13X machine above it's worth 21K average and 38K on the high end. If you can get it for 18K you should be good if it all checks out
The newer hydros steer via foot pedal. Easy to learn. The bucket will be either a 2 lever or joystick, I'd prefer the two lever.
THERES A 955L near wilksboro ,nc. a 13x machine i,ve been looking at. it needs a engine o/h like his 951 and 941b does. i offered him 11k and he,s thinking on it.
I would definitely look elsewhere, just too much to tackle and too costly to buy a broken machine. I passed on a 977K that was purportedly leaking a lot of oil but did not know from where, ask price just at $6000. Went to look at it, owner stated wouldn't start no batteries so I explained I would bring some back his response was I get it running the price goes up. Not certain what he was up to, he also stated would be scrapped should it not sell, it still sits where I last looked at it a year later.
Here is a 977 for 7800 http://www.golsn.com/listings/equipment-tools/heavy_equipment/4346698.html
Fuel system issues, rails stated as good but shoes say otherwise, 977 repairs not cheap for parts or equipment to tear down as really heavy at near to 48,000 pounds. $7800 may not be a bargain.
YES thats way too big of a machine for me.
http://louisville.craigslist.org/hvd/4908946791.html I think this is a 951 , the bottom looks decent other than the pads. If they would come off the price it may be just what your looking for. Good luck.
That 951B looks like a C series Shovel to me, it has the later bonnet with the sunk through exhaust, the later front grill plates, also the later type return to dig kick out on the tilt cylinder, it does look smart and worth a trip to view. tctractors
WELL THE OWNER OF THE 941B CALLED ME BACK TODAY and wants to continue negeotiations. I think he,ll come down to 3k. he also mentioned getting it running. says all it should need is batteries to run !!! . also with it running we can drive it on his trailer so he can deliver it to me 1 1/2 miles up the road (for free) . gosh what to do ?
In a heartbeat if it were me. Three grand is not much to gamble on any machine if you are willing to spend some on the machine and can do some work yourself. Considering the free delivery what is there to think about? If word gets out that the machine can be bought for three grand you will no longer have to ponder the deal because someone will gobble it up without so much as the blink of an eye and the old gal will be traveling down the road to someone else's stable. You could part it out for a good bit of profit if need be.
ya I,am thinking the same things. gonna have a pal who was a machine buyer for carter cat look it over. he,ll do it for free as he,s my friend. sure would be nice to hear it run... if things progress I,ll get some pictures for you,all to look at and have my friends observations also. its really needs rops and I bet the owner cant find the engine side covers. just got that feelin. if we/he cant get it running I,am gonna stick to my 2 k offer.
I threw out a bone to the owner today. hope it wasn't mean of me ! I called him and asked if he had the engine side panels and he said he,s sure he does . and I said thanks I,d want them if this deal works out... then I said thanks and hung up. I could tell he was hoping for more conversation. if it isn't a runner 2k is max I,am gonna pay. done made my mind up.
BCOWANWHEELS, Now I think that you are just stringing the old guy along, and yes imho it was kind of mean of you. I think you would have better luck finding the loader that you are looking for on craigslist.com. Do a search for free stuff! I hope that wasn't mean of me, just my opinion.
Agree your yanking his chain.
just aint gonna pat more for something I haven't seen run, even if it needs built. he,s gotta show some effort just like my money has to be green. I,am not stringing him along. I told him 2 k back in the winter and he said no then and ow 4 months later he calls and price is the same.. so whos dangling the carrot. plus the fella is 10 yrs younger than me !
I have had a number of purchase possibles go this way; looked at a 455G that "needs a little work", when I approached the owner he stated he had made a mistake on the advertised price and had to bump it to which as I looked at the machine I told him he went the wrong way and the scrap yard was just down the road. Needed batteries as did not have any, had not started in five years and the owner was "unsure" why he had parked it, rails were done along with shoes, no hydraulic oil or trans oil visible on the sticks while the engine looked a oily mess, he still wanted to move it from $5500 to $15500 as it was such a in demand unit. It still sits where I saw it last some three years further down the road with the same $15500 price on it. Next up a 977L, guy said it leaked from somewhere around the trans so he parked it, again no batteries so I asked if could bring a set and at least hear it run, his comment was I get it running the price goes up, he has called every two to three months for the last year not convinced I do not want the machine.
with it not running and the owner really not wanting to put forth any effort makes me very stubborn. I,am not desperate and I am shopping for a good deal to be honest.