Hi guys, I think this site is great with a lot of experienced people here and am in need of some information to help make a good decision. I am looking to purchase one of the above mentioned loaders for use on the farm pushing brush and site work for building shop, house, roads etc...I may after performing my work do some jobs for other people. What would be any known problems to look for on these machines and any suggestions on reliability/longevity. Also any good things. The JD is hydro and the rest are Power Shift I know, but I have no experience with JD yellow equipment and have not run a Cat 955L. I have run Cat 951B and smaller IH 125B many years ago. I would think there will not be much difference between those other than size. I am familiar with what to check on the undercarriage/sprockets however I would like any other advice for the rest, especially the JD hydro. Thanks in advance for your replies, Dale
DieselDale There is a knowledgeable young man "Boone" on the Dresta 175 here, you can find his most interesting and informative posts if you scroll down to "My first track loader". I have a 125g (1990) and have been working it on my place cutting fire breaks, stacking brush and moving dirt and small boulders. So far anything I have needed, filters, oil, bucket teeth, bucket pin and manuals were easy to get. As far as major parts, none needed yet, not sure anything new would be available. Good luck to you, squidboy 1951
Thanks squidboy 1951. I will look for that thread. Still researching things and any info is appreciated. Kind of worried about parts for the Dressta/Dresser machines but I do remember the IH 125B ran good back in the 70's. Kind of liked that machine. Dale
Welcome to the forum DieselDave. LOL, there's still a lot I don't know about the 175. But for farm work, I sure wouldn't be afraid to buy a good C model. It's a well designed machine and easy to work on. The powershift in our machine has been very solid. It's kind of a roll of the dice when you buy anything used. You never know what kind of life and harsh service these machines have served. You can look it over and get some idea. You can expect to replace hoses, reseal cylinders, o rings here and there. All of that is available via online, aftermarket or from your Komatsu dealer. It also shares many parts with the popular TD-15C. So big used parts are available, you just have to hunt them down. We made a call before buying ours to our local Komatsu dealer. They said most parts were no problem, but they're are a limited supply of them and they ain't cheap. We've done the lion's share of the work we wanted to do with our machine and even replacing an engine, we feel we're ahead and still have a good machine. If you found a good 175, I'd call your local Komatsu dealer and find out how helpful they might be at getting possible future parts. Of course you can't go wrong with Cat. Parts are much more available. Not sure how easy they are to work on. Cat seem to have some unique designs that I'm sure work well, but seem a little more challenging to work on. But I sure wouldn't be afraid of a 955. There are many more talented Cat owners on the board here and they all make working on them look easy.
All of those older machines are simple. They are just heavy, worn, and some of those bolts have never been turned. About the biggest worry is if the parts are going to be available and at what cost? If you plan to do the work on the machine yourself, what you got in your tool box?
I have a lot of the tools to work on equipment just no shop at this time. That is one of the reasons for wanting to get a decent machine so I can build a shop on the farm. I think I am leaning towards buying a 955L. Mainly due to parts appear to be still abundantly available. I talked to a couple of JD mechanics and they were nice enough to give me some very useful things to look for on the JD 655 and 755 hydrostats. Also a ballpark on cost of hydro repairs. The 955L would be easier for me to repair myself and less costly...maybe. I still like the IH's but am a little concerned on finding parts. I used to have an old Hough H90 and as worn out as it was, it made me a lot of money when I was screening creek gravel years ago. It was a very reliable old machine. Now the hard part of finding a good machine fairly close to home. Thanks for the replies, Dale