Bought another piece of property that would benefit by filling it in, it’s mostly a hill side. I’m looking for another piece of land which needs dirt removed, mainly a hill. Remove from one to fill the other in hopefully both benefit. The land in the area is mostly red clay and some shale found lower. I found a 955L and looks to be in good shape, plan to go and see it Monday. I have a single axle dump so I only want to buy one more piece of equipment. I figure a track hoe would dig better but the loader should dig well, and could also use it to spread around the fill and be better all around. I also have a Terramite T5C, while it doesn’t do anything very fast it does get the job done. What do you think would be the better piece of equipment to do the job I’m looking at?
I am a fan of track loaders and if I only had one piece of equipment, well it would be a track loader. Clear, dig, load and spread with one machine. If you are doing it on your own time a 955 would be a good choice. Also don't forget about compaction and testing if you plan on using/selling the land for the purpose of building a structure.
Figure to let the land set for about 2 years before I build something on it. Some of the fill will be 11 feet deep in the back. Start off with another pole barn, maybe something else later. I filled in another spot which was had about of 5 foot and let it set for 1 year before I built. Put up a pole barn with a concrete floor on it also, and its been 4 years, still doing ok. Thanks for the input.
Looked at the track loader today. It's a 1979 955L, shows 7000 hours on the machine, says local dealer rebuilt the engine and now has 670 some hours. The hour meter was replaced on the engine and that's what it does show. Says the transmission has about 1400 hours on it. The guy selling it says he has owned it since 2008 and hasn't used it since Oct 2010. He pointed out all the leaks and the track looks pretty good, but needs sprocket teeth replaced (says do it my self for $400). Things I noticed about the machine, bottom left axle is leaking pretty bad, has some new bolts holding the lower plate on and one bolt has a larger nut on it because I figure the bolt was to long, so it's taking up space. The breather tube going into the turbo is disconnected, didn't look but figure the filter is shot. Most of the pins are really worn and need replacing. batteries are bad and it could not be started. Fan belts are there but cracked up. Says the local dealer has accomplished all maintenance and I should call them to see what they say. Gives me the feeling that the guy brought the machine, used it for what he wanted, did no maintenance at all, now wants to sell it to recoup his funds. Not that this is a bad thing but just what I'm figuring. He wants 10K for the machine and I plan to contact the dealer and pay them to go look at it and give me an opinion.
Don't walk away from it.......RUN!
I agree with Rusted, sounds like a money pit!
you shouldn't need to get a dealers advise about this matter. Rusted gave you the same advise that they will, and his was free. With the price of final drives, and undercarriages, if he gave it to you it wouldn't be worth taking to fix up. New bottoms for a deere 450 size machine are about 8k, I imagine a 955 would go 10-12k for a bottom. That being said, loaders are selling cheap at the auctions right now. 10k would have bought me an early 973 from ritchies md action. It had a good bottom, 4n1 bucket and someone looked after it, instead of used and abused. If your already going to have to have someone else move the 955, might as well get the 973, float is a float.
Thanks guys, appreciate the info and I'll leave this one alone. I'm trying to find something for the farm and would like to keep it under 15K but like 10K better. I’m sure the 963 or 977 would do a better job or at least easier, but while I could swing the cost, I’m not able to justify it. Most I’m seeing is in the 30K plus category. Called the local CAT dealer and the lowest price track loader he has is 49K. There is another down in Scottsburg KY which wants 11K. Guess I’ll go look at it this weekend.
If you need to move it with your single axle maybe a 450 john deere size would be better and 450C,s are tough as anything made sense and can be found in good shape for your price range you might even luck out and get a hoe on the back for very little more it might take a little longer than the bigger ones you mentioned but there very reliable and there are probably a thousand people on HEF that knows them inside and out for mech advice.
Something to think about, thanks. I found a 953 (plain no letter) at Clark Hvy Eqp which indicates it has a new engine for 17K (serial number shows it came from Japan). Wish I was better at determining what shape the machine was in. Guess you just need to look at a bunch of them and figure out what makes one more valuable then another. Heck, find a 1978 which list for more then a 1981 with less hours. I'll figure it out or it will cost me more money in the long run, LOL.
I was told that all the 953 with s/n higher than 5Z were made in Japan. I believe the fella told me all the s/n 20Z were made over there. Keep your eyes open. There's alot of them out there without alot of demand. I'd stick to the 953 over the 955s because of the hydro trans. and the balance is alot better.
According to Iron Record the 5Z was made in the USA and the 20Z was made in France. I can't validate the info on Iron Record to be true but I do know that the BBX was made in France.
20z’s are definitely built in France
we have a 941b that is in great shape. i think dad has been priceing it for 15. we have owned it for 35 years and was our bread winner for 25 of them. all maintenance has been kept up. we just have to many loaders these days. pm me for more info. we are in the kingsport tn.
also considering buy one not sure though
I have a JD 350 track loader for sale, has hydraulics to the rear for a backhoe or winch.