We are considering getting a small dozer to keep around the farm and maybe do an ocassional odd job. the brands we are looking at are the John Deere 450-550 H and J series the Komatsu 31 or 37 and the Cat D3 and D4. I have run all three with most of my experience with the John Deere and Komatsu and had good luck with both but they were the powershift models not the newer hystat versions. I just would like to get some input from folks that have run or own these models and find out what are the likes and dis likes and any other good and bad points. I've heard the Komatsu machines run hot and break parts but I have seen them all break and I think in some cases the operator could have been a little more watchful and maybe some of it on any of the models could have been avoided. Unfortunately money is an objective and we are trying to find as good and as low houred machine as posible for the money. Found an 06 Komatsu 31 with about 550 hrs for 39k, most of the deere models have two to three thousand hours for that price. What do most of you guys consider a lot of hours on one of these smaller machines? Thanks so much for the input. track shoe
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