John Deere 450 B

duke7595 · Feb 23, 2015

What would you rate the undercarriage at ?

jenkinsph · Feb 24, 2015

Not much detail to work with, I wouldn't guess. Is this an A or B? IIRC the B had power assist for the steering clutches, if it is manual operated it might be a 450A. .

duke7595 · Feb 24, 2015

jenkinsph said:
Not much detail to work with, I wouldn't guess. Is this an A or B? IIRC the B had power assist for the steering clutches, if it is manual operated it might be a 450A. .

If you click on the picture it will enlarge so you can get a better view of the undercarriage, I will put more pictures up asap.
Also, I just bought this machine and it will be shipped in the next week from Michigan. It is a 1968 450 no A or B just 450
it's one of the earlier models. The company I bought it from is very reliable and forthcoming on any problems the machine has.
I have done business w/ them in the past. I'm mainly trying to get an opinion of the undercarriage.

duke7595 · Feb 24, 2015

duke7595 said:
If you click on the picture it will enlarge so you can get a better view of the undercarriage, I will put more pictures up asap.
Also, I just bought this machine and it will be shipped in the next week from Michigan. It is a 1968 450 no A or B just 450
it's one of the earlier models. The company I bought it from is very reliable and forthcoming on any problems the machine has.
I have done business w/ them in the past. I'm mainly trying to get an opinion of the undercarriage.View attachment 413719 View attachment 413720 View attachment 413721

Here are some more pics.

jenkinsph · Feb 24, 2015

The pictures you posted do not expand for me. But you need to know about the pins and bushings anyway. I had a 450A like that in the late 1970s' did a lot of work with it, spent a lot on it rebuilding the steering clutches and new piston/liners. All of that transpired 35 to 40 years ago. Be prepared to play mechanic on one this old.

Sawyer Rob · Feb 24, 2015

I'm having the same problem, can't tell much from those picts...

I didn't buy an old deere 450 because my dozer sometimes sits a while and old deere's have EXPENSIVE clutch problems when they sit around much...

SR

duke7595 · Feb 24, 2015

Yes you are correct about the steering clutch brakes , I have owned a couple before this one, and I would block the the steering brake w/ a 2x4 across,
suppressing the steering arms, this would keep them from contacting with the flywheel.
This machine came from a local farmer who owned it for over 30 years before he traded it in to Buck & Knobby equipment sales.
I know one of the guys that works there, and have bought from them in the past, so when this one came in he contacted me. Yes it needs some TLC buy mechanically it is decent, the steering works well, has new rollers, and I figured the chain and sprockets appear to have about 40 + % left, at least in my opinion, that's why I was
interested in others opinion. Plus I only payed $3850.00 for it I figure the 6-way blade is worth half that much. Did you try and download the last pics. I put up ?

andy1981 · Feb 25, 2015

I would say it's going to need chains and sprockets very soon, yo have a decent amount of track sag and you are almost out of adjustments, also your sprockets look pretty worn and pointed, and the grousers are worn down pretty well also. If you plan on keeping it and rebuilding the undercarriage i would look into a salt undercarriage. The reason I say this is that I have a jd 350b that I completely rebuilt, and I bought new track assemblies . After I rebuilt the UC I didn't use it enough and I had a bunch of the track pins seize up with rust from sitting and having tight tolerances. I ended up having to take the tracks of and send them out to have them pressed apart and blasted, that was thousand dollars to have done. Also you will want to check the crossbars for wear. I was told by the service manager the worst thing you can do with an old dozer is let it set , he told me to get it out about every month and use for a while even if I don't have any work for it. It keeps the steering clutches and tracks from siezing up.

Industrial Toys · Feb 25, 2015

It has always been a dream to own one of those. I just don't think it will ever happen. I am just not ambitous enough nor have enough play money, not for the machine itself but for the inevitable repairs.

Too bad, so sad. I hope you have good luck and good fun with yours.

I find all the experience and comments on these cute little crawlers invaluable.

duke7595 · Feb 25, 2015

Industrial Toys said:
It has always been a dream to own one of those. I just don't think it will ever happen. I am just not ambitous enough nor have enough play money, not for the machine itself but for the inevitable repairs.

Too bad, so sad. I hope you have good luck and good fun with yours.

I find all the experience and comments on these cute little crawlers invaluable.

Thank you for your kind words, I hope that one falls into your hands someday and you enjoy every minute with it. Good luck

duke7595 · Feb 26, 2015

andy1981 said:
I would say it's going to need chains and sprockets very soon, yo have a decent amount of track sag and you are almost out of adjustments, also your sprockets look pretty worn and pointed, and the grousers are worn down pretty well also. If you plan on keeping it and rebuilding the undercarriage i would look into a salt undercarriage. The reason I say this is that I have a jd 350b that I completely rebuilt, and I bought new track assemblies . After I rebuilt the UC I didn't use it enough and I had a bunch of the track pins seize up with rust from sitting and having tight tolerances. I ended up having to take the tracks of and send them out to have them pressed apart and blasted, that was thousand dollars to have done. Also you will want to check the crossbars for wear. I was told by the service manager the worst thing you can do with an old dozer is let it set , he told me to get it out about every month and use for a while even if I don't have any work for it. It keeps the steering clutches and tracks from siezing up.

Thanks for your response, I had a 350 that I bought with new chains and sprockets (I think it is listed on this site) anyway it too had seized chains from non-use
someone told me to let it stand in running water for awhile and move it around , I took his advice and after a couple days sitting in a small stream it began to loosen up,not completely but about 85 %. I guess he knew what he was talking about. I then worked the machine for a few hours and the kinks were gone, I got very
lucky.
Regarding this machine, I will repair my driveway again and do some other work around the farm and probably sell it after I repair and paint it
and than I will look for another deal and buy it, and the cycle will continue.

andy1981 · Feb 26, 2015

I tried freeing them up by myself , I took them of and heated the links with a propane weed burner torch and an oxy acetlyene torch and lots of penetrating oil and rolling them up and unrolling , an then rolling them up backwards before I ended up taking to jd dealer to have pressed. They worked great for a year after that then i siezed them up again! I had gotten about 30 loads of fill from the town in the spring wich contained a lot of road sweepings wich was full of salt from the plowing season. I cleaed th UC out with a shovel but never powerwashed it and it sat for about a month and I drove it a mile across my property back to my shop and I couldn't even get it to move in high gear. When I got back to my sho the track links were almost to warm to touch! I had to send them out to get repressed and blasted , when they reassembled them they put in a rust inhibitor on the pins and bushings. Now I powerwash it after I'm done using it, and mi get it out every few weeks and let it run till its up to temp and drive it around to make sure the steering clutches and tracks don't sieze up. Once we get the heat wave next week it's coming out to push some snow banks back and open up some trails for getting some firewood out

duke7595 · Feb 26, 2015

andy1981 said:
I tried freeing them up by myself , I took them of and heated the links with a propane weed burner torch and an oxy acetlyene torch and lots of penetrating oil and rolling them up and unrolling , an then rolling them up backwards before I ended up taking to jd dealer to have pressed. They worked great for a year after that then i siezed them up again! I had gotten about 30 loads of fill from the town in the spring wich contained a lot of road sweepings wich was full of salt from the plowing season. I cleaed th UC out with a shovel but never powerwashed it and it sat for about a month and I drove it a mile across my property back to my shop and I couldn't even get it to move in high gear. When I got back to my sho the track links were almost to warm to touch! I had to send them out to get repressed and blasted , when they reassembled them they put in a rust inhibitor on the pins and bushings. Now I powerwash it after I'm done using it, and mi get it out every few weeks and let it run till its up to temp and drive it around to make sure the steering clutches and tracks don't sieze up. Once we get the heat wave next week it's coming out to push some snow banks back and open up some trails for getting some firewood out

Wow you have had a time with the new tracks, twice removed and broke apart. The stream I have is about 3 feet deep so I parked the dozer in it every time I was done working it. Moving water has a why of getting into places like nothing else I know of. With this old/new one I won't have to worry about that problem.

Industrial Toys · Feb 26, 2015

Two stupid questions. Do you refer to the segmented track as "chains".

And, did no one ever offer a rubber track conversion for these or maybe the smaller 350? A friend has a small older Jap trim dozer, maybe a Komasu, with rubber tracks.

duke7595 · Feb 26, 2015

Industrial Toys said:
Two stupid questions. Do you refer to the segmented track as "chains".

And, did no one ever offer a rubber track conversion for these or maybe the smaller 350? A friend has a small older Jap trim dozer, maybe a Komasu, with rubber tracks.

Yes segmented track are referred to as a chain, at least I refer to them as such. I believe rubber tracks are available but I have not checked in to them. No question asked is stupid, only the ones that are not.

Industrial Toys · Feb 26, 2015

I know these crawlers have no internal chains but things like skid steers mostly have, so I was just a bit confused. I never knew that tracks were such a problem. A guy has his old Liebherr 926 ? here doing some work for me. I noticed last time I watched him that the idlers are frozen solid (or is that the boggies?) and have been worn flat. Sad to see! He tells me the track comes off routinely but he is able to use the hoe to put it back on, while on the move! Same guy with the rubber tracked dozer and maybe forty other peices of various heavy iron. All this stuff is just way out of my league!

duke7595 · Feb 26, 2015

Some guys will run their equipment into the ground as long as they can prolong repairing it, this fellow seems to that.

Sawyer Rob · Feb 26, 2015

duke7595 said:
Some guys will run their equipment into the ground as long as they can prolong repairing it, this fellow seems to that.

True story!! Some guys just don't care...

I had a bad roller on my 450, I was going to rebuild it, but all the parts came to $80.00 and a complete NEW Berco roller was $95.00! Easy decision for me!

SR

Industrial Toys · Feb 26, 2015

Truth is, I think he just has too much of it. To each his own I guess. But that is the beauty of heavy equipment. It can to a certain degree keep workin although it may be hurtin. Cheap consumer stuff just gives up without a fight!

jenkinsph · Feb 27, 2015

Tracks wear fast enough when all the rollers are functioning correctly. Having one frozen and adding the friction/wear is careless. The guy is probably overwhelmed and tired of making repairs, rather have the money in his pocket for life expenses.