Goodbye 'dozer, CK30 does it all now.

[RexB]

*sniff*

Sold the best dam l'il dozer in the world, my John Deere 350. "Pacman" cleared most of the land and trails here, dug out the big old cedar stumps, plowed and surfaced my lane and driveway, . . . it never complained and was my pal. Almost sold it a year ago but! i'd a married that machine if it was legal.

But the Kioti does all the work now. My 'ol Pacman is now in the hands of a land-clearer who takes good care of his machines but works them until they can't work anymore.

My eyes get wet just thinking about it.

Is this normal or should I see a shrink?

Loved that machine.

 

[bearhawk]

It is better to sell it to someone that will use it to it's potential. Rather than let it sit in the yard unused for years, and then you have to have it hauled away.

I wish I could take my own advice !

You did the right thing....

 

[Patches]

A wise man once told me (you've never spent money till you've put iron on the ground) . Listened to him and stayed away from crawlers, as much as we all wanted to PUSH dirt around

 

[JoelD]

To be clear Rex, I've decided to sell her two years in a row, funny how the deals never quite come together.

Patches, a man who thought he was wise once said to himself, "a man hasn't experienced life unless he's owned at least one set of tracks."

I've gotta admit tracks are addictive, it's amazing at what even these small machines can do.

There's a great video out there of a tank and a large quad track tractor locked up in a tug of war. Give and take until the tank spools up, then it's like watching a car drive down the street with tin cans tied to a string off the back. One of the comments calls it out clearly, no match when you've got 15000 lbs or so going against 50,000+ pounds.

My 30 HP Kioti weighs all-in around 5000-6000 lbs, the dozer is just over double, also a 30 hp machine.

Anyway, owning tracks is not for the faint of heart. My deere is my second. From prior experience with my old case, they can be very heavy and stubborn garden gnomes. You think it's tough getting mushrooms out of your yard, try a 50's case crawler loader with no compression and tracks that fall off, separates the men from the boys.

I just need to get the thought of a dump truck out of my head.

Joel

 

[RexB]

I hear ya', it is HARD to sell a family member. I hope the buyer takes good care of yours too. Double check your horsepower to get a better price -- mine is 42HP.

For sure, a crawler definitely needed for good clearing of woods, a 1200' road and 400' driveway. The last clearing done here was the Ice Age. This CK30 couldn't have done the same job, or I'd still be at it ten years later LOLz. But it's just right for the work needed now, praise Neptune for 4WD Low with differential lock

Kioti seriously needs it's own tractor shed, Donna is hinting to get her car back into the shop. Building a 'permitted' shop for it adds $400 to the cost for nothing gained. And I build stronger than codes require. But I'd get nailed in a few years when the ***-essor comes around. Prop taxes have already doubled in past eight years, with no new structures added.

Tractor on!

"The first production John Deere built in North America with a three-cylinder engine was the JD350 Crawler, which entered production in late December 1964 and was the eagerly awaited replacement for the previous “1010” Crawler. The new three-cylinder engine for the JD350 was available in either gasoline or diesel versions. The gasoline engine was a “square” design, with a bore and stroke of 3.86 inches, displacing 135.5-cubic inches and producing 42 horsepower at the flywheel. The diesel version shared the same bore as the gasoline engine, but employed a stroke of 4.33 inches for a displacement of 152-cubic inches, and produced the same horsepower as the gasoline engine. Both engines offered peppy performance, smoother operation, and much better cold-weather starting than the four-cylinder engines used in the “1010” Crawler."

 

[EddieWalker]

Congrats on the sell of your dozer. I'm looking forward to the day that I sell mine and no longer have to work on it. I've been lucky lately, but know it's just a matter of time until the next big repair job on it. Mine is actually too big for what I'm doing right now, but it's paid for and that makes up for allot of other short comings.

Everyone says that if you take care of your dozer, you can sell it for what you paid for it, so it's really nice to hear that you did just that!!!!!!

If I sold mine for half of what I paid for it, I'd be happy. I know that I can get more for it, and maybe even what I have into it, but for all that I've done with it, I'm way ahead financially!!!!!

Hopefully I'll soon be in a similar position, though I know it's still years away for me.

Congrats,
Eddie

 

[Highbeam]

Amazing the similarities between us Rex. I bought an international 500 dozer and cleared/sut roads with it until I replaced it with the CK30. True, you haven't lived until you've owned a set of tracks.

 

[JoelD]

highbeam, great picture, I've got a little mini-boss (daughter) myself, great to see little children exposed to the machinery. A dying bread I think.

I really like my little dozer, the machine runs great and operates great. There really is no substitute for tracks. But like Rex, my Kioti will replace the need in the long run.

 

[RexB]

I coulda' used that bigger machine more than a few times Highbeam, nice.

Past & Future Crawler Drivers! Here's three generations (the long-haired one is getting warmed up for his first drive.)


42HP JD350_

. . . But like Rex, my Kioti will replace the need in the long run.

You backing off of selling it again?? ROTFLMAO

it's like cutting off a hand or something

It didn't have a cupholder though :~)

 

[Highbeam]

I added a cupholder to my little dozer and let me tell you from experience that it doesn't work out. Your bubbly beverage will be without bubbles after the first minute of dozing.

That little girl's first operating experience of any vehicle was pulling levers with dad on the dozer. She's now almost six and tells me how to get a full bucket on the Kioti, not driving by herself of course but a good lap driver.

The JD350 and the international 500 were almost the same size of 10,000 lbs or so. 30-35 HP. I didn't have a winch but I did have hydraulic rippers on the back. I could lift the nose of the machine with the blade and lift the tail with the ripper bar to allow for emergency rescue methods such as shoving logs under the tracks to gain height.

You haven't lived until you've set a dozer down on the belly pan in the mud.

 

[RexB]

Yeah carbonated drinks foam out, what's left is flat, doesn't work.

I don't know about your Intl' 500, my 1966 JD350 has 42HP per the shop manual, Yesterday's Tractors and Deere site. Where are you seeing 30-35hp for the JD350?

http://www.deere.com/en_US/cfd/cons...n_current_pdfs/noncurrent_dozers/350w6300.pdf

"You haven't lived" until the wiring is ripped out from the bottom in brush and trees so thick that ya' have to sickle a clear spot just to make room to get down and crawl under it, sucking in your chest to get clearance under that l'il beast then trying to see and move your arms enough to rewire it. LOL, crawler stories are great.

 

[ultrarunner]

I should sell my D3... but it is so handy to have around for the 20 hours I use it every year...

Thought about selling it and the BX and getting a much bigger Backhoe... but my nieces are too attached to the CAT... it's the first thing they want to see every visit...

 

[RexB]

A D3, that's a honey too. 20 hours still gets a lot of work done that a 'dozer can do best.

I'm starting to go into seperation-withdrawal.
,

Don't sell it Joel!

 

[JoelD]

Hmmm., I'm gonna tell the boss that Rex said NO.

Deputy, you go easy on me. I don't want to crack under the peer pressure.

Joel

 

[RexB]

Aaack! Now I'm in trouble with the missus!

I hear that Jack Daniels depth-charges make it easier to separate . . .

Or is that just to forget all about it?

 

[Highbeam]

From JoelD

"My 30 HP Kioti weighs all-in around 5000-6000 lbs, the dozer is just over double, also a 30 hp machine."

I caught the 30HP from Joel who also has a JD350. Perhaps the 42 HP makes the JD a bit snappier than my old IH. Hmmm.

I am glad that I sold the dozer. Its use was limited due to the small size and operator inexperience. I didn't get really good at it until the end of several hundred hours time. Maybe it was too small but I find that my little tractor can do almost everything that the dozer could do plus so much more.

 

[RexB]

Yes, and Joel can get a better price advertising the 42hp net (46 gross) it makes quite a difference over 30hp.

I forget what you were using the dozer for, but it was apparently different circumstances here ten years ago. I was clearing woods never before cleared, excepting a pick-and-choose cedar harvest about 80 years ago. Making a 1200ft trail into a road, cut and level a 400ft drive. Two acres, building sites. Couldn't afford a D4 or JD450 or bigger then. This 30hp CUT would still be working on it, or just break.

Fastforward to the present, now the more versatile CK30 TLB can take care of the maintenance like skidding trees when they fall, digging out the last of the stumps, filling and levelling a yard to make into a lawn, all those 101 things that we use them for.

Don't feel lonely, everybody takes 2-300 hours to get good on 'em. And I still love watching the 20-year experienced "old guys" working the machines, they're artists.

 

[JoelD]

I've used mine to grade my yard, rip out trees and rough in my motocross track and as posted, to move really big rocks. Oh yeh, and to pull my trailer and truck back up into my driveway after my hitch ripped off of my truck.

My Deere mechanic told me that the diesel motor in the 350 is one of if not the best motors deere has ever made. She runs brand new with 2500 hours.

Really like this machine, plenty strong for a home owner and still able to transport.

Joel