International E100 Track Loader Buy??

[rubicon79]

Hello everybody and thanks in advance for your opinions!!

Me and my girlfriend just bought 17 acres near my house with the intentions of having a small hobby farm for her horses. She is a barrel racer and right now her horses are at her parents place about 45 mins away.

All the land was logged 10 years ago and now just has a LOT of undergrowth with some medium size hardwoods left. We will be leaving some of the hardwoods but want to turn most of whats left into pasture at some point. We do have the use of her parents 40hp John Deere tractor with a loader and other attachments.

Now for the loader!!

It's an International E100 or 100E I'm not sure track loader. The owner is a personal friend who I trust 100% He put a new Cummins motor in it, rebuilt all the hydraulic cylinders and put a new bottom on the machine. Since all that he put about 200 hrs on it. It isn't the prettiest but just has the usual surface rust since it sits outside. I know it probably isnt the ideal machine for working that land but at least I know I'm buying a machine that has a LOT of life left in it. He's offered it to me for $8k and he spent more than that on it. I've seen it run and he gave me a key to come check it out in any way I wanted. I believe he told me they charged him almost $9k just for the new motor plus the hydraulics and the new bottom on it.

Is that a good buy?? Would it work for clearing that over the course of the next 6 months to a year?? We don't have to be in a hurry and I think the track loader would be useful even after clearing. The other good thing about that size machine is I already have a gooseneck trailer and an F-550 that I can haul it with. The prices to clear it have been around 12-15k and that is without a pond. I wanted to dig a small pond down in the bottom where the creek is.

Any advice is appreciated!!! I know absolutely nothing about heavy equipment.

 

[DIRTROAD]

The loader is worth the $ amount.

The only problems that I can forsee are:

1. The availability of parts in the future. There weren't a lot of those machines made compared to the larger loaders such as a 175, so naturally not as many parts will be available and the ones that are available will cost two prices.

2. The other problem is that on those particular loaders, as well as the 125's, the operator sits in a very low position in relation to the hood and bucket position. The operator constantly has to lean to one side or the other to see the corner of the bucket. If you have limited experience on heavy equipment, this will become annoying to you. You will not have the experience to "finish grade" so all your work will not appear neat. That is until you get the feel for the loader.

That being said, these older machines are very capable of doing anything that a new machine can do. The problem is that they are just not as user friendly as the new stuff. For example a Bobcat T320 would work circles around that machine. The difference is in the $.

If I were in the market for a machine like that, I would buy. They are decent machines.

Just my $.02

 

[Sonny580]

DONT wast you money on it!!!---You will not be able to do what you want to in this lifetime with it! pond digging is out even small trees are out!---I have an IH 250-C series II , has 4-1 clam bucket, 573 turbo V-8 diesel motor, loader weighs in right at 50,000 or more pounds!---Its a "hoggin machine" but some of them "hardwoods" have root balls as big as a house and do not come out very easy!---also as already stated,--ability to see the bucket ahead really sucks and you will quickly become very annoyed at the machine!

If you have that kind of money,---hire contractor with big machine and it will be faster and cheaper in the long run. PLUS you wont have the repair bills/fuel/lubes./etc to deal with! factor in all the UNexpected expenses, (and there will be LOTS, trust me on that!)
I have been on these dozers/loaders/hoes/etc most of my life so I have a little knowledge of how spendy they are/get!
OK!!!! fire back,!!!---thats my honest.02 and I am stickin to it!--LOL!!! thanks; sonny

 

[Sonny580]

SONNYREESE's Channel - YouTube
This video, might give you a little more idea of what you would be getting into! Enjoy the vids.!---Thats MOOSE, the 250 I was referring to and yes it ours and me in the seat! LOL ---That was dig #2 and ended up rops deep by the time I got done !
Also make danged sure you have a rops equipped machine BEFORE you attempt ANY pushin/diggin/etc.!thanks; sonny

 

[rubicon79]

Oh if I had the money I would just pay to have it done but I don't.

The guy with the 100e will let me pay him $5k now and give me some time. When I finished with it I could sell it and then have enough money to buy the grass seed and fencing. We want an electric fence with wood posts on the road side so that alone will eat up the money I could get back from the loader.

Its an older machine and was smaller than I had hoped it would be. I could rent one but there again I don't have the time or ability to take off work enough to get 40 hrs a week on a machine. I have 2 full days and 2 1/2 days I could spend on the machine weather permitting a week.

I'm kinda confused on what to do honestly. I like the idea of doing it myself. I read that its too small of a machine etc etc but then I read how somebody cleared an acre a day with the same machine and it did ok, not great but was able to get it done.

Thanks for the advice!!

 

[tonyoz]

Oh if I had the money I would just pay to have it done but I don't.

The guy with the 100e will let me pay him $5k now and give me some time. When I finished with it I could sell it and then have enough money to buy the grass seed and fencing. We want an electric fence with wood posts on the road side so that alone will eat up the money I could get back from the loader.

Its an older machine and was smaller than I had hoped it would be. I could rent one but there again I don't have the time or ability to take off work enough to get 40 hrs a week on a machine. I have 2 full days and 2 1/2 days I could spend on the machine weather permitting a week.

I'm kinda confused on what to do honestly. I like the idea of doing it myself. I read that its too small of a machine etc etc but then I read how somebody cleared an acre a day with the same machine and it did ok, not great but was able to get it done.

Thanks for the advice!!

Rubicon you already have answered most of your own questions. Most of the machines of that era had drawbacks but good operators learnt to get around them and do a mighty fine job.My:2cents: get it and quick before someone else dose

 

[crashz]

Depends on the "want" factor. If you want to do the work yourself, make any needed repairs (big $$$, even just in parts), I'd say go ahead. Just remember that you may or may not get all of your money back out of it. Its old and you are inexperienced operating it. So the potetial for things to go wrong are a little higher.

Also make sure that you have a buddy nearby with a bigger machine to pull you out of your pond when you get stuck.

 

[rubicon79]

Looked at it today with somebody who knows more than I do. He also went and looked at my land.

It has been repowered with a new Cummins motor, I know they originally had an IH motor that was known to have crank issues. He said all the under carriage looked like it had very few hours. He seemed to think it was a good serviceable machine for the money.

He worried it might be too small for clearing anything so I took him to see where I would be doing the work. After seeing he thought it was big enough. All the stumps have been cut for 10+ years and are all rotten now. All that is left is just a 10 year undergrowth of weeds and small trees.

I will talk to the owner of the machine tonight and hopefully make a decision!

 

[tlbuser]

If you're a fairly competent mechanic you'll just need bigger tools. Get used to thinking used and rebuilt for parts. Think outside the box and the Internet is your friend. My JD350 brake bands were shot, new was ridiculously priced, remans weren't quite the same. after some looking I found a place that relined my bands inexpensively. Ive tried hard and have yet to get a trackloader or backhoe stuck to where I had to have it dragged out (as long as it runs)
Clearing with a track loader is one of the more dangerous things you can do. Falling limbs and stuff coming into the cab area from unknown directions, front, left, right, rear and even from below.

 

[scoutcub]

Clearing with a track loader is one of the more dangerous things you can do. Falling limbs and stuff coming into the cab area from unknown directions, front, left, right, rear and even from below.

Very true. Yesterday I was doing some clearing with my dozer, and a 4" limb punched a hole through my soft cab coming right at me....could've been ugly.

I'm in the camp of do it. Sounds like a good deal. You know the guy very well, all the major (costly) components have been replaced/updated, and these days you can get parts for nearly everything if you look enough.

My biggest concern is....we haven't seen any pics yet......:laughing::laughing: