JD 350 400 or 450

[rvaitor]

I am looking at some small track dozers. I want to try and clean up some overgrown(20-25 years) fields and other areas.

Would like folks experiences, if any with these models. All have six way blades ex forest service so are fairly low time.

Thanks

 

[EddieWalker]

Rule number one, you always need more power. The JD 450 is around a 70hp machine with a good reputation. Not a good dozer for clearing trees, but big enough to shape a road or level a pad. If your soil is fairly loose or soft, then it will do fine there as well. If your in heavy clay or rock, it's to small to even break the surface. You'll just slide along the top.

I ran a 450 for awhile and it was too small for my needs. I can take out sapplings, but a tree just a few years old will stop it. Then your digging and prying. It will get our a small tree with some effort, but your burning fuel and moving allot of dirt to get there.

Before you buy anything, be sure to have somebody with you who can tell you what a worn idler or the condition of the bushings. The most common issue on a dozer is a worn under carraige. Next, and probably the most expensive to repair is the transmission. If it's worn or gone, you might not know for a few days.

A guy I know with a D5 got a good deal on it only to have to repair the tranny for $25,000. If it wont move, than you have a very heavy hunk of steal sitting in your field that you can either pay to fix, or let it rust.

My Case 1550 blew a hydraulic pump. Cost $3,000 to rebuild with me taking it out and putting it in. It needs to be redone again and Case wants $20,000 to do it. I'll pull it and have it rebuilt.

I lost a track one day. I have a full sized backhoe to pick it up, put it in my trailer and get it fixed. I was also able to put it on again by myself with my backhoe.

These things happen all the time on a dozer. If you're prepaired to deal with it, than get the biggest one you can.

Eddie

 

[Highbeam]

I owned an international 500c up until a few months ago. It is somewhere between a 350 and a 450 in size I would guess. 45 HP diesel, 10,000 lbs.

Evrything is great unless something breaks or needs to be replaced. In my case, a couple of undercarriage parts needed to be replaced from the get go and they were pretty cheap. Say 500$ and I was working. I could have just run it semibroken but that's not my style.

For me, nothing broke in the couple of years I ran it. Nothing I couldn't fix right, cheaply. Bolts will loosen, maintenance is more frequent but if you're lucky like I was, it is a great deal. I sold it for about 1000 less than I bought it for mainly because I wanted to sell it quickly and I sold it to a friend who used the heck out of it and nothing has broken.

John Deere has a great parts availability for those dozers. The mechanics know how they work, not like some odd ball international.

I vote for the 450 so that it is easy to move and resell. If you plan to keep it forever, get the biggest one.

 

[rvaitor]

I am looking at a ex forest service machine. Seem to have fairly low hours a couple have been re-lifed. I will be using it in clay type soil western NC.

I guess the potential repairs have me most freaked out - that and transporting.

Thanks

 

[rvaitor]

Bought a 350 C. Re-lifed in 2001 - has about 750 hours.

I think it'll be good to see what I need and what I can do.

Does have full cage sweeps and brush guard on top of the blade.

Any other advice would be appreciated.

 

[Highbeam]

Cool. We must have pics. We love pics. Even better if they are action shots. I could have used my old dozer today to smooth out the rutted up clay road that my loggers are using. The clay is wet and spoogy, prefect for backblading with a heavy blade and then staying off of it until it sets up again.

 

[EddieWalker]

Congratulations!! Your life will never be the same. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Is the field you want to clean up overgrown with brush? If so, a rake would be really usefull for moving it around. Pushes just the brush without the dirt.

Do you have lots of tools? Find out if your bolts are metric or standard, then buy a large wrench set. Mine goes up to 1 3/4 for my dozer. I did it wrong and bought them as I needed them at $4 to $7 each from the cheapy store. What I should have done was buy the whole kit and be done with it. I still need a 1 1/2 inch. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

A cutting torch and welder are also handy, but if you might not ever need them, so I'd wait until you did.

Did you get manuals? I found some on ebay and also just searching for them. The dealer was rediculous on what they wanted for them, but they did give me a nice Case three ring binder to store them in. Go figure.

Fluids are a huge issue with a dozer. I keep several 5 gallon buckets of hydrolic fluid on hand at all times. Also several gallons of oil and cases of grease.

Find out who makes hoses for the best cost. It aint the dealer. Napa is pretty good if you have one. I go to a company called Aaxion. That's all they do is hose's and fittings.

Dont' over do it, start out small and only take little bites at a time. Very quickly you'll get the results you want and have the most fun on a tractor there is. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Enjoy,
Eddie

 

[Highbeam]

I agree and will add that if you think you can get a stick on cup holder to hold your barley pop on the dash, you will be sorely dissapointed by how quickly the fizz is shaken out leaving you with a cold but flat beverage. Often, you will also find pieces of vegetation have made their way into your can for a nice surprize at the bottom.

Don't be afraid to hop up on top of the ROPS for a nice view of the land. I have spent many a rest break perched on top of the dozer enjoying the view of my work. In fact, after discovering the above mentioned problems I have spent the time it takes to consume a beverage on top of the dozer many times.

So where are those pics?

 

[BarryinMN]

Congratulations!!

Now hide it quick before word gets around & long lost friends & relatives start asking you to do their projects...

 

[40Kchicks]

I just bought a 99’ JD 450H last week. I only have one day of experience on it but I am impressed. The engine is very smooth and quiet. I had about 5 acres of blackberries that I practiced on. It was a lot of fun. I was amazed at how stable it was on the slopes. I am very experienced running my skid steer and tractor around and have done a lot of work on some pretty scary side hills but the dozer handled those grades much more comfortably. The H and J series dozers are hydrostatic so they use a joystick control much like my CAT skid steer. I never got used to the lever steers. I have a huge project in store for this equipment so I better get pretty good at using it.

As for your question about the size I like the 450. I pushed down my brush with little effort. There where a couple of times that I could tell it was pushing hard so I slowed down the track speed a little. I took out some stumps by angling the blade and ripping the roots first, then the blade just split or ripped out the stump. A brush blade would have come in handy for piling the brush piles.

I am hoping the hydrostatic machine will be more reliable than the older clutch and brake machines. All it has is a motor, hydraulic pump and a couple hydraulic motors.
Eric