JD40 Crawler tractor

[Bob_Skurka]

I'm looking at buying an antique JD40 Crawler Tractor to restore. I found a couple for sale. The one I am most interested in is in fairly good shape, actually runs well. The restoration will actually be very easy. The problem is the asking price.

My question to all you JD folks, what is a fair price for a pretty good JD40 Crawler that has most of its tin, is rusty, but runs? Not sure the year.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

Is it a 3 or 4 roller? I can't remember if 4 roller was an option. I have seen them go for upwards of $3000+ around here. Probably cheaper in the Midwest; everythting else is...

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I'm not familiar with the JD units, and I've not seen this one other than the photos which the seller supplied. It has 2 large "wheels" and what appears to be 3 small ones between the two large ones. The asking price is $5K and he seems pretty firm on it. I've also found a Cletrac and a Farmall. The Farmall is also running but a mismatch of parts but would make a fun project. I'm a member of the Oliver's collectors association and Oliver owned Cletrac so I'm far more familiar with those. And the saying over at the Oliver meetings is we are the "correct color green," so I really hope you JD guys don't hold that against me!

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

I dunno Bob, that seems REALLY high. In northern New England we have a magazine called "Uncle Henry's that usually has quite a few pages of tractors for sale. I have read it religiously over the years and I have NEVER seen one over $4500, and that is in REALLY good shape. I guess if it's something you REALLY want then go for it, but I think I would pass that one by... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I seem to recall that John Deere used to send their machines off to Lindeman for crawler adaptation. For some reason, Oregon comes to mind, but I may be mistaken. I don't know off hand what year it was that JD bought out Lindeman and began outfitting their own crawlers. It was definitely after the "B".

My brother always said the John Deere's with three rollers had trouble with the tracks staying on, but I don't know for sure since nobody I know had one.

The FARMALL isn't a crawler though, right? I believe all of IH's crawlers were branded "INTERNATIONAL".

Given that you are familiar with OLIVER, I would stick with them. OLIVER made allot of nice stuff... until WHITE got hold of them. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Those idiots at WHITE ruined a three good brands, OLIVER and Minneapolis Moline and Cockshut.

Here in Maine (perhaps elsewhere too), there are still a bunch of dealerships called "The Oliver Store". I was told that way back when, they sold OLIVER tractors. Now, they sell forestry equipment.

Let us know what you get! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[beenthere]

The Deere 2-cyl crawlers are a blast. Had one.
About $5k would be in the ball park for a Deere crawler in pretty good shape. Look at the adjustment left in the track adjusters, and look for wear in the links of the crawler tracks. Also, the important area in the Deere crawlers (probably all crawlers) is the clutch/brake mechanism. I had a Deere 420 crawler and it ran good, but needed some work on the brake/clutchs for the individual tracks on each side. When getting in there, I found some pretty shoddy work had been done before. Instead of snap rings replaced to hold on the gears, they were just tack welded to the shaft. To work on them, had to replace some gears and shafts which ran the cost up.
Your crawler is a '3 roller' and mine was a 5 roller I believe. They are great machines when working right, and are collectors in the 2-cyl Deere line, with a lot of avid fans. If you don't run into a big restore cost, you will very likely recover your investment. Look for problems, that might be costly. Things like cracked block, broken castings, rusted adjustment bolts on tracks, and worn 'bogey' wheels (3 on each side of yours) will add up the cost of restoring a collector like this.
I won't comment on the Oliver line.

 

[BarryinMN]

Lavoy @ jdcrawlers is an excellent source for info & parts.

If you look up thru early industrials (yellow deeres) parts are available at the local ag dealer.

My 350 has sealed rollers & quik tach BH, the ultimate wrecking machine!

The market on cletracs is a little less competitive than Deere, take a look at Cats as well.

In any case throw some wood down if you anticipate putting tracks on concrete. The 'crete edges will break off & surfaces will scuff or worse.

http://jdcrawlers.com/
http://acmoc.phpwebhosting.com/

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

Nice looking machine. My brother has a JD 350. He has the rollover cage and winch on it.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I've never seen a JD crawler tractor up close, although I've seen lots of pictures so the information you all provided gives me some things to look for and look out for.

I'm still uncertain what I want to buy. I know it will be a tracked vehicle. But I'm not sure which one. Of course if I buy a Deere, the folks at the Oliver's collectors club (HPOCA) will probably tar and feather me. But in addition to tractors, I'm also looking at a Snow Trac (Swedish made, VW engine, military & civilian use). I've attached a Snow Trac picture showing what it looks like.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Oh, and here is what it should look like after it is restored!

 

[JayC]

That Snow Trac is pretty mean looking! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I wonder if it could take a MMM? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif