OT-Old Crawler Tractor

[Gobblerforge]

My best bud is turning 50 this june and as a help to his wife I found out that he wants a small crawler. He has 35 acres of mostly woods with steep hills and he wants to crawl it all. Our dads both ran heavy equipment and he has more stick time than I on dozers so we both at least have run them. Problem is he nor I know about these smaller units and I have been looking on the net and getting more lost. Does anyone here belong to tractor clubs or something to help get an idea of real world prices and recomendation of any kind. I'm thinking he is wanting an older model with a wide base and very low center of gravity. Dragging firewood logs is what he wants to do and he did mention that he would want a winch if he could. What do you folks think?
Gobbler
Something like this?
http://www.machinerytrader.com/listings ... 3557&dlr=1

[BenT]

What vintage are you thinking? I would think any of the smaller John Deeres from the late 60's or 70's would do the job. Parts are still available and they can be had for about 5 grand. There is a lot of options out there. I wouldn't know what to look for as far as wearable parts.

[kimwcook]

Personally can't help, Gobbler, but someone here was restoring tractors and may be able to help.

[horsesoldier03]

My brother just picked up a '63 John Deere 2010 Crawler and a 20' 3 axle trailer to haul it on for $3000. It runs good but has a track that isnt turning.

[Cimarron]

Yes, the question is how far back do you want to go. I have friends with Cat, Allis Chalmers and International Harvester crawlers. Those are from the 1930's though. My uncle used to have a sawmill and do some logging with a Catepillar 10. I think the 10 was the smallest they ever made. He used to take it to the woods on the back of his 1934 Ford model BB. Most of these crawlers have become very collectable today. There are several associations devoted to crawler tractors. I've been looking for a Cat 10 or 15 for years. Anoter Cat I have experience with is a 22, again from the mid to late '30's. They are handy and have plenty of power for their size. The two most popular from that era are probably the Cat 30 and the Cat 60. Good luck.

[Marvin S]

The under carriage can get super expensive as well as the other parts. I had a 1953 Cat D-4 with the twin winches on the back and a loader. My electric starter motor completely burned up and a new one was $800.00. Have someone look at it that knows what they are looking at. Worn rails, pins, sprockets, idlers and a thrown track are a lot to deal with.

[ollogger]

there is good advice on expense & upkeep on a dozer i had one. in your area is there loggin?
older log skidders can be found for the price of a dozer. timber jack, JD are good.
steep ground & ice & dozers is scary at best, log skidders with chains will climb & crawl over alot without beating you to death. the cage on a skidder can be worth its weight in gold

[jeepnik]

Any thought to something like a bobcat? You can get some models with tracks, others with track "attachments".

[.45colt]

ollogger's advise about log skidders is right on. the neighbors sold there timber several years ago and the company sent in 2 Men, a feller and another on a skidder. articulated in the middle it would go anywhere and pulled 70' oak trees thru the muddy creek like nothing. there was about three acres of heavy oak, maple, and black cherry. two men took it out in five days. it had a winch on the back and a blade on the front. the ultimate off road machine.if I ever got any big wooded property I would have one.

[6pt-sika]

ollogger's advise about log skidders is right on. the neighbors sold there timber several years ago and the company sent in 2 Men, a feller and another on a skidder. articulated in the middle it would go anywhere and pulled 70' oak trees thru the muddy creek like nothing. there was about three acres of heavy oak, maple, and black cherry. two men took it out in five days. it had a winch on the back and a blade on the front. the ultimate off road machine.if I ever got any big wooded property I would have one.

We selectiv harvested about 60 of our 63 acres back in 2003 . Anything over 16" was fair game . Think they cut about a million board feet (place hadn't been logged in over 60 years). Anyway the following hunting season I shot a few deer and one of them I went back in at night to get with my 4x4 JD tractor that has a bucket on front . I was going along just fine and went off the trail for maybe 75 yards to the deer . And low and behold I "found" a skidder rut . Well let me tell you that tractor eased over enough that I coulda cut rebarb between my butt cheeks

[Gobblerforge]

Great replies and ideas. I hadn't thought about it but he has a skid steer with tire chains. I think the direction he wants to go is antique crawler. Big kid with a big toy kind of thing. You know, pull some firewood, go play for an hour, pull a drag, go play...
Gobbler

[Guncase]

I have a little D-2 Cat and love it. It is very simple to work on (gotta love 1939 technology), extremely robust, and easy to come by out here in Oregon. The D-2 came in standard and narrow gauge. Obviously, you don't want narrow guage unless you are working row crops or orchards. Also, the diesel engine is a huge plus . Don't let the pony start scare you away either. If it's rope start like mine, there are no batteries to mess with. I find the pony start to be very efficient. You start the pony (mine takes two, maybe three pulls of the rope even after six months of sitting), engage the starter pinion and close the compression relief, and go have a cup of coffee. When you come back, the oil pressure is up, the engine is up to temp, and all you have to do is open the throttle and it's running. Check out www.acmoc.org there is a forum similar to this under their bulletin board tab.

[EdinCT]

When I was a boy we had a Cat 22 that was small enough to get around a woodlot and was large enough to pull a good log.
When I was in my twenties I bought a Allis chamers HG5 and it had a bucket and I dug cellars, pushed over trees up to about 2 feet in dia and cleared my land. It was great. Its still out behind the barn but hasn't run in years.
Today I would look at a John Deere 350 or 450 or a 1010, parts are easy to get and they made a bunch of them.

[Gobblerforge]

Thanks. This is great. I will look at every model mentioned. I know he said the wide, low model was to his liking. If his wife does make a birthday purchase it will be by my recomendation so I really want to know what I am looking at.
Gobbler

[getitdone1]

Cats would be the most expensive--to buy and repair. Parts might be more available than with other brands.

Allis Chalmers--don't know the numbers
International TD 6 might be something you'd like
As some have said, the John Deeres might give you more to choose from and parts should be available.

We had an International TD24 but know you don't want one that big. The power of a dozer, kinda like guns, is fun to work with. Repairs are a lot of expense and a lot of work.

Don McCullough