1st MC crawler, need help

[crawler1]

Hi everyone, need some help on a 52 mc crawler with a mc1000 tool carrier and blade. Blade is on and works good. Very clean unit, great oil pressure, tracks and rollers all good. Everything works, nice sheet metal. Where I need help is cost, is this a 2 to $3,000 machine or 5 to $6,000 machine? I have found about a half dozen of these in different conditions and the pricing seems to be all over. Any help would be great. Thanks

[mapaduke@yahoo.com]

It's hard to put a value on it with out seeing it in person. The 1000 tool carrier will add value to a collector.
I paid $4000 for my MC last year with a 61 blade, belt pulley and a fair undercarriage it ran but needed a head gasket. I felt like I may have paid a little more than I should but there aren't many of them around here and it is the last one I needed for my collection.

[pcsaw]

If you found one that isn't all welded up you have a keeper what part of oh are you in

[Lavoy]

Don't misunderstand my reply, but what are the criteria you are using to say the tracks and rollers are good? The lion's share of buyers are not knowledgeable enough about crawlers to rate undercarriage. If I had a nickel for every crawler I have seen that has "good rollers and tracks" but does not, I could retire early.
It is almost impossible to judge MC rollers without removing them from the crawler so are you just looking at the flanges? As far as the tracks, are you just looking at the pads, or are you measuring the pitch to verify wear on pins and bushings, checking roundness of pins and bushings, etc.?
The reason I ask, it there is a HUGE difference in value on an MC (Lindeman and 3 roller 40 too) based on undercarriage. Replacing 6 rollers (if you can even find them), rebushing rails, and replacing broken front idler brackets can burn $5000 in a short hurry. New rollers will set you back about $1000 each if you had to go new.
Be careful, I get a lot of calls from people that bought "good" undercarriage crawlers, and need unavailable or very expensive parts to fix them when they find out they were misled, or didn't know what they are buying.
Lavoy

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

If you have truly decent rails and rollers, it would command a a high price. Like in the $5k range.

As Lavoy notes, be careful judging rails and rollers, though. If you wind up wrong there, value of the machine drops like a paralyzed falcon....

In my experience, 3-roller machines with anything hung onto them have had a hard u/c life. Drawbar machines might be ok, but even with those it has been a long time on relatively few parts (rollers and chains vs 4 + 5 rollers).

I can't even find a decent u/c on a 420 or 440 these days. Not even my own from 58. Dad did a P+B job in 66, then turned those in 80. Not a lot of use since 85, but the rails are a couple of snakes.

If you look at the usual measurement just across 5 links, they seem tight. The idler is well back, too. But they are worn pretty good inside. The sprocket teeth look good, too, because the p+b were tended to fairly early. But, the snake is visible while turning if I hang off the side of the fender and look. I am aware, so they stay on during a turn OK, but someone else might get a little rambunctious and manage to flop one off.

Just saying: be careful.....

Stan