1963 JD1010 purchase advice

[cmineo]

i going to look at my first jd 1010 crawler .... 1963 apparently engine and injector pump was rebuilt. what are the top things i need to look for as far as trouble areas and wear points? it has a bucket not a blade. its a diesel as well .... unknown hours

current owner says it smokes at startup but then goes away?? not sure what that means

how do i tell if the clutches need attention...

if it runs well and nothing is too far out of the ordinary what is a safe price range

[Lavoy]

Look for cracks, breaks, welds. Undercarriage condition is key, but unless you understand undercarriage, real difficult to tell you what to look for to a degree.
1010's are indirect injection, they will smoke some til they warm up. I question the rebuild, maybe a hone a ring job unless they have the receipts. Complete rebuild on a 1010 diesel with injectors and pump would be well past $5000.
No such thing as a safe price range unless it is free. No matter what you pay, if one large component breaks, you will be upside down in a hurry. As has been said on here many times, there is no such thing as a cheap crawler. And I have always maintained that the most expensive crawler you will ever own is a cheap one.
Lavoy

[cmineo]

thank you for the solid advice ... its for sale for the top range for what i have seen that sold recently over $7000

i plan on testing it out lifting items that weigh over 3000 lbs because he said it can lift 4500 easily

i plan on clearing 4-6 acres on my farm that has small trees and mostly overgrowth and thick crap that was a pasture at one point...

i have pictures of it but dont know to post them here

he also mentioned that an injector may need cleaning .... also no idea if thats a problem or not

[Lavoy]

If he want's anything close to $7000 and can't hand you $3000-$5000 in parts invoices I would just walk away. Same crawler is for sale near me for less than half that and still can't get it sold.
Injector needs cleaning on a freshly rebuilt engine?????? Strike 2, just walk away. No parts available for the early injectors, sometimes they can be fixed, but not always.
Lavoy

[cmineo]

so i ran it today. motor was all redone honed cylinders and new rings and rebuilt head .... #4 misses alittle at startup with smoke .... after lifting heavy dirt for 5 minutes it got better .... no leaks anywhere.... all grease fittings are good and redone. tracks are so so .... worn but function ok... all the bucket seals are solod too .... nice running dozer for 40hp ....

the undercarriage seemed ok, chain wasnt too worn and sproket wasnt worn or repaired

i couldnt really see anything wrong with it

[Lavoy]

Honed cylinders is not all redone, it is some new parts in old holes. That also means it is higly unlikely any crank work has been done, cam bushings,etc. Also I would be highly skeptical of a "rebuilt" head. Given the "redone" bottom part, that may be just ground the valves, and put it back together.
Given the engine, so so tracks, and misses on one hole for a while, about a $3500 MAX crawler, and that is still way more than I would pay for it.
Lavoy