Buying parts from Crrawler Heaven

[Dave Holt]

Hello, Someone on this site sent me to these guys for parts. Has anybody had any luck with them??? I ordered a shifting cover , paid for it with a credit card and have not seen it in about a week and a half. They are only 10 hours from me??? I have called three times and left messages as no one answers and have not received a return call ???
A Company that doesn't return messages are usually ones I dont do business with again.
Thanks Dave

[Tigerhaze]

Hi Dave-

I haven't heard anything bad about Crawler Heaven, and I have seen that the owner posts regularly over on another heavy equipment site I visit. I believe Lavoy knows him as well.

Having said that, I had sent e-mails and tried to call as well with no response. I ended up having to go to another place to get the parts I needed (of course I checked with lavoy first )

[jdemaris]

Hello, Someone on this site sent me to these guys for parts. Has anybody had any luck with them??? I ordered a shifting cover , paid for it with a credit card and have not seen it in about a week and a half. They are only 10 hours from me??? I have called three times and left messages as no one answers and have not received a return call ???
A Company that doesn't return messages are usually ones I dont do business with again.
Thanks Dave

I never heard anything bad or good about him (he's not very far from where I live). He posts all the time on Yesterdays Tractors forum but can't use his business name or his posts get deleted. He goes by "CH."

I tried to buy from him only once - and he blew me off over an over. I'd never try to deal with him again. But hey . . . it's only me. Maybe he's usually better - I don't know. I had an Allis Chalmers HD4 I was fixing. He said he had a bunch of rollers and assorted parts I could buy. So - I passed up two chances to buy cheap parts machines while I was waiting for him get the parts ready. All I got was excuses from him and his girlfriend (of wife ??). Often a women named Karen calling herself "Moringinglory" sent me emails in Ed's behalf (Ed of Crawler Heaven). Too much snow, no hired help, etc. etc. Went on for many months and I finally gave up and bought my parts elsewhere. Main thing that ticked me off was - I lost the chance to buy those parts machines since I was trusting him to do what he said he'd do.

And - if he's reading this - this is John DeMarrais in Otsego Co., New York.
I still have the long list of email-excuses I got from him and his female friend. I was first promised the parts on March 5, 2004 - and I waited until June and finally bought somewhere else.

[digitup2]

He was prompt with me and the parts were right on as well as price .He is not far from me and even with that damnd thing called a boarder between us I find he was accomadating and prompt .I myself would give him a second chance but I know what it's like to be frustrated by empty promises and then brushed off the door step when you try again .I just contacted him last week on a 555 final drive he has all the parts I need but I am slowing him down as to finding the complete list of parts I need .I haven't looked at the machine and my mechanic is floating machines with #2 float so he is pre ocupied at this point .I want to make one trip do so It will take another week of running around before I will be able to get back to him that I explained in the last phone call I made to him .As a business man he as done me right .Remind him that others on this board are watching and wating .Nothing is worse than than than waiting on parts so Good luck .Digitup

[Tigerhaze]

in Otsego Co., New York.

Small world. I used to spend quite a bit of time up your way.....did hazardous waste work on a Superfund site in Sidney and commuted there from Oneonta every day. Also have distant relatives up in South New Berlin. Anyhow, really pretty country up there.

[townlineterry]

I have tried contacting him several times over the last couple years. Only once did I talk to anybody, the woman, he never returned my call. Never responded to any voice messages or emails, so I've taken my business elsewhere. One thing I noticed on his gallery of parts machines I don"t think it has changed for about 3 years.

[Dave Holt]

The problem is I paid for the parts allready with a credit card. I dont know if I can stop payment. Should I and look else where??? I have been waiting to get this machine going for three weeks because of this cover issue.. My name is getting made to look bad because of someone elses actions or lack of.. Dave

[wwattson]

Although I haven't actually bought anything from Ed, I'd have to say that returning phone calls and emails isn't his strength. That being said, it's probably more a matter of him getting out to pull the part off the wreck he knows it's on than it is any attempt to defraud you. You're really at no risk since you used a credit card as you are protected against fraud if you never receive the part.

I'd just drop him an email to let him know that you haven't received your part and that if he hasn't sent it, you're starting to get seriously p***ed. I suspect that you'll get it in a day or so either way.

Bill

[Lavoy]

Dave,
If Ed takes your money and you don't get your parts, I will pay you back PERSONALLY. I would actually question whether or not he has even charged you card.
As to speed of parts delivery, there are lots of guys on here that could tell you that I took more than a week to get parts to them, sometimes a week would be fast for me. Ed, like me is a one man show, and believe it or not, it is not always just a simple matter of going to the shelf and grabbing a part and putting it in a box. Sometimes it is still on a parts machine that is upside down in water, mud, snow, or whatever. For me, sometimes it is 50 miles away from me. I personally spend several hours a day answering e-mails, and phone calls, none of which helps as far as getting parts boxed up and mailed, but it must be done. I know he takes 2 to 3 times the calls a day I do as he handles more brands of parts.
Lavoy

[Dave Holt]

Thanks for the positive response. Good news is what I was hoping for . When I spoke to the lady she told me the part was sitting right in front of her on the table. The day we spoke it was to late to make the UPS truck but she said it would go out in the AM.. Just got to be patient I guess. My customer is calling me twice a day. Will be glad to to see this one going again.
I have been restoring and repairing JD crawlers for years. I live 45 miles from Nash Equipment in Colebrook NH. and have always been lucking finding stuff in there massive yard. You knew it was there but just had to find it. Ed Nash, the owner, died a few years ago and they are scrapping all the GOOD stuff .(old JD parts) One JD crawler could supply enough metal to make 25 new cars..
Thanks Dave

[jdemaris]

I have been restoring and repairing JD crawlers for years. I live 45 miles from Nash Equipment in Colebrook NH. and have always been lucking finding stuff in there massive yard. You knew it was there but just had to find it. Ed Nash, the owner, died a few years ago and they are scrapping all the GOOD stuff .(old JD parts)

Since you've been looking for parts in the northeast - don't rule out MadFaddens if you get stuck for a Deere part. This area had/has small Deere and Cletrac crawlers all over the place - mostly farm machines. Macfaddens buys them up when cheap and sticks them in his parts-yard. I was just there last week - and saw over a dozen two-cylinder Deere crawlers, as well as many 1010s, 2010s, 350s, etc. Even a few 350 wide-tracks with three-point hitches which aren't very common.
One downside is . . . if you are doing your parts search by email and/or telephone - it doesn't always go well. I've called many times for a part, and was told they didn't have it. So, I'd drive there myself - find it, pull it myself, and pay for it. When I gave up on Crawler Heaven, I called MacFaddens for a complete track frame for my Allis HD4. Parts man told me they didn't have any AC series 4 dozers - just loaders. So, I drove over and found three of them in the yard. Same thing happened just last week. I called looking for parts for a Deere 9250A hoe and they said they didn't have any - but - I was free to come look. I drove over and found two complete 9250A hoes laying in the woods.

[jdemaris]

As to speed of parts delivery, there are lots of guys on here that could tell you that I took more than a week to get parts to them, sometimes a week would be fast for me. Ed, like me is a one man show, and believe it or not, it is not always just a simple matter of going to the shelf and grabbing a part and putting it in a box. Sometimes it is still on a parts machine that is upside down in water, mud, snow, or whatever.

I've never had any cause to doubt his honesty. In fact, when I was trying to buy parts from him - I offered to pay in advance and he didn't want me to. I got the impression he was unorganized, had good intentions, and tended to forget promises he'd make. That was furher compounded by his friend or assitant Karen. But . . . being a one-man show does not give one an excuse to promise to do one thing, and then not follow through - over and over. He could of called me - or emailed me - and told me he was delayed and that would of been fine. Being one person means you can't blame anyone else. You can take on what you think you can handle, and refuse the rest - i.e. there's no boss telling you what to do. I've run a repair shop for close to 40 years- off and on - and never knowingly done it to anyone. In my case with trying to buy from Ed - it was NOT a one-man show. The woman - i.e. Karen - would tell me one thing, and Ed would tell me another. Karen was doing some of his advertising. At one time - she (in writing) denied that I'd ever ordered anything and I was making up stories. To my advantage - I'd saved all our emails back and forth - many written by Ed and by Karen. I still have them all. After her bogus claims - I sent Ed back copies of all the emails - and then . . . never heard from him again.

So . . . I've got no idea what was going on - or if it still goes on. Ed told me personally - via phone conversation that he was banned from posting on the YT Forum and had to use an alias to get in. I supppose that has something to do with sale's competition? Anyway, as I said - he sounded like a nice guy - and seemed to have good intentions. Takes more than good intentions though to be fair with people.

[jdemaris]

in Otsego Co., New York.

Small world. I used to spend quite a bit of time up your way.....did hazardous waste work on a Superfund site in Sidney and commuted there from Oneonta every day. Also have distant relatives up in South New Berlin. Anyhow, really pretty country up there.

Sounds like you were working on the ground-contamination around Bendix/Amphenol or Unilam? As for Oneonta, I was the head mechanic there for many years at the Deere dealer on Rt. 23 southside - we had the ag, industrial, consumer, and forestry franchises. My boss got tired of being bullied by Deere Company and closed the business in 1991. Then - of all places - South New Berlin Deere dealer bought it. Then they sold and it's now Cazenovia Deere.

[Tigerhaze]

I worked at the GCL Tie and Treating Superfund Site which is on the south bank of the river near the railroad tracks and the K-Mart. It is near At-A-Glance (the calendar maunfacturer). It was something else to pull bailers from groundwater that were full of pure creosote!

[stmftr395]

I have dealt with Ed for a couple of years now. He did the pins and bushings on my tracks for a fair price. I have purchased used parts and found them to be good quality and also priced fair. Call backs and emails can be sketchy at times but he has always delivered or had ready for pick up what I ordered. Ed is having to move his business and stock to another location at this time and I believe he is quite busy. Try the email again. Mark