440 IC WITH 344 ORIGINAL HOURS FOR SALE/TRADE

[weeds14]

Just purchased a 440 IC with 344 hours.
I was planning on playing with it at my cabin but I feel like it is in too good of condition to put to work and it should be just kept by a collector.
It sounds crazy but I feel bad!
I would like to sell it to a collector or trade for a diesel powered dozer with a 6 way blade.
let me know what you guys think. I'm having trouble posting the pictures so email or PM me if your interested. See the craiglist listing below.

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/grd/2607293259.html

[CELSESSER]

Must have been a hard 344 hours.

[JD440ICD2006]

I always enjoy a good joke and laugh. You are not serious for one second are you? Tell us you do not actually believe what you wrote about this crawler?
The undercarriage has many 1,000's of hours on it, the crawler is not original as the gauge panel is yellow, not green.
Please have someone that knows a little something about crawlers inspect it and give you an honest and accurate evaluation.
Hint, even if it did not look well worn, hour meters are NEVER accuarate on a 50 plus year old machine unless it has been in your possession from new delivery, which this one has not.
There will always be people that feel that money is always more important than their credibilty.

[whiteclipse16]

I suppose if I get a new hour meter for mine, that I could list mine as brand new correct
What kind of blade is on that? It doesn't look like any of the factory JD blades

[weeds14]

As my profile indicates, I'm new to the crawler world and this is my first one I have ever purchased. I'm 30 years old and have a lot to learn.
I am not nearly as familiar with these machines as most of of you.
The feedback is appreciated and any other information you guys have is welcomed.

[JD440ICD2006]

Welcome to the best board on the Internet.

Hope we were not too hard on you and your ad. I can appreciate you being younger and not knowing stuff. I am double your age and learn new stuff all the time.

Forgive me for being open and honest but your ad reads like many of a guy that thinks he going to catch someone that THINKS they know crawlers and make a quick buck.
The price of $6,000 is typical when the seller tells you in the ad how rare and special and "low houred" it is. These are some of the oldest tricks in the book that very unfortunutely still seem to work. Many of us still want to believe that there are honest people out there. And I can tell you that I have met many of them, but few of them selling low houred 50 plus year equipment.
The hours do not even make sense. Who would or could afford to buy a crawler back in the late 1950's just to let it sit. It has an average of (ready for this?) 7 hours a year on it.
Good luck with turning your money quickly, but this site has too many folks that have already "been there, done that".
Again, welcome to board. if we can help with information, just let us know.

[Tigerhaze]

Hi Weeds-

Welcome to the board- some of us have jumped into this obsession (hobby) with little initial knowledge but most on here are pretty tolerant of that. If you continue to want to learn about JD crawlers I would recommend that you search many of the threads in the archives here because there is more information on this site about JD crawlers than you can find most other places.

One thing you will want to know is that the tracks are way undertensioned in the photos- you are going to end up with a slipped track if you try to turn it. I would try to get them tightened up some (not overtightened) as your potential buyers will point that out as well. It may be the tensioners are stuck which would be another issue that will come out during the selling process so I would look at it now if possible.

[Lavoy]

Don't think that anybody is picking on you, they are not. What you stated was due to your lack of knowledge on these old girls. Most of us old timer's have heard every lie in the book about these crawlers, and most of the time, the seller knows better, but is trying to hook somebody.
This, along with a host of other reasons was my impetus to create this site. Not that any of us on here know it all, but there is such a wealth of disinformation out there, I wanted to counteract as much of it as I could, and give people a place to come and have the type of discussion we are having now that allows people to learn.
Obviously I want to sell parts too, but that is what pays for this site, so there is a alterior motive.
Lavoy

[JD440ICD2006]

Lavoy,

You mean that the "Free Crawler Parts for Posting" program has now ended?
Dang, I was going get a couple of sets of everything just have around in case.

Oh well!

Seriously, this site is worth much more than having the convenience of buying crawler parts at competitive prices from a person that KNOWS what they are talking about.

Many thinks for the site and support over the years.

Chuck W.

[weeds14]

Thanks for the information guys!
Someone mentioned the blade is not a factory blade, I'm assuming that's why the "auxiliary" hydraulic tank is mounted on the fender?
I just got the operation manual in the mail and the hydraulic/blade set up in the manual doesn't match what is on the crawler.
Anything else I should check over before "playing" with the old girl??
I have spent countless nights reading a lot of the posts form you guys and you are a wealth of knowledge. Too bad I couldn't have taken you guys with when I bought her!

Thanks again,

Weeds14

[Tigerhaze]

Thanks for the information guys!
Anything else I should check over before "playing" with the old girl??

One other thing to follow up on my track tensioning comment- it appears from the bottom left photo that several links are "frozen" meaning that the pin/bushing that connects them has rusted and does not allow the individual track sections to freely move up and down and thus "droop" slightly the way they normally do under gravity and proper tensioning. You will probably need to get them loosened up a little before the track can be properly tensioned and driven properly. You may be able to do that driving back and forth (slowly and carfully) in a straight line- I personally would not try to make turns until you get proper tension. If links are still stuck upwards, your only other recourse may be to push down on them with hydraulics such as a backhoe bucket or let them sit in water to free up. If you do the water trick, you will need to run it and dry them out afterward so they don't become re-rusted.

Just my $0.02 so you don't have to read my post on "reattaching slipped tracks"- other may have some better ideas on this issue.