Allow me to introduce myself
Allow me to introduce myself
I figured sense I have just arrived here at Lavoys wonderful message board, I would take a minute to introduce myself. That is if anyone cares to know, this is me.
My name is Leonard and I am new to this forum. Sense joining I would like to thank Lavoy for allowing people like myself to be a part of something good. That is, people helping each other out.
I am a retired heavy equipment mechanic and I have worked on or been around equipment all my life. My Dad was a railroader and there was always a piece of equipment of some sort around for me to be fascinated by. It drove mother nuts trying to keep me off of this stuff.
Officially I have forty years of experience on everything from cars to cranes. More specific to this forum, I have thirty five years of experience with John Deere equipment. Both Ag and Construction. I worked for the great state of Missouri as a heavy equipment mechanic. For thirty of those years my specific purpose was the states fleet of small dozers. Fifty two of them to be exact. These were used for wild land fire suppression and construction. To be even more specific, the John Deere 350 series.
I have worked on every series from the old gas burning straight 350s to the 350Ds. Most of these being push dozers. We had a few loaders, all were the B series and they also had the backhoes on them.
Later we acquired the infamous 400G. This is what happens when you breed a 350D with a 450E. Not sure it was a good thing to happen.
My main focus was the 350s and at one point in time or another I have had them completely disassembled several times over.
I don't know it all and it seems I learn something new on these machines every day. So far you guys seem to be very knowledgeable and I look forward to learning even more about these machines from you.
Other than that, I like to hunt, fish, do model railroading and study the 8th Air Force from WWII. I enjoy good conversation over a good cup of coffee and I love my wife and two sons.
I hope I can be of some help to some one and share what I do know. Thanks guys and or gals! and Thank You Lavoy!
My name is Leonard and I am new to this forum. Sense joining I would like to thank Lavoy for allowing people like myself to be a part of something good. That is, people helping each other out.
I am a retired heavy equipment mechanic and I have worked on or been around equipment all my life. My Dad was a railroader and there was always a piece of equipment of some sort around for me to be fascinated by. It drove mother nuts trying to keep me off of this stuff.
Officially I have forty years of experience on everything from cars to cranes. More specific to this forum, I have thirty five years of experience with John Deere equipment. Both Ag and Construction. I worked for the great state of Missouri as a heavy equipment mechanic. For thirty of those years my specific purpose was the states fleet of small dozers. Fifty two of them to be exact. These were used for wild land fire suppression and construction. To be even more specific, the John Deere 350 series.
I have worked on every series from the old gas burning straight 350s to the 350Ds. Most of these being push dozers. We had a few loaders, all were the B series and they also had the backhoes on them.
Later we acquired the infamous 400G. This is what happens when you breed a 350D with a 450E. Not sure it was a good thing to happen.
My main focus was the 350s and at one point in time or another I have had them completely disassembled several times over.
I don't know it all and it seems I learn something new on these machines every day. So far you guys seem to be very knowledgeable and I look forward to learning even more about these machines from you.
Other than that, I like to hunt, fish, do model railroading and study the 8th Air Force from WWII. I enjoy good conversation over a good cup of coffee and I love my wife and two sons.
I hope I can be of some help to some one and share what I do know. Thanks guys and or gals! and Thank You Lavoy!
40 plus years working on JD 350s, 400Gs, 450s and other equipment both Ag and Construction.
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- 440 crawler
- Posts: 215
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:51 am
- Location: Granby,Québec, Canada
Welcome to the board, the is a vast amount of knowledge and experience on here, and it just grew again. From the beginning of this site and this board, this exact thing has been what I have enjoyed the most. When I started restoration over 20 years ago, there was no internet (at least for me), there were no dedicated parts suppliers, and there was not a lot of readily available knowledge out there. Over the years, it did allow me to meet some of the largest crawler collectors in the country because I had to seek out the guys that had been there, done that and had the scars to prove it. Nowadays it is so much simpler.
Again, welcome aboard.
Thanks,
Lavoy
Again, welcome aboard.
Thanks,
Lavoy
Hi Leonard-
Welcome to the board-it's good to see another Missourian on here. I find that a lot of the really great information from this board especially comes from mechanics and operators who worked with these machines every day.
I'm pretty familiar with your area- my grandpa grew up just west of Salem near White River Trace CA and my grandma grew up in Rolla. I also lived in Rolla when I was going to school at UMR in the '90s and would go fishing and hunting down your way, such as at Montauk.
My grandpa was in WWII as a tank driver and worked for MOPAC as a mechanic in their repair yard in DeSoto, MO so I figured you might find that interesting as well.
You might enjoy reading this thread- I talk a little bit about my grandpa;'s role as a tank driver :
http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... light=wwii
Look forward to seeing your insight on the 350s
Welcome to the board-it's good to see another Missourian on here. I find that a lot of the really great information from this board especially comes from mechanics and operators who worked with these machines every day.
I'm pretty familiar with your area- my grandpa grew up just west of Salem near White River Trace CA and my grandma grew up in Rolla. I also lived in Rolla when I was going to school at UMR in the '90s and would go fishing and hunting down your way, such as at Montauk.
My grandpa was in WWII as a tank driver and worked for MOPAC as a mechanic in their repair yard in DeSoto, MO so I figured you might find that interesting as well.
You might enjoy reading this thread- I talk a little bit about my grandpa;'s role as a tank driver :
http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... light=wwii
Look forward to seeing your insight on the 350s
(1) JD Straight 450 crawler dozer with manual outside blade; (2) JD 2010 diesel crawler loaders; (1) JD 2010 diesel dozer with hydraulic 6-way blade; (2) Model 50 backhoe attachments, misc. other construction equipment
Leonard would probably know better than me for MODOT, but I have seen some of the other State of MO agencies (MDC, etc.) sell excess equipment and parts at auction. I haven't seen any crawlers or crawler parts but sometimes there are backhoes, tractors, trailers, implements, etc.CatD8RII wrote:Leonard
Welcome to our forum. Hopefully you'll enjoy the friendly , laid-back environment here.From what you've posted so far you will fit right in. I can only wonder what became of all your state departments extra 350 parts?
(1) JD Straight 450 crawler dozer with manual outside blade; (2) JD 2010 diesel crawler loaders; (1) JD 2010 diesel dozer with hydraulic 6-way blade; (2) Model 50 backhoe attachments, misc. other construction equipment
First I want to say thank you to all of you for welcoming me to this forum. I am looking forward to hanging with you guys.
Most of my tenure with the state of Missouri was spent with the Missouri Department of Conservation. So... to answer where all that JD350 stuff went to... It was eventually sold at a public auction.
The MDC sold the last of their JD 350s last October and there were six of them. I retired in June before the sale and didn't go see them sell. It was like loosing my kids so I didn't go. I knew each of the many dozers they owned. I often would tell the operators that these dozers belonged to me and that I only allowed them to borrow them.
I saw where they all brought between six and ten thousand. The extra parts that were left were also sold and I was told a guy who does the E-Bay thing bought them for just a couple thousand dollars. There was at least ten thousand in parts in that lot. I know because I put them there.
The MDC still has several 400Gs left and they are the old machines now. The new machines are 450Hs and 450Js. Sweet machines. Those 400Gs will be auctioned from time to time. You would just have to watch for there sales in October of every year.
Okay so I have once again written a small book so I stop now. Thanks again for the welcomes... Leonard
Most of my tenure with the state of Missouri was spent with the Missouri Department of Conservation. So... to answer where all that JD350 stuff went to... It was eventually sold at a public auction.
The MDC sold the last of their JD 350s last October and there were six of them. I retired in June before the sale and didn't go see them sell. It was like loosing my kids so I didn't go. I knew each of the many dozers they owned. I often would tell the operators that these dozers belonged to me and that I only allowed them to borrow them.
I saw where they all brought between six and ten thousand. The extra parts that were left were also sold and I was told a guy who does the E-Bay thing bought them for just a couple thousand dollars. There was at least ten thousand in parts in that lot. I know because I put them there.
The MDC still has several 400Gs left and they are the old machines now. The new machines are 450Hs and 450Js. Sweet machines. Those 400Gs will be auctioned from time to time. You would just have to watch for there sales in October of every year.
Okay so I have once again written a small book so I stop now. Thanks again for the welcomes... Leonard
40 plus years working on JD 350s, 400Gs, 450s and other equipment both Ag and Construction.
I saw the auction list for this October, but I didn't see any crawlers on the auction list so the 400Gs will still be there for another year
I did notice they had a JD 3-179 engine (from a 350D?) and a JD 67A motor grader.
I did notice they had a JD 3-179 engine (from a 350D?) and a JD 67A motor grader.
(1) JD Straight 450 crawler dozer with manual outside blade; (2) JD 2010 diesel crawler loaders; (1) JD 2010 diesel dozer with hydraulic 6-way blade; (2) Model 50 backhoe attachments, misc. other construction equipment
The 3179 engine is out of a early D model that was re powered with a new engine. This was done at the MDCs Springfield shop and I didn't have much input on the job. I'm going to look at it today though and see if it has possibilities. I was never told why the engine was replaced. That was done several years ago and this engine may have been stripped of some major components. Such as, Injector pump, Fly wheel and cylinder head.
Today, ( Friday 14, October ) is the viewing day for the sale and then the sale will be tomorrow the 15th. I'll try to post what I find.
There may be some scattered parts still hanging around some of MDCs Forestry districts. If there are, they will eventually make it into a sale. The problem is, when that may be. I will be watching though.
The 67A motor grader is a miss print. It should read as a 670 A. And like you said there aren't any dozers this year and from what I've been told it may be a couple of years before they replace any of the 400Gs. The construction division or D&D as they are called may have something before then but there machines are all 450s and larger. And different manufacturers as well. Deere, Cat, Fiat, New Holland, Kumatsu, and Case.
I will let you guys know what I find today and as we go along in the future. >>>> Leonard
Today, ( Friday 14, October ) is the viewing day for the sale and then the sale will be tomorrow the 15th. I'll try to post what I find.
There may be some scattered parts still hanging around some of MDCs Forestry districts. If there are, they will eventually make it into a sale. The problem is, when that may be. I will be watching though.
The 67A motor grader is a miss print. It should read as a 670 A. And like you said there aren't any dozers this year and from what I've been told it may be a couple of years before they replace any of the 400Gs. The construction division or D&D as they are called may have something before then but there machines are all 450s and larger. And different manufacturers as well. Deere, Cat, Fiat, New Holland, Kumatsu, and Case.
I will let you guys know what I find today and as we go along in the future. >>>> Leonard
40 plus years working on JD 350s, 400Gs, 450s and other equipment both Ag and Construction.
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