355D information

[celeriac]

There is a 355D crawler loader for sale locally and I haven't had much luck finding any information online, other than Deere's fact sheet for out of production crawlers. I'd appreciate any comments or details on the model. I assume it's a close cousin to the 350? Thanks.
AJ

[Lavoy]

I may be wrong, but I think a 355 is just a 350 loader. Used to be that the 350 could be had with or without a loader. When they quit the 350, the only thing left was the loader, might be the same time they started numbering the 450 loaders 455's.
Only other guess I might have is if it is built on the 400 chassis instead of the 350.
Lavoy

[Tigerhaze]

Hey AJ-

My local Deere Industrial Dealer (Murphy Tractor) posts the spec sheets for most JD crawlers (old and new) on their website- the 355D crawler loader is one of them. Here is the link for it:

http://murphyused.com/images/specs/88.pdf

I don't know if this is the same as the fact sheet that you mentioned from the Deere HQ website, but it has most of the tech information you would need to know to compare it to other models. On first glance it seems a lot like a late 350 crawler loader.

Hope this helps!

[srs_mn]

Hey AJ-

On first glance it seems a lot like a late 350 crawler loader.

JD changed their numbering system so that loaders could be distinguished from dozers of the same size/series - Dozers remained as 350, 450, 550, etc. and the loaders became 355, 455, 555, etc.
The 355D was the last of the 350, 350B, 350C series and featured a slightly larger 3 cylinder engine than the 350C...
srs/mn

[celeriac]

Yes, that is the info that Deere has on their site. Were they a good machine? What particular problems if any? Specific things to look for in a used machine? Thanks.

[digitup]

The 3-179 motor was the same spec as the350D with 48HP .The 355D has 50HPand came with an extra 800lb weight .The torque curves damn near match for some reason ?.I would say that the number change is the biggest thing they changed besides the weight .looks like mid 1986 for the big change to 355.Any way around s/n 714000 in this book.I just don't believe you would have to do much to get a 4% HP raise on that 3-179 motor .And they were tough as nails in dozer or loader configurations long before this .They really had few weak spots compared to the early 450s frames and bell housing wows and those only showed up after stupid moves and abuse.Digitup.