JD 350 Snowcat?

[Mark McKeown]

I have a JD 350 set up as a snowcat. It has a cab for 3 people, wide (32 inch) growsers, a 10 foot wide blade and is a gasser. The 6-way blade has extensions that look factory to get the 10 feet. The serial number is SNT4F1D014741T. Pictures available if it would help. I am looking for parts and service manuals and want to get the right ones. JD no help. Anybody familiar with this dozer and know the year?

[digitup]

Mark that machine was made in 1965 the first year of production . They did make a few wide tracks back then that blew most peoples minds with the width of the tracks at the time .The one cab made for the dealer install was fairly wide .Flip us a photo and we will see if it is a fairly stock unit . The blade extensions were stock till the 350c when you could order either a full width blade or standard blade with extensions .My old 350c and now 350d both have a full width blade.I only use it in mud but as I have a farm drainage business can find lots of deep mud .The tracks wont last long on good dry going but they will go places that only a helicopter will .Hard push on good going will also play havoc with the clutch .I think they need that extra few seconds to set the clutch .One of my competition up here used his to pull out large pine logs in a peat bog and took the clutch out .In the worst place possible and between Christmas and New years a few years ago . I was the only one that was crazy enough not to say no .His insurance company got me to pull it out and take it to the local dealer .So if you notice the clutch slip or it cant be set any tighter on a widetrack Deere . Do not go any further in than you can safely get back out of .Nobody can go where that unit can go to get you out .They are a blast on snow I got my 40c stuck last winter and took the 350 d out for the rescue .Watch E bay for manuals they are not cheap but worth every buck .Good luck. Digitup.

[Mark McKeown]

Digitup,

Thanks for the info! The following links will get pictures of the unit.
members.tde.com/mmckeown/jd350/leftfront2.jpg
members.tde.com/mmckeown/jd350/leftrear.jpg

Mark

[wwattson]

Cool looking crawler Mark! I didn't know that there were setups like yours.

[Lavoy]

Mark,
My 350 gas came setup on on the wide crossbars like yours, but the tracks had been replaced with standard pads. I put it together with standard crossbars, there is a pic of it in the pictures section. It has a 3PT hitch, but no cab.
I have the factory literature for these crawlers. They were designed to push snow for ski resorts and/or for trail grooming. A straight 350 has no outboard bearing on the end of the axle like the B models on up, so that is the weak point. These crawlers were not designed to work in any other conditions but snow with the wide crossbars and the big pads. The literature states that they are for use in the Winter months equipped this way, then in the Summer months, you switch to standard tracks, the narrow crossbars, and unbolt the extensions off the blade. Then they advertised them for used rebuilding trails, ski slopes, tree work or whatever in prepartation for the coming year. I have, or at least have seen literature showing them with and without cabs. Mine did not have a cab, but I bought a cab several years ago. It is a narrow cab for only one person, I am guessing it is an aftermarket cab, not related to a crawler set up like yours.
You have a real neat setup there, if you ever decide to sell it, a friend of mine is looking for one.
Lavoy

[digitup]

That is a set of extra wide drives and cross bars are extra wide as well originally intended for row crop crawlers I think.Just add extra blade extensions and 32 inch grouser pads then head for the ski hills . Looks in nice shape the blade extensions are near perfect .These were dealer installed and produced for a specific job in snow and making cranberry peat bogs were the only two things they would go in that I know of without killing those little Deeres but they were able to go any where as the footprint was down to 1/3 of a pound per square foot. For some in this area they were changed to 24 inch grouser pads for the peat to roll out of the undercarriage area .Going places that an ordinary wide track cant even sit still on And snow would be the better under them .With peat as you rolled along you would have to go slow for it takes a lot of power to roll the peat mud back out that 14 inches that it would have to move on the 32 inch tracks.Yes those drives are very vulnerable to breaking as Lavoy pointed out.That cab is different than I have seen on extra wides.And you can even take passengers along in that one.Nice unit .Digitup.

[Ray III]

Damn I have seen some of the stuff out there but that is just wild. You got a woodstove in that house? I worked on a real snow groomer once and that thing is cooler.

So if you notice the clutch slip or it cant be set any tighter on a widetrack Deere . Do not go any further in than you can safely get back out of .Nobody can go where that unit can go to get you out .

I got a kick out of that. Maybe someone has a service helicopter for stuck JD snowcats?

[Mark McKeown]

Thanks everybody for your help. The JD dealer didn't have a clue. Does anybody know where I could find a left engine side shield p.n. T21153 for the 350? The squirrels keep chewing through my hoses and it is a pain to keep changing them. The right side shield is there.

Mark

[digitup]

If you cant find one make one then get out the 12 gauge and shot the squirrels .I have one of those some place as I made mine from plate steel after destroying the right side with a 3 inch diameter ash tree .I even took out the fuel pump at the same time .You would be shooting squirrels for a few weeks though as I am up here in Ontario . It would take a few weeks to get it to you .Digitup.

[Mark McKeown]

digitup,

Guess I'll make a shield. Thanks for your help.

Mark