350C I'm thinking buying...

[440 iron popper]

The transmission to reverser case joint should be somewhat visible looking in from the side. Just follow the case back from the filter (which you can see in one of your pics). You can see the bottom 2 bolts this way. If you want to see the top, you need to remove the floor plates (where your feet sit). Which isnt that big of a deal. To see the rollers you can push down with the blade to lift the front of the machine off the ground. Obviously, don't go under the machine unless you block it up, but you can still get a good visual on the rollers flanges.

I went back there today but didn't try it because of the cold again. It's on my way when I go to Tim Horton's so why not . It has 665 hours on the meter...original? I checked the bottom bolts holding the cases together and they were tight, cases ok for what I can see. I was able to see the first rollers on each side and they look good. No evidence of heavy wear. 2 out of 10 OK... Also I checked the crossbar bracket/clamps and they are tight on the round bar. Not like my 440:



I guess the next step is to try it tomorrow and look at the other things mentioned in here when I clear the snow off the machine. Thanks all for the replies.

[440 iron popper]

No reaction to the comments from others, but if you really need to push dirt a 450 will get more work done. I fixed up a 350B only to find that it did not have enough power for my needs. The 450 series are more appropriate to my needs, and not much more costly to buy in my area. Of course you need to be familiar with model features and quirks before looking, and get a good mechanic to join you when you look. At least I did, and it really helped.

Thanks for the comment. Basically I plan to make trails on my land wich is 1 1/4 mile long. So, doing trails and maintaining them. I'll pull trees out of it too. A couple project for shure. I might be good with a 440, 350C should be better. 450 is the way to go but the avalaibility is low. I don't see them often for sale around here. It's a more bigger machine too. The only mechanic I trust for these old Deere is far away from here! I called him and he talked about the same weak points as the other members of this board here. There are not much Today's mechanics I know who know these small crawlers... So after I checked all and it's satisfactory, I can gamble and get it. It might be a great unit or it might bust on the battefield after an hour.

What kind of jobs made you reach the limits of the 350B? Thanks!

[DBCSteve]

[/quote]

Thanks for the comment.

What kind of jobs made you reach the limits of the 350B? Thanks![/quote]

Pushing over large oak trees, cutting roads on our 120 acre ranch with fairly steep terrain, filling in steep gullies to restore damage from mining in the 1850's.

[77 Ford]

I have to agree with a couple others here, the gap between those shoes is really large. For that kind of money I think you could find something better maybe even a fairly large distance away and pay to have it shipped in.

I know it took me 6 months to find my little 450c loader. I think patience really pays off in these types of situations.

[440 iron popper]

Thanks for the inputs. I appreciate it. It will certainly help me to make my decision. I told the seller it had too much snow on it to make a good inspection. The guy called me a little later and he told me that the dozer was moved in the shop and steamed. I went back there. He's pretty firm on the price as He put 6k in it recently. I asked him to see the bills of that. I looked at the man hours:38 and parts. There were moderate inexpensive parts quantity, seals, bearings and a couple of Deere numbers wich I wrote down:



Number1 AT18993



Number5 JD8625



Number3 T29675 Famous isolator springs.

Date of the repair bill 07/04/2011. Should I consider that problems are behind with these repairs? I red a lot of posts about the isolator. The gear and bearings I don't know in wich condition they failed.

Also I check fluids levels. Transmission had slushy oil... Water in it. I did not drive it this morning because of that.

I have a lot of questions but that's a lot of $$ for me so, thanks again.

[CatD8RII]

The gear(s) in your picture are the gear set (pumping element) of the reverser oil pump!!!!

I would start asking some serious questions of why they were replaced. Why did the pump fail in the first place? Was the entire reverser rebuilt or just shoved together so the machine moves and can be sold? If they just worked on it for a week, why didn't they change the transmission oil? Maybe if you can trust this person the machine might be worth 14, if the tracks are in really nice shape. Saying that, it appears to me that the pads have been re-grousered , and agree with others that the rollers are hitting the pin bosses, and the bushings show some pretty decent outside wear.
Also, you need to look at how far slid out the idlers are on the track frame, and count the number of links on each side. This can give you a good general idea of how worn the pin/bushings and rollers as a whole are worn.

I second what 77Ford is saying, patience makes perfect when looking at these little guys.

[digitup2]

The wear on the track and the scrub in the pin tells me someone ran side hill with it a bit lately the chains will be worn a bit but I see none of that banging on the boss's I will try to send a photo to you of a rail boss that is banging on the rollers and it will show you where to look for this but you would have to get it out of the snow bank and get clear sight to the rollers and the clearance between the two.Now this is a newer style roller so it has an inner flange set as well as outer and the boss has wear in the inner edge

[440 iron popper]

The gear(s) in your picture are the gear set (pumping element) of the reverser oil pump!!!!

I would start asking some serious questions of why they were replaced. Why did the pump fail in the first place? Was the entire reverser rebuilt or just shoved together so the machine moves and can be sold?

I second what 77Ford is saying, patience makes perfect when looking at these little guys.

Actually I don't have enough informations on those repairs to feel comfortable buying it. I won't pay 14K for it, that's a fact. I'm back up north for work. I'll stop by again when I return! Also, A friend of mine has a 350C that he uses quite often for logging. He told me to go at his place and try it I can see what this machine can do. Patience, 77Ford and you are right

[440 iron popper]

The wear on the track and the scrub in the pin tells me someone ran side hill with it a bit lately the chains will be worn a bit but I see none of that banging on the boss's I will try to send a photo to you of a rail boss that is banging on the rollers and it will show you where to look for this but you would have to get it out of the snow bank and get clear sight to the rollers and the clearance between the two.

Thanks for the picture. I'll certainly go back and check more closely for that. It looks like they put new shoes their tracks. I tried to go to the crawlerheaven web site for the wear charts... It looks like it is closed... I didn't find any other information on the web for measurments in my last researches.

[jtrichard]

hey guys i have been looking half the night and finally found another site for wear specs. http://www.scarlett.co.nz/track_shop/Wear%20Tables.html

[440 iron popper]

hey guys i have been looking half the night and finally found another site for wear specs. http://www.scarlett.co.nz/track_shop/Wear%20Tables.html

Oh yes Nice find! This one is saved in pdf right now ! Thanks a lot jtrichard.

[Lavoy]

Okay, I am not the computer guru that some of you are, but can someone put the Deere specs, at least for the older crawlers in a table and e-mail it to me. I will post it as a sticky in the FAQ's section, then we will have it.
Lavoy

[rockslayer16]

im not very good at this computer stuff either but i did this until someone that knows what their doing does it better

[440 iron popper]

im not very good at this computer stuff either but i did this until someone that knows what their doing does it better

I did the same thing with a bit of copy/paste/paint and sent it to Lavoy!!! But yours has colors, so better than mine