Professional help for my 350B

[GRWeldon]

Some of you may remember my starter issues from earlier this year, but I finally got the girl running only to find out my starter was killed by a heavily leaking rear main seal.

I have yet to tackle the project because I've been clearing land for a barn. I need to excavate anywhere between 1000 and 3000 yards of material. I've got quotes from excavators that range from $7500-$12000 to do what I need.

I'm thinking I'd be better off spending that money to hire an experienced professional to work on the crawler and fix some issues. I don't really know if there are any problems with the bottom end of the engine other than the rear main seal. Although the engine runs well, I suspect the worst.

I also believer the torsional isolator is in need of repair and I know my steering clutches need to be rebuilt. The machine will not move well in 3rd gear and won't move at all in 4th.

Here's my question... I don't know if I can find somebody to come to my farm to work on the old girl but assuming I can find somebody, what sort of work do y'all think I could get done for... say...$7500?

I could then do the excavation by myself and have a working crawler at the same time...

Opinions anybody?

[dillon45]

I agree with wizner85, I have a JD 350 B crawler it has a new set
of sprockets and chain on both sides installed by the previous owner
to the tune of $5000.00 dollars, which he had done by a JD dealer.
The point is I think you would be throwing your money away by
putting it into your machine.
If the work on my machine had not been done by the previous owner
I would have not put that kind of money out on a 350 B JD.
There just not worth that much, as far as the clutch brakes you are
looking at approx. $6000.00 by a JD dealer parts included.
That was the estimate I was given last year by my JD dealer here in Springfield Mo. , there is only one JD dealer here and you can check
for yourself. The labor is intensive, the entire machine has to be torn down to get to the steering clutch brake, and they are a dry set up w/ pressure
plate ect. sort of like a manual clutch and PB on a truck or car.
Save your money and buy a better machine w/ a wet steering brake
setup, they last much longer.

[Tigerhaze]

As mentioned the JD dealer is not the place to have these older crawlers repaired. The best places are the mom and pop style mobile equipment repair places that have worked on older machines all their life, and former JD mechanics from that era are even better. If you could find one of those style places, you could likely get the work you are describing done for that amount.

I don't necessarily disagree with the advice others are giving about putting money into your 350B, but there may be other reasons you want to fix it up and may be nervous about turning around and buying another 30-40 year old machine that you have no history with.

If you truly need to move 1,000 to 3,000 cubic yards of material the 350B is probably not the right size machine to do it efficiently. The 350B basically has a 3/4 to 1 cy bucket so you are talking a minimum of 1,000 to 3,000 loads moved.

My recommendation would be to rent a newer, larger capacity crawler to do it yourself. I did just that by renting a CAT 939 HST crawler loader to do my large earthmoving and tree felling, and followed up with my own JD crawler for finish work. At the time you could rent the 939HST for just under $2K for 1 week (40 hours). Even with fuel it was less than $2500, and I got to use a new hydrostat machine focusing on the work rather than repairs.

I saw that the CAT store has several locations throughout Alabama and have both dozers and loaders, but I do not know the price or whether they will still rent to the general public. They show a CAT 953D loader which has a 2 cy bucket but that size also increases rental and fuel cost but should shorten duration of the work. At the time I rented as an individual without a company as long as I paid a 10% insurance fee.

Yes, that money could have gone towards fixing what you have but if time is a factor this may help bridge the gap on your farm projects. In the meantime you can work on your 350B at your pace or sell, and not be pressured into buying another older machine that you know no maintenance history about.

[DrLoch]

Tigerhaze, Sound advice.

[Paul Buhler]

Tigerhaze, Sound advice.

Ditto.

[GRWeldon]

Thank you all for your replies...

In regard to moving 3000 yards with the crawler, an excavator who lives in my area will rent me his dump truck as needed. I intended to load the dirt into the dump truck for transport. I agree, 3000 trips to where I need the fill would not have been practical.

All of your replies have steered me to revised my plans. I can't justify the expense of moving 3000 yards of material at this point. I'm going to have to settle for having my barn 8' higher than the runway. I'd rather spend the money somewhere else. I wasn't actually going to store the ultralight in the barn I'm constructing. I was going to build a lean-to on the proposed barn at some time in the future to shelter the ultralight. What I'll do instead is build a specialized hanger right on the runway at a future point. I will rent a decent-size backhoe to prepare the site for my barn. I believe I could do it in 16 hours or less. Just have to make it flat and remove enough dirt to create a 30' perimeter around the barn, maybe 200 yards or so.

I DO NOT want to get rid of the 350B. I don't really want to get in to a situation where I'm throwing money away on it, but with the backhoe attachment, it is a great tool to have if I can keep it running. I certainly can do the work myself once I drag it up to one of the overhangs on the barn and get it and most importantly, ME out of the weather!

Thanks again folk. I'm glad I have consulted with y'all! Stay warm!