New JD CRawler User: Intro

Discuss non-crawler related issues here (keep it sane, please)
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CuttingEdge
2010 crawler
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Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:13 pm
Location: Maine

New JD CRawler User: Intro

Post by CuttingEdge » Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:19 am

Just a quick introduction here as I thought you other users deserved that.

Basically I joined because I love bulldozers, really any make or model though John Deere are my favorite. I just grew up with them, having a JD 1010 gasoline crawler as a kid. It was not much, but man did it ever get the wood out. We cut thousands of cords with that old machine.

My next was a short lived John Deere Crawler, but it had a bucket on it. That was short lived because it had problems with the valves and so in thinking it was junk, I sold it to get rid of the headache, though in retrospect, I think it would have worked out had I kept it.

Since then I have run all kinds of equipment, mostly John Deere 850's. A 1997 850 B model that was NOT John Deere's best make at a tractor, and then the improved 1997 850 C ; though they were not mine. I also played a lot with a Cat D-4.

Now I am working on buying a small dozer to pull out wood here on our farm. A family friend has a 1988 John Deere 350 D he is selling after rebuilding the tracks. That is its biggest selling point, and for us, with wood on steep grades, in wet areas and with Maine winters, a bulldozer works out well. Yes a skidder is better, but on this farm where the twitches are short, bulldozers can work out (as we proved from years of doing so).

But that is dozers; on the personal side, I am 40 years old, have a nice wife Katie, 4 daughters ages 1, 7,8 and 9 years old, and together we all run a sheep farm. When I am not doing anything as a Dad or farmer, I am employed as a welder building US Navy Destroyers at a local shipyard.

JimAnderson
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Location: Gloucester,Virginia

Introduction

Post by JimAnderson » Sat Sep 06, 2014 3:17 pm

Cuttingedge,
Nice intro.Makes me wish I had done such a classy thing.Like most,
I think,I just started asking for some info and my participation just grew from there.
My father moved to a place just east of Agusta Maine in 1976 and
until his death in 2008 he twitched fire wood with his 1957 420c.He
used it to grade his long gravel drive and plowed snow when the plow truck wasn't up to the task.I moved the machine back here to Va.
since it has been in the family since 1964.It has joined the herd of Deere
here in Gloucester.
This is a great group of knowledgable and helpful folks.While the main focus is on John Deere I think most here have an appreciation for machines of all colors.I will look forward to your posts and hope you find
this site as helpful and informative as the rest of us have.
Luck,JimAnderson

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shinnery
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Post by shinnery » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:04 pm

In the early 60s I spent almost 3 years on a destroyer built in Bath in 1944. Possibly a little before your time. LOL It was the U.S.S. Southerland DDR-743. Kinda interesting to be on a ship less than 4 years younger than I was. It wasn't the grandest of times, but if I had to do it over again, I would be there again.
Bryce
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But, many electrons were terribly bothered.

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Ray III
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Post by Ray III » Sat Sep 06, 2014 10:14 pm

Welcome to the forums, it moves a bit slow here but it does pick up from time to time especially when the ground freezes!

I bought a 420 crawler several years ago because I thought it was the neatest thing ever made and I wanted my own bulldozer for whatever. Since then it has been through many adventures regrading yards and getting buried in clay and pulling logs out and clearing brush.

The thing about those skidders is they are only good for pulling trees. Once the logging's done they get parked, whereas a 350 can be used for other work.

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CuttingEdge
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Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:13 pm
Location: Maine

Post by CuttingEdge » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:38 am

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah having a farm means I have lots of uses for the ye ole John Deere 350 D that is for sure. I really wanted one with a bucket because it would serve my needs better I think in a farm situation then just a straight blade, but the 100% rebuilt tracks was the draw to this machine. Sprockets, idlers, bushings, pins, etc...it means I can do some work without having to invest in repairs immediately.

I look upon the JD 1010 though fondly. We used a scoot, which is a sled on wooden runners and on frozen ground would it pull some monstrous sized loads. That worked really well and I am hoping to build a scoot for the JD 350 D at some point (assuming I get it).

As for work, a search of the Zumwalt Class of Destroyers shows the latest and greatest in Naval Warfare. Like a John Deere 850 J; it is one mean machine capable of some serious destruction.

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Tigerhaze
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Post by Tigerhaze » Mon Sep 08, 2014 9:14 am

CuttingEdge wrote:I look upon the JD 1010 though fondly. We used a scoot, which is a sled on wooden runners and on frozen ground would it pull some monstrous sized loads. That worked really well and I am hoping to build a scoot for the JD 350 D at some point (assuming I get it).
You would probably enjoy the threads about the King of Obsolete with his winter "CAT trains" (although you may already know of him):

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... light=king

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... light=king
(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

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CuttingEdge
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Post by CuttingEdge » Mon Sep 08, 2014 5:08 pm

Thanks a lot, I enjoyed that a lot, especially about how they moved those 3 houses.

I have actually moved a few myself, though I used my tractor instead of a bulldozer and used a skids instead of sleds. It worked quite well and I have moved 3 buildings to date:

1. a 12x30 garage to use for a sheep shed
2. a 12 x 18 shed I attached to my house for use as a mud room
3. a 13 x 22 garage I attached to my house for use as a firewood shed

I have another planned...a necessity really as I have a 24 x 48 barn, but it is located too far away from the house during the winter when it is lambing season and requires numerous trips out in -zero weather to ensure the lambs are still alive. I am not sure a JD 350 D could pull it in a single pull, but cut in half it probably would.

Here is a picture of our little tractor pulling half of the 13 x 22 garage this summer and one pulling that smaller 12 x 18 shed in its entirety last summer. It seems silly, but it is a lot easier to move buildings then pay to build new ones.

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7 ... A253ot1lsi

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7 ... 7253ot1lsi

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Tigerhaze
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Post by Tigerhaze » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:19 pm

We don't get enough snow in my area to move structures with sleds but I wish I could. We just get ice, which could be really tricky with a "CAT" sled :shock:
(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

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CuttingEdge
2010 crawler
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Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 5:13 pm
Location: Maine

Post by CuttingEdge » Tue Sep 09, 2014 5:35 pm

I have always dry-skidded the buildings on bare soil and as you can see from the pictures, that is why we had to put some dirt/rocks in the bucket of the tractor to kind of hold the front end down in order to get a little extra traction.

But then again, you don't need bulldozers or tractors at all to move buildings as this video shows. People simply pick up a barn and move it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o83W0gj_CRE

oldtanker
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Post by oldtanker » Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:14 am

HI and welcome. I'm the wannabe here. I do own a tractor loader backhoe but it isn't a Deer. My JD stuff includes a JD poo spreader and a 6601 pull type combine. We farm too. Just a little west of you......in west MN. No sheep although the wife did put in goats :shock: :( . That's her side of the farm. Mine is grain, beef and feeder to finished pigs over summer.

Pretty good bunch here. Lots of info. Maybe in the next year or so I'll get my dozer. Been spending too much right now getting the tractors and equipment needed to farm with. I learned on an old MC, graduated to M60 and M1 tanks and got to run a few D4/6/8's through the years. To be honest a small wheel loader would be more practical on our farm but my first love has always been crawlers.

Rick

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