977 Loader for Demo

[Wolf]

Anyone ever use a CAT 977 loader for demo? How does it do?

[Dozerboy]

If it's got a 4N1 it will do almost anything a hoe can do just a slower. In my pics there is a 977 that we use for demo. There way out classed cost to run and production when comparing them to a hoe with a thumb, but they're still handy.

[Wulf]

When demolishing OJ's house it was found that a smaller Komatsu worked pretty good so a 977 should be awesome.

[Highwood5]

Hello.
I have been playing with the idea of finding a 977L for acreage development. Wondering if anyone has any opinion on the machine or maintenance concerns I should be aware of. From what I can find most machines have @ 20000+ hrs on the frame with the other components in different states of rebuilt condition. Around here a complete running machine in decent shape runs 30-50,000$.

[CM1995]

Welcome to our little discussion Highwood5, Mr Country Boy will be along shortly to give you an "official welcome".

If you haven't looked throught www.machinerytrader.com or www.rockandirt.com - give them a try. Those sites have extensive lists of used equipment and both have decent track loader selections. It should give you an idea of what the market is for the age and hour machine you are looking for.

My suggestion for buying an older machine would be to take oil and fluid samples and have them analized at your local cat dealer. I believe they run $12 per sample. The analysis will tell you the condition of the engine, finals, coolant etc.

Secondly you can have a Cat product support rep come and measure the undercarriage to give you an idea of lifespan and replacement costs.

Hope this helps.

[Turbo21835]

How does a 977 do? I cant say from personal experience, but i can tell you what i see and have heard. Every wrecking company that was around in the day of the 977 still has a few of them. In the day, they were a wrecking machine that couldnt be beat. Ive heard several stories of guys tripping 5-6 story buildings with nothing but a 977, biter bucket, and a long piece of H colum. One local company just had one on a job a month ago. It was helping the hoes out. Shoving material out of there way and helping sort brick and concrete out of the rest of the material. They are kind of going by the wayside. A lot of companies have switched over to 973s, and your even starting to see wheel loaders with solid of foam filled tires. They work pretty good. You cant really do demo with the wheel loaders, but they sure help move a site and keep things organised.

Ran this little gem for a few months, this was before i ran the loader.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d30/turbo21835/Picture933.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d30/turbo21835/Picture923.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d30/turbo21835/Picture907.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d30/turbo21835/Picture341.jpg

[Wolf]

The 977L sure is a "mean wrecking machine." It's a classic, and one that has been around for many years. Sure, they have been surpassed by track hoes in many respects, but in it's day it was an amazing tool.

Even to this day, they still have amazing power and versatility. There is nothing like the feeling of crashing and crunching all around you when wrecking a building with the 977.

Any other fans of the 977 wrecking machine out there? Stories?

[Tony]

The 977L is a great machine for demo, but nothing compared to the demo capability of the larger 983 and even better 983B. The 983B was the demo loader of choice in New York City up through most of the 1980's, and even into the early '90's.

Heavy and brutally powerful, with a push stick, this machine couldn't be beat. In fact, we had a total of four of them come in to our yard two years ago (ranged in age from 1970 to 1982) as "trade-ins" on the purchase of a new Komatsu PC1250LC-7 to be used by a NY City demo contractor. The 983's, even with the hours and rough body work they had, were gone as fast as they came in. They were, and sometimes still are very highly regarded as a demolition machine.

The 977L was lighter and had less power, but was just as bulletproof (even moreso) than the 983's. 977L's were very popular in the earthmoving segment due to their bucket capacity vs. ease of moving.

They were both very good machines. You can't go wrong with either one if you're looking for a big, powerful crawler loader.

Tony

[Countryboy]

Welcome to our little discussion Highwood5, Mr Country Boy will be along shortly to give you an "official welcome".

Thanks for the intro CM. ;)

Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums Highwood5! :drinkup

[rino1494]

We have a 977L that we use quite often for building roads, detention basins and in our shale pit. It has a M/S ripper and it will out rip our TD15E. As far as demo, I have never used it for demo, but my dad has. He also had demoed a 3 story brick building with our 955K. It is a very powerful machine and is very handy, but it is a fuel guzzler.

[Burnout]

Ahh good ole 977's... I cringe everytime I see one still. Sureway still uses some of their 977L's as backups when the 973's go down. I was working along side a 77L with my 73 and the operator wanted to try out a hydrostat loader so we traded for a little while. Those old pigs can really push.... but I would still never run one for anything other than novelty purposes. But you gotta give any machine credit that was bought in 1976 and still runs on a daily basis relatively trouble free.

Highwood: If your lookin for a 977L, Sureway does have a few kickin around and they would probably sell one if you were lookin for one. We only have 1 guy who even wants to run one. PM me if you want some details.

[Highwood5]

Thanks all for the replies; I think once the snows move out i will start looking in earnest. Will have to check out the web sites that were mentioned. The tractor sounds durable in all respects from the posts which is good to hear. After checking around I was surprised to find that parts are still very easy to find/order for the 977. Secondly the components are all mechanical so I still know how to work on it! Oh and that it wieghs the same as a 20 ton hoe, so I can use the exact same lowboy to move it. Burnout if your yard has a few in it I would be interested in thier condition etc...

[Burnout]

Highwood: Me and the girlfriend were out for a tour today and she pointed out to me a 977L for sale here in E Dot. It's sitting at Alaskan Equipment. I couldn't get right up to it, but its got fresh paint, the undercarriage and bucket look pretty good. And its in WAY better shape than any other 977 I have seen.

[dirt digger]

It is a very powerful machine and is very handy, but it is a fuel guzzler.

what are you guys burning daily?...we burn about 50 gallons a day on our 955L

[RollOver Pete]

The 977L is one of the best track loaders ever produced.
Though they are not as efficient as todays newer machines,
they were simple, direct and to the point.
Repairs could be made with simple hand tools carried by most mechanics.
You had better have a lap top and the required cat programs to work on one today.
Regardless of its hrs, if you can find one with a good frame, loader arms and u/c, it might be worth looking at.
Another thing to consider is weather or not the EPA is coming down on people in your area who own older equipment that is not EPA compliant.
Many have been forced to sell off older yet reliable equipment and purchase newer smog friendly equipment.
:cool:

[Burnout]

50 gallons a day? Wow if my 973 burned that our fuel guy wouldn't hate me so much. my 1997 973LGP with a brand new engine, trans and drive motors was burning 160 gallons in a 12hour shift. With a full tank at 7am I am normally looking for fuel around 1pm and then again at the end of the day.

On average the new C series burn 90 gallons a day.

As for the EPA.... they don't hunt up here.. ha ha If they did I'm sure our 245's would live in the gravel pits permanently.

[dirt digger]

sounds like your fuel guy should love you for all the business you give him...our 43 burns about 40 gallons in an 8 hour day...and the 50 gallons was for an 8 hour day.

is that 90 gal a day for a new 973C?...you don't see anything that big around here...53's are most common then the bigger guys are running 63's...but i have only ever seen a 73 on the internet.

[Burnout]

Yeah the 973C's burn around 90 gallons a day. Our fuel guy hates me because he has to come to the jobsite 2 times a day to refuel me. Our company burned 3 million in fuel last year at least thats what Norm told me.

At Jatec they have an old grey iron 963. It burned less than 40 gallons a day but it also had a dinky 4 cylinder naturally aspirated engine. They ended up renting a 963C and it burned around 60 gallons per day. They now have a 953C and it burns about the same. So in the last 3 months I have run a 973, 973C, 963, 963C, and a 953C.

[Highwood5]

Thanks for the heads up there Burnout will have to phone up there and find perticulars.

[jughead]

ran a 977 for a few years in a rock pile? never measured fuel just added when it needed it. went to a d75s komatsu it uses about 6.1 gal. an hr.

[dirt digger]

i am going to a sale saturday where an old 77 is going onto the auction block...i'm interested in seeing what she goes for

[dirt digger]

the 977 needed paint, tracks and rollers but it ran well...they were using it up until the day it sold....$6300

[JDR62]

I've have a 977L [48J], i use it on development projects, owned it for 20 years, it's a great demo machine, never had any major problems,uses about 9-10 gals fuel per hour. Works really well clearing old fence lines & trees , even pull ashland sraper with it.

[Countryboy]

Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums JDR62! :drinkup

[Wolf]

I've have a 977L [48J], i use it on development projects, owned it for 20 years, it's a great demo machine, never had any major problems,uses about 9-10 gals fuel per hour. Works really well clearing old fence lines & trees , even pull ashland sraper with it.

What kind of demo have you been doing with the 977L, MR. JRD 62? Buildings, houses, commerical? How do you like it?

[JDR62]

What kind of demo have you been doing with the 977L, MR. JRD 62? Buildings, houses, commerical? How do you like it?
Mostly old farm buildings and clearing ,usually for future subdivisions. The 77 is a machine I could'nt be without i love it.

[Wolf]

Glad you like the 77 JDR 62. Great demo machine. Don't you save and sell the barn sidings from the old farm buildings you are taking down? Big money in that and other aged timber. How old are the farm buildings?

[Construct'O]

I've have a 977L [48J], i use it on development projects, owned it for 20 years, it's a great demo machine, never had any major problems,uses about 9-10 gals fuel per hour. Works really well clearing old fence lines & trees , even pull ashland sraper with it.

Would like to see some pictures of you pulling the Ashland scraper with the loader sometime if you can do that???:usa

[Ray Welsh]

The 977L is one of the best track loaders ever produced.
Though they are not as efficient as todays newer machines,
they were simple, direct and to the point.
Repairs could be made with simple hand tools carried by most mechanics.
You had better have a lap top and the required cat programs to work on one today.
Regardless of its hrs, if you can find one with a good frame, loader arms and u/c, it might be worth looking at.
Another thing to consider is weather or not the EPA is coming down on people in your area who own older equipment that is not EPA compliant.
Many have been forced to sell off older yet reliable equipment and purchase newer smog friendly equipment.
:cool:

Nothing to say further on 977Ls being a good reliable rig, however times have changed with EPA now controlling emissions from industries.
How would anyone like a number of coal fired steam trains chugging through their neibourhood on a regular basis? Or smoky old cars and trucks spewing smoke into the atmosphere we all breathe?
It's always fun in the woods working out of sight, but it's up to all of us to be responsible for the quality of air our loved ones and children breathe. This small planet has only one atmosphere!! Look after it, and use the best equipment to assist in this regard........C ya.........Ray

[JDR62]

Would like to see some pictures of you pulling the Ashland scraper with the loader sometime if you can do that???:usa
Sorry no pictures, but in about 30 days I'am going to start building a new polo field, I'll post some pictures then, there i'll will use 2 ashland 130,s one pulled by the 77 and the other by my case 4890.

[JDR62]

Glad you like the 77 JDR 62. Great demo machine. Don't you save and sell the barn sidings from the old farm buildings you are taking down? Big money in that and other aged timber. How old are the farm buildings?

If we have the time we'll save the timber sometimes ever big rock in the walls, there has been times we could'nt give it away either, time is always the factor.

[knucklehead98]

When I was a kid, we had a 977H, 53A model, if I remember correctly. My grandfather tore down any a building with it. I used to sit on the arm rest and run FNR for him. Boy you guys helped to bring back some memories! Thank you Heath

[jquincy0]

This little gem was hidden away on YouTube, and is the only one I know of with a 977 [recklessly] demolishing a house:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvKGUCm9tE0

I know Wolf will enjoy