Fiat 70CI dozer...opnions

[Z24O]

hi from downunder
i have gleaned much valuable info from this forum,as well as talking to some locals in the area my new property is(Tasmania) and it seems that i will be better off with a dozer/excavator combo for my purposes(dam building,roads,house pad,tree clearing,drainage....mostly in steep clay)
i have stumbled on a Fiat 70CI that is for sale locally(a bonus for an island state ) and wonder what opinions are held about this model/make
i have done a search but found nothing specific
bare in mind i am in the lower(pretty close to the bottom i'd say) end of the market due to finances and have a choice of a newer smaller machine eg komatsu/mitsubishi 3-4 ton or an older bigger machine up to say 10-12 ton(may need to transport it in the back of a rigid truck at some stage)
any info/advice greatly appreciated(deas575 and squizzy jump right in:notworthy )
cheers fellas

 

[Deas Plant]

Fiat 70CI

Hi, Z240.
Squizzy I know but who is this deas575 character who has so brazenly stolen part of my name and mixed it with part of another name, the owner of which is a person for whom I have little respect. LOL.

Fiat made many good smaller dozers over the years and the 70CI was one of them. Bear in mind though that it is a 40+ year old machine and treat it accordingly. Be ever willing to help it achieve your goals by using whatever excavator you end up with to assist it. It is ONLY an 8-ton machine. Try not to expect it to do the work of a Fiat-Allis 41B which is 8 times the size of the 70CI. Unless it has already been totally worked to death, I think it will probably serve you well, as they did for a lot of other people, although admittedly when they were younger tractors.

Hope this helps.

 

[Z24O]

my apologies Deas Plant.....that's what nightshift does for your mental capacity,they say going without sleep for 24 hours is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of .05.....aaaahh i am guilty of typing under the influence:drinkup .......
thanks for the info
how hard is it to manually angle tilt the blade as this one apparently only has hydraulic up/down?
how does it stack up against a Cat D4 or D5 as i can get one of those for a similar price
what would be your choice in the sub 12ton category in the oldie but a goodie field?
regards
paul

 

[Deas Plant]

Stacking Up.

Hi, Paul.
The 70CI and the D4 6/7U were a pretty fair match on opposite ends of a length of anchor chain doing light clearing. In the 'lasting' stakes, and given similar machine condition to start with, I'd have to say the D4 would win and spares will be a 'tiny leetle' bit easier to obtain for it too.

The D5, 'A' or 'B' series is a class above both of the other machines. If my memory serves me right ('old-timer's disease, you know), the first of the current line of D5 models was around 11-12 ton and about 90 hp. It was the earlier, discontinued D6B resurrected and gone powershift, although you could still get stick-shift models of it, especially in AG mode. It came in standard 60" and wide 72" gauge.

The D5B was a step up again, close to the same weight but with 105 donkeys busily eating the liquid hay. It was/is a somewhat more 'sprightly' machine than its older brother.

So long as they are in reasonable condition, manual angle blades are not all that difficult to angle. I could usually angle the blade on a 3t or 17A D7 in about 3 - 4 minutes so long as the keeper pins weren't jammed/siezed.

The Fiat AT7 which replaced the 70CI was quite a popular little jigger in its day.

Hope this helps.

 

[planetshapers]

for someone in a foreign country....

i have an old d5b dozer (96j series) machine i could sell someone overseas.

it has brand new and installed...never used.....ring gear and pinion....steering clutches....and drums....and brake bands. the whole rear section is new. and the finals were pretty new too when it was parked. motor has probably 3000 hours at most. powershift tranny worked fine when parked too.

12 foot angle blade...but no tilt. fresh moldboard on blade.

extra set of tracks for it that are 50% or less. the tracks on it are worn out...but the dozer has nearly new rollers and idlers.

the rear is just a drawbar.

has a square metal brush cab.

the bad: kinda faded and rusty from sitting....some slack in the side valence pins of the blade.

good cheap machine. and its a cat which makes it cheap.

 

[Z24O]

sounds ok but shipping to Oz would be an expensive proposition

 

[planetshapers]

shipping

yeah. i dont know much about overseas shipping. i wonder how much it would cost? always people from africa and places bothering us about our old equipment. they really like caterpillar.

 

[Z24O]

yeah. i dont know much about overseas shipping. i wonder how much it would cost? always people from africa and places bothering us about our old equipment. they really like caterpillar.

not sure,but just to give you an example,i got a quote to ship a 20t excavator from western australia to tasmania(eastern seaboard of australia)....................
AU$21,000
and there was no duty or quarantine issues compared to overseas imports

 

[kennymopar]

i wonder if Z240 has a dozer yet ?

 

[JoeinTX]

not sure,but just to give you an example,i got a quote to ship a 20t excavator from western australia to tasmania(eastern seaboard of australia)....................
AU$21,000
and there was no duty or quarantine issues compared to overseas imports



Sweet Lord a'mighty...


Do they charge this kind of shipping based upon weight or dimensions......or both?

 

[Sparffo]

I shipped a 11,5 ton trackloader in a sea container from Ireland to Finland, it cost me about 2000€. that 21000$ sounds quite scary!

 

[Z24O]

i wonder if Z240 has a dozer yet ?

no,ended up getting an excavator on the advice of forum members....and before you ask,i sourced it locally and saved $21,000
the bulk of the expense shipping across the country was attributed to the height of the machine,apparently it required specialised over-height sea freight,and i got 3 quotes that said the same thing because i initially thought it was BS

 

[kennymopar]

they charge like wounded bulls ... and thats no bull