Fun and Games with my Case 1550 Dozer

[bear]

Nice work!

That's a good job there Eddie. I'm glad it's turned out well for you and how's the rest of the resort coming along?

 

[John White]

Eddie: You certainly are a inspiration and a person who had their share of dozer problems. I am on my 4th small dozer and have had my share of repairs, but nothing like you. I 've read many of your posts on TBN. I enjoy HEF because because here is where the old hands hang out and I have gained alot ot valuable information. Out of coursity. What did your dozer cost, plus the cost of repairs you have to put in it? If you had it to do over again, would you buy the same type of dozer? Different make? Or one with less hours. Like you said, owning a dozer is a big money pit. I use mine to make a living but it still eats up alot of profit.. I guess you cant put a price on doing something yourself and the joy and satisfaction of doing it the way you want it, when you want it. I had no intention of starting a business when I bought mine. Things just snowballed and it envolved into a small business that I enjoy and have made money at, and had fun.:usa

 

[EddieWalker]

I paid $25,000 for the dozer and have around $10,000 in repairs. If I was to do it again, I really don't know what I wold do different. I wouldn't want a smaller dozer. Mine was too small for digging my pond, but size costs money, and that's all that I had. Case has been pretty good on parts. They have everything I need, it just takes a few days to get it here. The parts guys are great and the mechanics have been awesome. If I have a problem, they tell me how to fix it and print me out copies of their manuals.

Now that my pond is done, I just use the dozer for finish work, so a smaller one would be nice, but really isn't needed. I can spread and shape my dirt piles pretty good with this dozer, so there's that's good to. If I wanted to make money with a dozer, I don't think this is the machine. It's too heavy to move around and hiring it done is $500. Nobody wants to pay that fee plus what it costs to run and make it worth my time.

I've put over 2,000 hours on it, which if I was to hire that out, would have cost an easy $100,000 more then what I spent on fuel, oil and greese. By the time it's all said and done, I'll probably have another 2,000 hours on it, so the savings is considerable. Even taking into consideration that a better operator would be able to do it faster then I can, I know that there are allot of scammers out there who fudge their hours and charge for time not running their machines. It's a real issue in my area and one I've had to deal with every time I've hired out dirt work. There is also the time and effort that goes into expaining what I want done when hiring it out and making sure it's done the way I want it done. I'm a general contractor and I deal with guys to prepare the dirt for a building or addition. In those small jobs, it's either a cake walk or a nightmare, depending on who I can get to do the work for me.

In that respect, I might still sell the 1550 and buy something small that I can use myself, but it's not a priority. I'd just as soon not have a dozer and look forward to the day that I sell it and just have tractors with tires.

If I sold it for what I paid for it, which I think I should be able to do easily, I'm still way ahead dollar wise. It's just a matter of time to do what I want with my equipment. When it's done, I wont owe anybody anything and I can move forward with my other plans. If I only had a smaller job, or projects that were not measured in thousands of hours, then I would just hire it out.

Hope that made sense,
Eddie

 

[John White]

Eddie: Yes it made sense. I know what you mean by trying to hire it done. I had some small jobs I needed done. I had a hard time finding some one to do it and when I did, they did not do it right and padded the hours. I had three different dozers out. Since I had alot of other dozer work that needed to be done at different times. I decided to purchase the smallest dozer I could find. (as all of my work was small and I didnt want to have to purchase a larger truck and trailer.) I started out with a MF 200, a Case 350 a Allis challmers HD-4 and presently a Mitsubishi BD2. All small dozers, and a waste of time in many dozer owners opinion. It wasnt long before someone would ask me to come out after my regular job of a evening or on week end and do a small job that no one else would do. I started getting pretty busy. A felllow who was in the septic business asked what I would charge to cover up after he installed so he could move his backhoe and crew on to another job and be more more productive. I gave him a price and he kept me pretty busy. I was at retirement age so I retired from my full job and just started doing small jobs. I was busy while the boys with the JD &Case 450 had them sitting. I even did a couple of jobs over 75 mi away because no one would even come out and give the fellow a estimate. There is nothing like doing your own work the way you want, when you want. I since have purchased a small backhoe and keep it pretty busy also. Dad always said you dont send a boy ( my Mitsubishi) to do a mans job(450 or larger) I say dont send a man to do a boys job. Thats why I have stayed small and had mini equipement. Ocassionally someone will not take no for a answer and I will bite off more than I like to chew (larger job). I think as this econmy continues to decline, I hope to stay busy when others have to park their equipment. I would'nt think of building a pond or the type of work you have done with your dozer. I guess its just some kid in all of us that we enjoy doing it. Large or small.

 

[jaybwas]

Eddie,

Great work my man. I am in the process of putting the finishing touches on my horse farm. Cleared 6 acres of wooded land in roughly 13hrs with a rented 650 dozer, and it has taken me 2 years to clean up and finish the rest with my 580K and Stihl 441. I will post a few pics soon. Patience is truely a virtue.

Cheers:usa

Jay

 

[Squizzy246B]

Jay, Welcome to the Heavy Equipment Forums:drinkup

 

[Bayou Cat]

Eddie,

My dad has this same machine and has had some of the same problems as you. We have the machine with the drive motor on the right hand side out and had it repaired (broken splined shaft) and he droped a bearing in the bottom of the final drive. We are looking for any information and drawings of the final drive and the planetary so we can get this bearing out. Any inforamation would be a BIG help. He went to the CASE dealer today in Kenner, LA and no help at all. my number is 225-445-3177 or matt.finch@taminco.com.

Thanks Matt

 

[alan627b]

Nice job Eddie.
Look at it this way...you may have some money tied up in your dozer but how much would the experience you got have cost if you got it some other way?
You have property you can be proud of..
You can proudly say YOU did it when asked.
You can say YOU did it when asked what you had to do to the dozer and who fixed it.
You learned some of the basic truths about dozers..
They ALL cost money in some fashion...
Everything on them is heavy and hard to wrangle.
That there are only 2 kinds of dozer operators: those who have gotten stuck, and those who will. There is nothing to be ashamed of about getting stuck..but what you do after it happens.....is a different story all together!! Did you quit while it was a little stuck, or keep going 'til all you could see was the top of the stack?
You also seem to be doing a real good job of making the most with what you have.
Good luck with the future!

Alan