Help me pick a pond maker.

There are 2 decent machine's in my area right now that seem like very good buys. An old case 1150 that reportedly was well maintained by the govt, runs strong, good UC and is ready to work for 7.5k. The other is a 1994 case 550g with ripper at 2k hours for 14.5k and reported in exc shape.

I've got 200 acres of steep open hilly terrain with large open flat areas. No clearing needed. Looking to dig out some small shallow ponds for wildlife (tennis court sized, 8ft at the deepest), push up some land slides and maintain roads. I have an excavator and the contractor types tell me I should get a TL150 as it will be more usefull but I worry it won't dig or compact a dam well. Plus I worry it may have trouble on the steeper hills. What I like about the idea of a CTL however is how intuitive the controls are. I fear operating that old 1150 is going to be like learning to play a pipe organ and could be much more dangerous to a new operator in steeper terrain than a hydrostatic dozer like the 550. But then I worry the 550 might be too small for pond making but may be handier for odd jobs round the ranch.

What do you guys think: Large CTL (I will prob need to get one eventualy anyway but ponds are the more pressing issue first), newer small dozer, older medium dozer?

Any input would be great.

hello Ed, as with many things in life bigger is often better.:notworthy:drinkup

Id go with the Case 1150! I Have a Case 350 dozer, its been around for years and boy can she run! Case makes a good machine in my opinion. In your case as bigger is better.

I don't think the 550 is a hydrostatic to start with and that is a old 1150. I would go with the 550 just because of the age issue of the 1150. The issue of land slides and crawlers can be bad even for the most trained dozer hands also, hillside work is also planning ahead using a machine that has working brakes and a good system to maintain clutch pack pressure so you don't end up with a trans that would run away with you in a tight. Pond work at 8' deep, less than a 1/4 acre is not a big issue for either machine. The dike issue with compaction, unless you are cutting a core in for the dike (across a low) digging a pond 8' down you don't have a big issue for compaction. My first thought is for homesteads/acre a backhoe with 4wd/4x1 bucket/ e-hoe, and several rear bucket sizes. Rent dozers as needed unless you really need it for over 40 hrs a year. You can get into a dozer cheap but it can cost a lot to fix real quick. If you have a wrench man in your area, it pays for a 2nd thought on buying used equipment always.

Mate, go for the small unit - less hours, better grousers (and I assume undercarriage) plus it has a set of rippers and a PAT(I think from the photo) blade. I know the CTL's will do a lot of wonderful things but when the going gets rough and tough the dozer will still out there operating in it. I have no experience with CASE dozers at all. I posted a item a week or so ago asking for faults in the 1850K but didn't get any takers.
Bon chance
Firetrack

Yair . . . firetrack beat me to it . . . you need rippers to do any serious digging.

Cheers

Isn't the 1150 the one that has a handful of levers to make it go, can't remember for sure if it steers with pedals also.
plus the line up the levers and move some thing to start.

Your not comparing apples to apples on this question. Both are case dozers and since I have no idea if you have a descent dealer in your area or not or someone that knows anything about fixing it, but assuming you have both. I'd go for the newer machine hands down, parts will be somewhat harder to find with the 1150 that machine has a case engine in it, which hasn't been made since the early 80's, the 550 will be cummins, the 550 should have brakes that work, a newer style over the older 1150 which I can almost guarantee you don't work. Those machines are 40 plus years apart in age and development, I'd opt for the newer machine by far, now that said, I'd shop around for a good used 850G with a six way blade on it over a 550 but I don't know what terrain your in, jobs your doing or material your moving or how many hours your going to put on it every year or how close of quarters your working in either.

Will the 550 do what you need doing, probably and give you decades of service but if not, you'd have a machine someone would want to buy or trade in for a larger one, the 1150 would have a much smaller ability to sell or trade, due mainly to its age, if it were a D or E model 1150 that would change everything in the equation. If this is your first dozer purchase I'd definitely go with the newer machine, even though its far more money over the older 1150, you stand a lot better chance to update and not loose as much on resale or trade. Just a different perspective to think over. Best of luck

A 550 is pretty small for 200 acres. I know you are not working on the entire site, but that is a pretty small machine. The 1150 looks wore out to me, the tracks are worn out, so who ever told you it has a good u/c is f.o.s. I don't know what you want to spend but you may have to keep looking. Find something at least 25k pounds. If you are just going to have it on one site go big.

Good Luck, CD

Look at the grousers on the 1150 and it's overall appearance standard. Rough, and this type of dozer is virtually obsolete today. It's a $4-5K U.S. D. machine at best. Being as it was government owned, I'd take a chance on it at that price if the rest of the undercarriage is indeed fairly new.

Can I pick neither? The 550 is way small and the 1150 needs parted out or cut up... I'd suggest looking around more. See what you can find in the way of td15's deere 750's cat 6's allis hd14 or 16, something like that.

Did you see this one? http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=7856267

Not sure where exactly you are in California, but I'm assuming near Sacramento (I found your $7500 1150 there on Craigslist) I took a look at Redding Craigslist and there are a couple decent looking Cat's a D6C and a D7F that look pretty decent.

D6C

D7F

That 7 looks pretty nice especially with the angle blade on it.

If it were me, I would say neither and go with something like that D6C or the D7F Jaybo posted. You aren't going to be digging ponds with a 550, and that 1150 looks like junk in my opinion.

But if you absolutely have to have one of the two, I would definitely go with the 550

A dozer like the 550 can be used for doing lots of minor work where the transport will take longer than the work. But it is undersized for digging a pond.

Run away from the 1150. The tracks are in need of immediate replacement, and they will cost far more than the dozer is worth. That's why it doesn't have them.

The D6C was a good machine. They are good for small ponds and general ranch work, especially if they don't have to be transported down a highway.

Be leery of the transmissions in a D7F.

Well I'm glad I asked. I gues the 1150's out. I have no idea what a bulldozer can do as I've never run one. But I just assume buy the equipment rather then rented as it will always have a use on a ranch. I'm a little intimidated by the bigger machines as we have a lot of steep hills and I was thinking smaller might be easier to learn on. I thought maybe I could do most of the digging with the excavator and use a small dozer to compact and finish things. Bad idea?

Smaller does not always mean easier to learn on! I feel a lot more challenged on a smaller machine than I do on a bigger one. For pond work the 6 or 7 will get a LOT of work done with a lot less wear and tear than a smaller machine. Then once you get the "big" work done, sell or trade for a smaller machine. Those older 6 and 7's do hold their value!

Forgive my inexperience but I'm wondering what you're pushing. The only time I ran a dozer (JD 650J) I found shanks absolutely necessary.
Are these dozers without rippers actually useful all the time or are they useful only in soft ground, like sandy loam, etc? I imagine even a D12 would be limited in what kind of ground it can work without rippers. True or not (and of course I'm not talking about solid rock or frozen tundra)?

Yair . . . Ron Burgundy On bulk pushing if the blade won't bury under it's own weight (that is control in "float") then it needs ripping.

Tractors with out rippers away from sand, loam, and some of the wet clays are very limited as to what they can do.

Cheers.

I agree with neither one of the cases in the pictures, and I would a whole lot rather have a cat or a John Deere imo anyway. If I was you I would look for a 650g John Deere or d5c cat as the smallest option. You might also look at komatsu they are good and you might find a bigger one with a 6 way blade cheaper than a cat.

If I had to pick between the two I beleive I would take the 550 as well. Resale parts and posibly a whole lot less headaches would push me that way. If you're going to buy a older dozer just make sure you have a decent suply of parts available just incase something goese south with it. Mechanics can fix it and money can buy it but if it's not available any more it doesn't really matter what you do.

With my 7E I've never had any problems without a ripper. Mostly working in hard clay when I'm pushing dirt..