94/95 Cat d5h advice

[Mbdog]

First time dozer purchaser (no snickering please), and looking at buying one of these. Sorta stuck on Cat. Planning on using for both trees and dirt work. Like and want the 6 way blade option. 2 units I'm looking at. One 7000 hr and one at 11000 hrs, and both with decent looking U/C. Any advice/testimonials, good bad or otherwise on this model, and weaknesses/mechanical considerations for their age I should be giving attention to.

 

[Lindsey97]

go to caterpillar store and purchase a few oil sample kits. ask for maintnance records or receipts when looking at tractors. get the vin # and call cat dealer to find out history of owners, warranty work or recalls/updates. the transmission comes out the back on the high track machines and this makes things alot faster to work on. use www.machinerytrader.com and www.ironrecord.com to assist with pricing. try to rent a machine and try it out first if possible. buy a laser thermometer to check operating temps and such while trying out a machine.

 

[Mbdog]

Thx Lindsay97

 

[CM1995]

First time dozer purchaser (no snickering please)

No snickering allowed Mbdog, this is a grown-up forum. Everyone here has a first experience, be it operating and/or purchasing their first machine.

One thing to consider when using a 6 way to clear trees, you need to know their weaknesses. Don't use the ends of the blade to push or pry on trees or stumps. If you are pushing larger trees, make sure the tree is centered on the blade. This allows the stress put on the blade to be transmitted to the trunion and thus to the frame of the machine.

As far as purchasing a used machine, you can't check it out enough. Ditto on taking oil samples and having them sent to the lab. The results will give you a good picture of the state of the components. Check the undercarriage throughly and you can also get the local Cat dealer to send a product support rep to measure your undercarriage to determine the life left. (There will be a cost involved if you don't have a relationship with the dealer but money well spent IMO)

Repairs are expensive on any piece of yellow iron, do your homework up-front. A cheap purchase price can turn into a money pit quickly.

Good luck!:drinkup

 

[Mbdog]

Thanks CM1995. To clarify my original question though, I am a first time dozer buyer, not a first time equipment owner/operator. Looking for performance information specific to the cat species I'm looking at. Nothing more important than owner/operator experiences/testimonials to steel buyers. Like/dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. Will check and see on product support rep suggestion to do wear assessment/oil analysis for me, or maybe an independant if they are around/exist. I agree with you its money well spent.

 

[Mbdog]

Do you guys know if there is, and where to find, independant third party machinery performance assessment information for heavy equipment? Up here we used to have PAMI (prairie agricultural machinery institute) who used to run/rate farm equipment and publish the findings.

 

[WhyWhyZed]

Caterpillar Performance Handbook is the place to find specs model by model.

Here is the best general assessment tool I have ever seen for a used dozer purchase:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21282478/HEMM-Dozer2