977H Bucket

[spitzair]

Hello everyone,
I'm trying to locate a bucket for one of my 977H loaders. There seem to be a reasonable amount of buckets for 966 wheel loaders around, does anybody know if these would fit a 977H? I also found some for 977Ls, would they fit? Unfortunately I'm a 15 hour drive from my machines at the moment so I can't take measurements of my machine that does have a bucket already...

Thanks.

 

[Bls repair]

Found some buckets at Arrow West Equipment LTD. 800-561-5667

 

[spitzair]

Thanks BLS, I got in touch with them, unfortunately their buckets are a fair ways out of my price range...

 

[Bls repair]

Doesn't hurt to ask

 

[DMiller]

There is always the alternative, winter work rebuild the old one or have a weld shop rebuild yours.

 

[spitzair]

Yeah problem is I bought the machine without one. Now a fellow wants to buy the machine but wants a bucket on it for obvious reasons... I do have one from an old Allis Chalmers loader but it is in terrible shape, and of course the mounts are very different. If I can't find a good one for a decent price I will fix this one up over the winter...

 

[Welder Dave]

You'll want a really heavy duty bucket for a 30 ton 977.

 

[DMiller]

Oh Yeah! May want to buy the rubber tired Cat bucket and re-work the lift arms mounts.

 

[Welder Dave]

The problem with putting the same size wheel loader bucket on is it won't be built as strong. Crawler loaders are made for heavier digging than wheel loaders. To get comparable in strength is likely going to be too big of a bucket. Curious how much Arrow West wanted for a bucket and what you wanted to pay for a bucket? I got my undercarriage through Arrow West because they had the best overall price from the same supplier. Also some of their buckets have been there for quite a while so they may negotiate once they realize you're serious. There's got to be some parted 977's out there somewhere.

 

[spitzair]

Dave, they wanted $3K for it. It is a very nice bucket and if I was keeping the machine and it was my main machine I would buy it for that price, but since my main machine has a great bucket on it and the guy who wants to buy the machine wants it bucket in for $5K I'd be taking a loss considering I just put tracks and a bunch of parts into the engine. I guess I could try to negotiate with Arrow West over the bucket, and I saw they have several on hand so who knows, doesn't hurt to ask I guess. Good point on the wheel loader bucket not being as strong, I never thought of that. That 977 will definitely out push a 966 in my experience!

 

[DMiller]

Afraid would have to let the bargain hunter understand $5K is tractor ONLY, too cheap for a unit this size even without a bucket. Could sell him the tractor and give the info on where to buy a used bucket. Have not seen a 977K or L here even almost trashed go for less then $10K and they do sell.

 

[Welder Dave]

A running 977H, although older, but with a good bucket for under $10,000, I don't think would be hard to sell. I think you're potential buyer is playing you. I think if I needed a bucket, I'd go to Arrow West and offer $2000 cash and see what they say. Is their bucket specifically for a 977H? That could give you some negotiating room too if it the mounts had to be modified. If they have more than one is also an advantage for you.

 

[spitzair]

I wish I could get that Dave. I've advertised it for some time and the best offer I got was $5000 delivered a province over! Eventually I just got sick of all the lowballers and just decided to keep it, until this guy came along, some buddy of my dad's... But you're right DMiller, 5K is gonna be for the tractor only, if he's ok with that he can take it home. I just put 2 new pistons in it, the turbo was recently replaced, it's got a really nice set of tracks on it, not new by any means but lots of life left. It doesn't need to be sold so if I don't get that I'll just keep it, I do have a brush rake for it so maybe I'll use it as my brush stacker... Time will tell... Thanks for all the replies guys, I really appreciate the input

 

[DMiller]

977 have lost a lot of draw these last few years, 963 and 073 much more nimble 977 always seemed clumsy/clunky unless on open ground. Would loved to have gotten one a long time ago as my Allis is a bit on the light side at 23000#.

 

[Welder Dave]

963 and 973 would be considerably more expensive too.

 

[gary808]

We just sold ours for 7500. It's in hawaii so machines are alot harder to come by. Most of these oldies are ex sugar plantation.
Ours had a d6 ripper attached to the back but it was getting low on the undercarriage.

 

[Welder Dave]

That 4 in 1 bucket has to be fairly rare but what's with the rubber tire stuck in the track?

 

[gary808]

Haha, that's the number one question I've been asked by buyers. Some people even theorized it's some sort of tire guide for the track.
I sucked that tire up cleaning up a road for a local subdivision. The road was a local garbage dump and was littered with old tires.
This was about 5 years ago and I haven't ever gotten around to removing it. Its actually siting there loosely.
The bucket was one of the heaviest 4 in 1 buckets I've seen. Not sure on the make but it was double walled. It did have its battle scars thougg. The previous owe was a drunk and would operate it heavily intoxicated.
He was somehow breaking blue rock that you would need a d9 to break. We could never figure it out, we just assumed alcohol gave him special abilities. That and he would bungee cord the throttle to full.
We stumbled across a barn find that were thinking of getting. It's a 977h that's got about 300 hrs on it. Was bought by a big company and never used. Just parked in a shed. Then it sold at auction a few years back for 10k but the new owners couldn't get the trans to engage. They said they would take 3500 for it. It's got sweeps and a brand new 4in one on it.
Only thing I didn't like was it's got clutch levers and brakes. Ours was pedal steer witch was nice.

 

[gary808]

This is the last project it was on before it was sold. We had to move all this hammer fill a few hundred yards to make a few house pads. She moved about 6 or seven piles this size.

 

[spitzair]

That sure is a nice looking machine! I would love to have a 4 in 1 for mine but neither of mine have a 3rd valve and to retrofit one would be cery expensive I think! Not too many people run trackloaders in my neck of the woods anymore, i only know of 5 in the local area and 2 of them are mine...