fourwheelinj1
Well-Known Member
I work for a grading contractor that owns a CAT 977 that they inherited when they bought out another grading company 30 years ago. Anyway they used the 977 very little over the first few years since they already had newer 953 and 963s. I have been told that the 977 always would fire right up after sitting for long periods even years as long as they put new batteries in it. Anyway the last time they used it was 1996 doing hurricane cleanup using the large hydraulic winch that is on the back of the 977. The owner and main operator here said it ran fine when they parked it but they never needed it again so it has sat in our yard here in the same spot for the last 21 years. Anyway now they are getting some more equipment and have decided the 977 needs to go. They have asked an equipment broker we use to find a buyer for it. i have my doubts that he is really interested in spending his time on something that might be scrap or parts after sitting for 21 years. If the broker isn't interested in it I think my boss would give it to me if I would haul it away. We have a 350+ acre family farm and something like this would be handy at times. I know that the machine is way bigger than what we need and 953 or similar would be a much better fit, but free is hard to pass up sometimes. So the question is do you guys think it would be worth it to sink some time and money into seeing if I can get the old beast running again? It appears to be in decent shape for a 50+ year old machine. The paint in flaking bad from sitting in the weather and one cylinder looks like it has been leaking/seeping for a while. One of my biggest concerns is that the track chain on one side is kinked pretty good. The operator here said that it did that once before long ago and they used our CAT 330 to knock/push the kink out. Not to sure about how that works. Other than the kink the chains and sprockets don't look very worn. So what do you guys think? By the way i am not looking to spend 10k+ to get it usable so if it won't crank with new batteries, fresh fuel, and some tinkering i may just pass on it too. Thoughts?