If you do decide to let the machine go. And still require the services of a dozer, get a bigger one next time. You can litterally do 2x the work in 1/2 the time when you step up to a 80hp, 8-9 ton model. Especially if your going to leave the machine in one location and would not have the burden of transportation.
As far a selling it, unless its running, dont expect to get very much, like expect parts machine / scrap prices, and if the tranny & motor have problems...
There is a guy in delevan ny that does alot with those little buggers, ebay's alot of stuff, get his opinion.
If I get rid of this dozer i will find another of the same size. I do need to be able to move it my pickup truck and trailer and it is the perfect size to be able to do that.
I knew going into this issue that scrap prices might be the best offer I get. I have spoken to Darren via phone and email regarding the steering issues and the "no start/fuel in oil" situation. He has given me some good ideas on how to pinpoint the issues.
If I read between the lines correctly you should consider selling it as scrape because that is all it is worth with all the questions and unknowns. You can do this now or later as it is not much money. Rent a machine for you or hire out the remaining work. Buy a hydraulic top and tilt and a heavy duty blade and grader/planer (like a DuraGrader) for your tractor to keep the drive way. You shouldn't need a dozer to crown or fix a road even after mud season.
To be perfectly honest, the dozer is a night and day difference from a tractor with regards to maintaining this driveway which is very hardpack due to being a high traffic lane. I need a heavy machine with good down pressure and traction to manipulate the drive on the hills that I have to rework sometimes.
Machinery of any kind is an investment with potential of either making money or saving money by use. In my mind instead of buying this machine with the idea of doing personal projects one probably should have looked at the associated costs of doing those projects.
Renting a machine has a known cost. You pay for fuel, insurance and rent. If it breaks you call the owners and tell them to get another machine out to take the broken one's place. You could hire the project done. You detail your job to someone who finishes the project and you pay your money. Again you know or have complete control over what something is going to cost.
When you buy used equipment you are hoping the machine will run long enough to finish your project before you have to spend money on maintenance and repairs. You still have insurance and fuel costs and all the other ownership costs on top of that. In your case, it appears you have a black hole of questions about your investment and very few facts in which to base a cost effective solution on. To take it further you haven't figured the possible costs using the other options given above to complete your project.
Your statement that you purchased the machine and now have a lot of repair work to do tells me you really bought yourself an expensive hobby. You have talked to "some people" about your problem but haven't had a knowledgable honest mechanic, who doesn't have an interest in selling you a monster job, come out and actually determine what is wrong. These engines usually have an electric shut off. Have you checked that out? The only real way to get fuel in the basement on these machines is to have broken the fuel injection pump from water in the fuel or have a bad fuel transfer pump. The injectors would have to be total junk to run that much fuel into cylinders which means the fuel injection pump would have to be toast anyway. You have stated there are steering brake issues but haven't told us how you determined that. You stated the hour meter shows 2,919 hours which is way too few hours if correct to have steering problems other than adjusting the brakes. Given the age of this machine it is very probable that the hour meter is not the original one installed when the machine was new.
You need someone there to fully assess the situation and then make decisions based on facts. It is obvious you don't have enough background in machinery to ask the specific questions that will receive anything but shotgun answers that will only confuse the real issues.
Good Luck!
John C. thanks for your input. Right off the bat, I’m going to admit that perhaps my inquiry into this problem may be a bit premature, since I don’t have a firm diagnosis on the root causes. However, please understand that so far my attempts at having mechanics asses the problem have ranged from “We won’t look at it unless you drag it to us” to “We can have a field service tech come out, but we’re not promising we can diagnose what the problem is.”
In all honesty when I purchased this machine I was pretty green with this type of machine. However, I’ve spent the last 10 years around some machinery and had some exposure to in depth repairs with hands on experience. I am not totally blind even if I don’t have specific training regarding diesel engines.
I also spent the better part of a month tracking down various machines to rent before buying this particular dozer. Two factors came into play there: the only machines available were too big for what I was doing because project access was a problem and when I did find a machine the cost to rent was still prohibitive to the nature of the work and the time that it would take to do the work. Additionally, having an outside contractor come in to do the work was/and still is impractical for reasons I will not elaborate on.
I never bought this machine with the hopes that it would last just long enough to complete my tasks without maintenance and then send it down the road. I do my best to keep up with maintenance and repairs on anything I purchase. I was also fully aware to the fact that very likely I would need to fix things as I go. Now in regards, to the expensive hobby comment, I should say you are correct there. However, before I wave the white flag and surrender I would like to point towards HEF member Boone whose “First Track Loader” thread is very similar to my situation not only in equipment problems but in his needs for such a machine.
In case you missed it in my original post. I have checked the lift pump by pressurizing it with compressed air as suggested by the fuel pump and injector shop. No go, it was airtight. The injectors being pop tested was a mere $80, so that’s two variables eliminated. It is good to know for future problems though that fuel injectors alone cannot dump that amount of fuel into the crankcase. The Bosch P7100 injector pump has a manual shut off lever that is connected to the throttle lever, so there is no electric solenoid like some engines in various platforms. Since the engine is not currently running when I move the lever to the “stop” position I can hear the rack disengage inside the injector pump. Judging by the direction in your post I get the feeling you are highly suspect of my injector pump. If you have any suggestions for me on how to test this pump or narrow down a trouble spot, I am all ears. I would love to learn a few things on how to troubleshoot this problem. Just to sweeten the deal, if the problem is relatively simple you have free reign to say “See it wasn’t as bad as you thought, all that worrying for nuthin”
The steering issues have been narrowed down to fouled steering clutches by way of a leaky seal separating the right side steering clutch housing from the differential housing. This is common to these machines. I have the telltale leak of fluid from the “corked” and unused bolt holes in the back of the clutch housing when looking at the back of the machine. My differential housing oil level also slowly drops over time and finally, the steering brakes were adjusted by me within the first week of ownership and then rechecked when I began to experience problems. There really is no guessing on the scope of this project. Time spent in the “D21 and similar gray market dozer” thread has given me excellent insight into the scope of work required to fix this problem, especially since talking to Darren Ray who frequents that thread and is very knowledgeable with this type of machine . The whole back of the machine has to come apart. There is also plenty of information out there to give me a good idea of what parts alone will cost for this specific repair on the machine without labor, which I know to be in the $100 an hour range as I have been quoted. The only part missing is a total labor time estimate.
Finally, please do not interpret this response as “pushing back” at you. I understand your thoughts on the vagueness of my original post, hence trying to answer some of your questions in the above paragraphs. I’m not looking for sympathy or a shoulder to cry on, just some good ideas on where this whole situation could take me and what pitfalls I should avoid. At least I could step back and realize that I needed to seek outside opinions on what the cut off point should be on time and money spent fixing this dozer. Pretty much anything can be fixed. I’m just asking if it’s reasonable to do so. You and the others have presented some good arguments.
I have a left a message with my local tractor dealership to set up an appointment to hopefully come out next week. They do not sell Komatsu equipment or parts for this dozer so I think they will have an unbiased opinion for me. Thankfully they are very willing to help based on our business with them through the years, but they have been so busy that their road mechanic’s free time has not meshed with mine. I’m hoping that will change.
