Howdy, I've been reading this website for a short while, and am making my first post here looking for recommendations for a dozer.
Here's my situation:
I live in Northeast Vermont on a "maintain it yourself" road on a very hilly piece of property. In addition to the road going to my property, I have smaller roads (more like a wheeler trails) all over my property. I'm looking for a machine that'll cut roads, do some yearly maintenance, as well as some random tasks I'd rather not do by hand, like skidding firewood and pulling a trailer. My neighbor has an excavator, so it'd be nice to add a dozer to the road maintenance crew (us!).
I work full time as a mechanic, primarily on mechanical diesels and two strokes, mainly chainsaws. My working experience on heavy equipment is limited; I worked for an excavating company for a summer, and did some basic maintenance on logging and excavating equipment (greasing machines, tensioning/changing tracks, fluids/filters, etc.). So while I'm not a heavy equipment expert by any means, I spend a lot of time wrenching, and my compressor is outfitted with 1/2" line, ready for a 3/4" drive impact.
I'm looking to spend up to $5000 (for the moment) on a machine. My primary concerns are parts availability. not going too big or small, and, of course, getting something of good quality. I have no problem putting in any amount of work and some money to fix something. I have no immediate plans to make money with any dozer I acquire, so it can be a project that sits for a while. And by all means, please tell me if I'm out of my mind in expecting to get something decent for $5000 (the less the better, of course). I have very little knowledge of the general market.
So any suggestions are welcome. Thank you very much in advance for any replies.
Bryan
Here's my situation:
I live in Northeast Vermont on a "maintain it yourself" road on a very hilly piece of property. In addition to the road going to my property, I have smaller roads (more like a wheeler trails) all over my property. I'm looking for a machine that'll cut roads, do some yearly maintenance, as well as some random tasks I'd rather not do by hand, like skidding firewood and pulling a trailer. My neighbor has an excavator, so it'd be nice to add a dozer to the road maintenance crew (us!).
I work full time as a mechanic, primarily on mechanical diesels and two strokes, mainly chainsaws. My working experience on heavy equipment is limited; I worked for an excavating company for a summer, and did some basic maintenance on logging and excavating equipment (greasing machines, tensioning/changing tracks, fluids/filters, etc.). So while I'm not a heavy equipment expert by any means, I spend a lot of time wrenching, and my compressor is outfitted with 1/2" line, ready for a 3/4" drive impact.
I'm looking to spend up to $5000 (for the moment) on a machine. My primary concerns are parts availability. not going too big or small, and, of course, getting something of good quality. I have no problem putting in any amount of work and some money to fix something. I have no immediate plans to make money with any dozer I acquire, so it can be a project that sits for a while. And by all means, please tell me if I'm out of my mind in expecting to get something decent for $5000 (the less the better, of course). I have very little knowledge of the general market.
So any suggestions are welcome. Thank you very much in advance for any replies.
Bryan