New guy no clue

[HarleyHappy]

Could certainly get into some fun/trouble with that!

 

[bam1968]

Looks like you will have to do some work on the undercarriage in the not so distant future. Other than that it looks like a pretty tidy machine. Good Luck.

 

[Buffallobull]

I’ve looked at quite a few and this one had no rust, no leaks, no blow by at all, and fired right up. 32000 lb machine for 16k. I felt like it was a solid deal. Hopefully she will hold up for a while before I need to start replacing rollers and tracks…. Etc

 

[HarleyHappy]

I’d be more concerned with the sprockets from what I can see but it should work well for what you have planned.

 

[bam1968]

The comment I made on the undercarriage had to do with the sprockets looked pretty sharp and the front idler being out towards the end of it's adjustment. It prob has quite a few hours left on it but keep it in the back of your mind.

 

[LCA078]

Congrats!!! That's a nice looking machine and I hope the innards match the outtards in shape and condition. I have its baby brother, a a 941B, and enjoy putzing around it so I know you'll have even more fun on the bigger machine.

And don't worry about the undercarriage...at least for a while. The best news for you is that machine has bolt on sprocket segments. You'll get tons of opinions here whether or not to replace your rails soon or run them into complete destruction but either way, learn and play on it before you start dumping money into the undercarriage.

If you don't have the full set of manuals, get them now before you play with the machine too much. May want to post the serial number here so folks like Nige can tell you exactly which ones you need.

Again, congrats!

 

[Willie B]

Well not an excavator but I ran across this little tractor and thought I might could move a few bits around with it! So I’m set for a bit, maybe find some forks that will work on it.

That is a loader. It is limited in its function. A farmer here bought one of those 30 years ago. His had a big rock rake that can replace the bucket, but it is a big job to change. They used it to clean up rocks in maybe 100 acres of pasture. They pushed the rocks & stumps into piles, then put the bucket on to move them.
Track machines are slow, driving 2 or three yards of rocks in the bucket 1/2 miles to a dump site wasn't very efficient. Their dump truck wasn't real functional. Lots of piles remain in the fields.
Limited functionality, it didn't get used frequently, track pins got stuck to the bushings. They wouldn't flex around the sprockets. Last I knew they weren't sure what they were going to do with it.
This is not the sort of machine I'd choose as my only earthmover.

 

[Buffallobull]

I think it will serve a purpose, but no, it won’t be the only machine…. Just the first. I’m still on the hunt for an excavator… the rental 313 gets delivered on the 24th. I just bought a drone so I could take pictures and you guys can laugh at my ignorance.

 

[Buffallobull]

Anyone know of a place to get a set of Forks that would work on that bucket?

 

[AMBMike]

I want to terrace it and build roads and house pads, septic fields….etc.

This is my personal opinion so take it for what it's worth...

If I was in the OP's shoes I would buy a track loader (as he has done) and rent an excavator when needed. A track loader will do most of what he's wanting to do faster and more efficiently than an excavator with the exception of trenching. IMHO, the only way he could do better than the 955 would be to get a B or D series 953 or 963.

@Buffallobull , I don't know where you are in PA. I lived most of my life in PA and ran track loaders almost exclusively for many years before branching out into other machines. They are a hard machine to learn but when you've got them figured out they can do everything a dozer can and most of what people nowadays are using excavators for as well, again, with the exception of trenching. They are at home in the mountains, moving rock, trees, terracing, building roads, pads, ponds, etc, etc... Your only limit is your imagination and experience level.

Anyone know of a place to get a set of Forks that would work on that bucket?

Ask around at some of the older construction companies in the area. Some of them may have an old set sitting in their bone yard. Jay Fulkroad & Sons near McAlisterville, PA has a huge bone yard.

 

[Willie B]

Anyone know of a place to get a set of Forks that would work on that bucket?

If you are a welder, build forks. Mine are factory built, but repaired many times. AMS builds drop over forks.
You won't be pleased with the function of drop over forks. You can't see through the bucket, you can't tilt the tractor side to side. They work better on a rubber tired backhoe, you can swing the hoe to tilt the forks to one side.

 

[Willie B]

This is my personal opinion so take it for what it's worth...

If I was in the OP's shoes I would buy a track loader (as he has done) and rent an excavator when needed. A track loader will do most of what he's wanting to do faster and more efficiently than an excavator with the exception of trenching. IMHO, the only way he could do better than the 955 would be to get a B or D series 953 or 963.

@Buffallobull , I don't know where you are in PA. I lived most of my life in PA and ran track loaders almost exclusively for many years before branching out into other machines. They are a hard machine to learn but when you've got them figured out they can do everything a dozer can and most of what people nowadays are using excavators for as well, again, with the exception of trenching. They are at home in the mountains, moving rock, trees, terracing, building roads, pads, ponds, etc, etc... Your only limit is your imagination and experience level.


Ask around at some of the older construction companies in the area. Some of them may have an old set sitting in their bone yard. Jay Fulkroad & Sons near McAlisterville, PA has a huge bone yard.

I openly admit I've never run a track loader. Friends have several IH 175 track loaders. I see them as a great machine but very limited in function. About half of theirs have Drott 4 in one skid shovel buckets, greatly inproving functionality. The house I'm sitting in had its foundation hole dug by one. "Soil" here is boulders only, nearly no gravel between them. Took him all day to get a single track 8' deep. After that it was knock the bank down, back up & grab the loose rocks from the floor of the dig. It would have been a even worse job with a basic bucket.

 

[CM1995]

Anyone know of a place to get a set of Forks that would work on that bucket?

Amazon of all places has a set. I put a set like this on our 953 a long time ago. They can be a PITA sometimes but turns the 953 into a crude forklift when you need it. These are not equipment specific just load rated, the ears weld to your bucket.

Amazon.com : Titan Attachments Over-The-Bucket Fork Kit, 48" x 48" Pallet Fork Blades for Pin-Type Buckets, Weld-On Mounting Brackets Included, Fits 42" Vertical Bucket Opening : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com : Titan Attachments Over-The-Bucket Fork Kit, 48" x 48" Pallet Fork Blades for Pin-Type Buckets, Weld-On Mounting Brackets Included, Fits 42" Vertical Bucket Opening : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

This is not the sort of machine I'd choose as my only earthmover.

If I only had to pick one machine to earn a living with it would be a Cat 953 track loader.

 

[Willie B]

Amazon of all places has a set. I put a set like this on our 953 a long time ago. They can be a PITA sometimes but turns the 953 into a crude forklift when you need it. These are not equipment specific just load rated, the ears weld to your bucket.

Amazon.com : Titan Attachments Over-The-Bucket Fork Kit, 48" x 48" Pallet Fork Blades for Pin-Type Buckets, Weld-On Mounting Brackets Included, Fits 42" Vertical Bucket Opening : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com : Titan Attachments Over-The-Bucket Fork Kit, 48" x 48" Pallet Fork Blades for Pin-Type Buckets, Weld-On Mounting Brackets Included, Fits 42" Vertical Bucket Opening : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

If I only had to pick one machine to earn a living with it would be a Cat 953 track loader.

Maybe you live in different conditions. Track loaders here are rare & largely unused. We see excavators ranging from1 ton or even less to 55 ton monsters. Near every yard of earth moved sees the inside of an excavator bucket.
In the 1960s Abbott Construction had track loaders, bulldozers, backhoes, cable shovels. I feel like it was early 1980s they aquired the first 20 ton excavator. They towed it with a tandem Ford dump truck with gas engine. They've always had working track loaders but rarely move them to a job site. The track loaders stay home in the pit screening, or crushing material, might even load winter sand on occasion.

 

[Willie B]

Anyone know of a place to get a set of Forks that would work on that bucket?

I put three trailer reciever hitches on the top of my 1.3 yard backhoe bucket. In them I used 2" square tube to make J shaped pieces for the rod. Top rod is 2" round 1045 stock. Uprights for forks are 4" square tube. They enter through 2 X 6 heavy channel forks. These were plenty heavy duty for the Case 580K backhoe they were used with first.
The 580 Super N lifts much more weight & my son & I used forks beyond their capacity, bent the horizontals lifting ?7000? LBS. I've straightened them for now. I will replace the horizontal forks with rectangular tube. Couldn't buy 2 X 6 rectangular, so I will cut 2" from 4X6. It'll be a better match for the lift of the machine.
If I were designing for your machine I'd upsize everything, and would make the legs longer to see the forks beneath the bucket.

 

[CM1995]

Maybe you live in different conditions.

At one time there were 250 track loaders in the county I live in that my Cat PSR new about. This wasn't that long ago we had that conversation. There are probably another 40-50 on farms

However a 953 loader can do all sorts of things if it's your only machine to earn a living with. A track loader can clear and grubb, demo small buildings, load trucks, grade pads, dig ponds, dig basements and do all of it very efficiently. An excavator can do all of those task but not all efficiently.

Is an excavator and small dozer or large CTL an efficient combo - absolutely however those are 2 machines.

 

[Willie B]

At one time there were 250 track loaders in the county I live in that my Cat PSR new about. This wasn't that long ago we had that conversation. There are probably another 40-50 on farms

However a 953 loader can do all sorts of things if it's your only machine to earn a living with. A track loader can clear and grubb, demo small buildings, load trucks, grade pads, dig ponds, dig basements and do all of it very efficiently. An excavator can do all of those task but not all efficiently.

Is an excavator and small dozer or large CTL an efficient combo - absolutely however those are 2 machines.

Agreed.
I think either a big excavator or a large track loader need a Moruka tracked dump to be efficient. Near everything I want to dig needs to be moved. I have a small dump truck, rear drive only, (28000 LBS), or a one ton Power Wagon dump 4x4. don't own either a track loader or an excavator. I speak from observation only. I have a backhoe. I turn around & move loose soil 1.3 yards at a time. Often the scale of the project doesn't warrant numerous machines.

 

[Buffallobull]

Finally some progress!

 

[Buffallobull]

And an oops!

 

[Buffallobull]

But got it back on