Cat and Deere dozer questions

[Farm Rigging]

Looking at adding a dozer to the farm equipment lineup at some point in the future and had some questions regarding the D4-D6 size range of dozers.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a high track?
2. Does deere still have transmission issues with their dozers? (Have heard a lot about 450-550 transmission problems from different people)
3. How hard is it to service/repair each A. style of track and B. brand of machine?
4. Are there any known issues to be aware of regarding each brand or year/model?
5. How much of a size difference between D4, D5, and D6's? Meaning, in the field working, do you notice a noticeable size difference between a d5 to d6, or a d4 to d6?

If I think of more I will post. I will mainly be using it to skid logs and level pads for buildings so a winch and 6 way are a must. Its not really going to be moving much, maybe a mile or so. Leaning towards a cat but interested to hear y'all's opinions. Year range is 1990's to whenever they put def on em. Will NOT get one that has def, and would like to stay away from that egr garbage if I possibly can.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Welder Dave]

Too many questions all at once. What is your budget? Cat generally supports older machines better than JD does.

 

[Farm Rigging]

Too many questions all at once. What is your budget? Cat generally supports older machines better than JD does.

Haha! Sorry, I was trying to be efficient and keep all my questions in one thread so I wasn't posting a ton of threads for all the questions individually. I'd like to keep my budget under $85k, $50k would be better but depends on what I find. That is what I have been hearing, cat being easier to find parts for older machines.

 

[D5Dan]

Its not really going to be moving much, maybe a mile or so.

DOT headaches/hurdles might put you in a certain size (both machine weight and blade size). And or if you have to rely on friends/"others" to be available with trucking equipment.

Now if you're staying on property (within the mile you mention) - go big to make the skids worth the pull! Dozers/Equipment are funny animals...seems the smaller/compact they are, the higher price...yet when it comes time to kick it down the road, I believe smaller machines move a bit quicker (sorry no stats to back that up, just my gut)

Maybe someone has the actual numbers, but I would suspect a Cat D6 was their most produced machine in their various line-up...might help you on the "used parts" side (when that time comes)?

 

[skyking1]

you don't need a winch to skid logs. It's nice to arch the bigger butts up but not necessary, you can drawbar pull plenty of logs. I have pulled humungous logs with a little 12,000 pound JD350b crawler loader.
Here's a thought:
Get several jobs together and rent something and see how that works for you.
1) it gets the jobs done.
2) it is a finite cost.
3) It saves you an $85,000 mistake.

 

[chidog]

I've never operated a JD dozer except for a spin at an auction. I've only worked on a JD grader doing an engine overhaul. It was a horrible machine to work on.

Cat high drive? Very nice to do a transmission job on, nothing beats them for that. Don't like them on steep areas. I'd take the Cat over a JD anytime, especially for the parts etc.

 

[Welder Dave]

With that budget might be worth looking at machines from a dealer. A little more money but they could have gone through everything and have the complete service history since new. Maybe even a warranty on some components. A guy that did work for me had a JD 850J WLT he really liked. He also a smaller Case 850 he liked. Can't remember the letter. The JD replaced a Cat D6D. It's bigger of course but he said the hydrostatic drive was quite a bit more productive. The county however bought a D6N. They tried Cat, JD and Komatsu machines. Komatsu was the most impressive. They said the JD couldn't do much with a full blade. A big reason they went with Cat was because Cat offered huge discounts to municipalities and govt's. Also Cat had rebuilt exchange components for far less than having to buy new.

 

[JaredV]

Around 2010, an old boss told me he was looking to upgrade his JD 450H so he demo'd a 650J and a D5K and ran them together on a big basement job. One machine was feeding the other. They switched operators, then machines and then operators again so both operators ran both machines in both positions and in every situation, the JD couldn't keep up with the Cat. He ended up with the D5.

 

[Shimmy1]

Around 2010, an old boss told me he was looking to upgrade his JD 450H so he demo'd a 650J and a D5K and ran them together on a big basement job. One machine was feeding the other. They switched operators, then machines and then operators again so both operators ran both machines in both positions and in every situation, the JD couldn't keep up with the Cat. He ended up with the D5.

Not really a perfectly fair comparison, the D5K has a ton of weight over the 650J.

 

[JaredV]

Oh ok, I've never checked specs. I've always thought of 450/D3, 550/D4 of the same years as being fairly comparable so I assumed the 650/D5 were close, too but I've never looked at the specs on any, they just seemed fairly comparable in my limited experience with the smaller machines.

 

[Shimmy1]

Oh ok, I've never checked specs. I've always thought of 450/D3, 550/D4 of the same years as being fairly comparable so I assumed the 650/D5 were close, too but I've never looked at the specs on any, they just seemed fairly comparable in my limited experience with the smaller machines.

They are close enough, but a ton is a ton. Also, every Deere hydrostat except the 1050 I've ever ran felt like a turd.

 

[Mcrafty1]

I've had (and still have) both Deere and Cat dozers/equipment. Personally I'd go with CAT solely because Deere doesn't have a nearly as good of a replacement part program, after a few years, well before a piece his reached it's life expectancy they discontinue many components and chassis parts so you are stuck trying to find after market or NOS parts. Cat on the other hand has many components and chassis parts in stock or available somewhere in their extensive system for machines many years past what Deere can do. I keep my Deere equipment because the dealer is much closer to me. I'm at the age now that I likely won't be updating, but if I ever do update I'm looking to CAT. jmho