The TerraTrac Haters Club

That crawler forum... a guy asks for info, and they jump down his throat.

Wow, that must be one evil machine!!! I dont get it, if the machine runs a little and still has a few days work in her, the price seems right.

(quoted from post at 17:48:10 10/31/12) That crawler forum... a guy asks for info, and they jump down his throat.

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Fritz, I wish I had run pictures of the dozer I got on here before I got it. Lucky for me someone made me an offer on it before I stuck any more money in it. Some old crawlers with bad, tracks/rails/pins/bushings/rollers and sprockets are just way past help. I wouldn't buy that one with your money. But then I'm looking for one I can work.

I went to look at a TerraTrac last year. The add said it ran but didn't want to steer. Seller told me on the phone that the rails pins and bushings were good but failed to send any better pictures. So one day my wife and I drive over 200 miles. I had the cash in my pocket. What I found was the engine was free but had not been run in 8 or 9 years. The grousers were about as thick as a razor blade, rollers were pretty close to being shot. Rails were toast and the bushings were worn through to the pins.

Granted the original poster ask for info on what it is. The others were very honest in what they said re- parts availability and track/undercarriage condition and cost.

So whats the problem? He got a little more into than he ask for....ALL OF IT GOOD!

Rick

Learned a long time ago about OLD dozers , if the under carriage is plum slap wore out don't walk away from it RUN . There are a lot of decent dozers out there and yea it will cost more to get one that will work over one that is wore slap out and throw the tracks on every turn . Buy one that will do the job you have in mind with out working on it everyday and every hour then when your done SELL IT . If you loose some on the sale then that is what that job cost ya to do . Or ya get a rider on your farm policy for 1 Mill and Go RENT a NEWER dozer from a rental company as we do .
Like this one

Only Dick2 gave him some of the information he really wanted. If I read it right he really wanted to know engine size/model/weight etc. It's up to him to decide what the physical wear is after he looks at it. It's kind of hard to tell if some of the posters were really trying to help him out by warning him of the dangers or if they were just tooting their horns, but I get the idea they were trying to help him out. Jim

Fritz,You are absolutely correct!!!!!!Had we asked YT posters about our O.C.Crawler, I can assume we would have had all the negative responses. Instead, We purchased the old gal, and With The advice and help of Jde Maris,we have one of the best going O.C.46.Frame off restoration (I mean every part) repaired, replaced. IMO it is the best small crawler any where.If the man can't afford a bigger or better shape machine,at least he could take his time and spare cash, to rebuild any unit,whether it be a Case,JD, Terratrac, etal. That way he doesn't have to come up with a total cash outlay,and still no guarantees that the machine is worse than the terratrac,it has happened and will continue I'm sure.
Posters ask about certain machines that are old,or neglected,and for the most part one can bet on the responses.
Our machinery is not at a loss for neglect,and all the repairs are done correctly.That is the responsibility of ownership. People should encourage those who want a small equipment,and can take the time to truly repair it.It is an eye opening experience,and at the end you have a decent working knowledge of the machine parts,and how to repair it,should it ever break in the future.

Oldtanker,had delusions of grandeur,of his old unit.He asked us to send down CD disc of our photo's so he and his son could see.We did, and it never happened.
We found the encouragement and expert advice from JD Marris,for whom we are indebted to,the man knows his dozers,among other things.

We are adding pictures of ours,before and todays photos of the old OC 46,it was truly a candidate for the scrap heap,but now it is irreplaceable. We use it alot,as a matter of fact we used it again today,granted it is not a D-9,but we have no need for that size a machine.Most people don't. Ours is used for excavating, trench digging, gathering fire wood, and everything in between.

I hope he buys the equipment,and refuses to listen to the nay sayers,as it's his money and time and we have no idea for what it will be used for or his cash flow,isn't anyones right to disregard a simple question of what is the weak points of a certain machine.Instead you get replies like,"If it were me I wouldn't buy it because of too much work to be done on it" To "Run don't walk away from it"Instead of giving points like maybe the transmission is weak unit, to the engine has a tendency to overheat etc.

Like I said ours had no part ever sent off to be repaired, up and including track bushings and pins.Which we were told not to do.They are in and holding just fine.

The people who try to help are invaluable.Just imagine if people told some of you not to rebuild your old IH,Farmall, JD, etal machines,because in their opinion,it's not worth it.Almost like dealing with (SOME) Dealers who repair machinery telling you, "Your tractor is too bad to repair,but you should buy a new one, or a used one we have here on our lot." It just doesn't make sense to,They are telling you something to make themselves look important,and to get more $$ out of you,than just to repair a usable old tractor.
Todays society is becoming more and more a throw away society,don't repair buy new.

Our vote is for the man to try it,even if he can't do it, he can still get Money out of the old dozer for scrap prices.But with a little time,ingenuity,perseverance, anything can be repaired and he will have him a nice little dozer.
Here's our pictures, their worth 1000 words.
LOU

Te best way to look at a piece of equipment is take someone along that knows and let them do the looking and do the YEA OR NAE .I have gotten out of the OH YEA I CAN FIX thismood thing when it comes to dozers as that under carriage will cost more then the machine and then ya got the drive line . I had a friend have me go look at a 850 B Deere . Had a good bottom on it the engine was ok BUT i wanted to run it for a half hour or so and when i did i found that the right hydo was headed south and it really did not have the getty up and go that it should have had , but for the first fifteen min. it was just ok and the warmer it got the worse it got. So it was No no thanks even though it was a cheap price to fix it would have cost twice the asking price and that would make it cost more then a good one. When it comes to yellow iron RUN IT before ya buy it .

(

Oldtanker,had delusions of grandeur,of his old unit.He asked us to send down CD disc of our photo's so he and his son could see.We did, and it never happened.
We found the encouragement and expert advice from JD Marris,for whom we are indebted to,the man knows his dozers,among other things.

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Lou didn't have delusions of grandeur. What happened is between the time I got that TD5 and the time I got rid of it we decided to put the family farm back into operation instead of renting out the crop land. So I had a kid and his dad offer me in trade a couple of items I needed for the farm so that they could have a father son project. I'm still spending money on equipment, need a few implements and a combine, we are doing this out of pocket debt free. After that's done I'm going to find another fixer upper. I will have a dozer and I hope within the next year. Had to pass on a Cat D4 last months because it was snap up a grinder mixer that I need or buy a dozer I want. Heck from then to now I've purchased 3 tractors, 2 8N's and a 1206 Farmall, a haybine, round baler, grain drill, built a sprayer, and other implements. Plus on the one 8N I rebuilt the engine, converted to 12 volt and added IE. Had to split the 1206 for the clutch too. And on top of all that I got a TLB too. As I said, debt free. Got about 2 days work next week at 50 and hour with the TLB.

Mistakes I made with the TD5 included buying an incomplete unit. Needed a head and other engine parts that at best were hard to find and very expensive, not knowing enough about the pins and bushings that are NLA as were the wore out rear sprokets. That Terratrac is about shot. Not saying it's not repairable but if a guy is on a budget and needs it to work now that one isn't going to do it as is. Looks like it would be a fun one to restore.

I still pull that CD with the pictures that you and Victor sent me from time to time.

Rick

Rick,
The man on original post never mention his budget or his bank account.Who's to say he isn't well off, or dirt poor? People seem to take alot of facts not in evidence as to what is posted.

The dozer you were anticipating rebuilding, there were parts available at various places. Delusions of grandeur occur when you can't separate desire from need.Simple as that. Our OC 46 could have been a prime candidate for the scrapper,had we known the damage was that extensive, before we purchased it, I can tell you we WOULD have purchased it,but not at the asking price. My Son and I put many enjoyable hours on working on that machine.What we ended up with is a prime SMALL crawler loader. The work that was accomplished by that machine for land clearing and secondary drainfield site and extended ground area for tractor shed,tree moving,did not cost us what local excavators wanted to charge, just for extended drainfield coverage. I sincerely doubt with your farm and related purchases of units will not let you afford a decent usable dozer/loader without having to face repairs. Like the man told me once, I'll pass it on to you, "your chasing the will'o'the wisp", if you think you can buy a decent low price dozer, while trying to maintain a farm. From reading all your posts and reading between the lines,the time to rebuild the unit plus parts would be prohibitive due to farm expenses. As I stated buying a good dozer with no problems,no repair costs,no time loss from farm work, is indeed chasing the will o the wisp, unless one has a huge bank account.JMHO.
LOU

Better to see a man keep his money and be a little upset at negative comments than to spend his money to be totally PO'D at himself for not heading the warnings from others that have BTDT. We were just trying to give him a BIG heads up that it would most likely be expensive and take a lot of work to fix the machine in question.

Despite the situation, if somebody names you a price,
especially if someone you know, have them write the negotiated price on a piece of paper, whether or not you need it for taxes.

Folks forget what they say sometimes, whether honestly or just selective memory.

Still won't forgive a 'good' friend over one of those deals.

Wished i'd had a voice recorder, or had him write it down.
Wasn't worth assault charges, let it go.

just reflectin out loud.

I took a look at the thread, and nobody "jumped down his throat", IMHO. The rig was a disaster, and some guys with experience tried to warn him off, that's all. Nobody made any personal attacks.

One of the great things about this forum is the vast amount of experience on it- would it have been better if everybody just cheer-leaded the guy into a total money-pit? Just a glance indicates that the thing will need a complete undercarriage, which will cost far more than the thing will be worth.

Mike"First off the gentleman's question had nothing to do with opinions as to weather he should purchase the crawler and the un =wanted replies he got wasn't in the equation of WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME PURCHASING THIS UNIT?I'm certainly not my brothers keeper when it comes to sticking my nose into the mans finances.AS for the undercarriage, I was wondering if you had EX RAY VISION into the photo ,to declare the undercarriage was a disaster.Who knows whether he has a location to another unit for cabbaging parts from.Lets let the gentleman look and decide on his own. How soon he needs the unit, is of no concern to us at all. If that unit is part of his dream then let him decide if he wants to percue that dream. JMHO LOU.

(quoted from post at 22:46:20 10/31/12) Rick,
The man on original post never mention his budget or his bank account.Who's to say he isn't well off, or dirt poor? People seem to take alot of facts not in evidence as to what is posted.

The dozer you were anticipating rebuilding, there were parts available at various places. Delusions of grandeur occur when you can't separate desire from need.Simple as that. Our OC 46 could have been a prime candidate for the scrapper,had we known the damage was that extensive, before we purchased it, I can tell you we WOULD have purchased it,but not at the asking price. My Son and I put many enjoyable hours on working on that machine.What we ended up with is a prime SMALL crawler loader. The work that was accomplished by that machine for land clearing and secondary drainfield site and extended ground area for tractor shed,tree moving,did not cost us what local excavators wanted to charge, just for extended drainfield coverage. I sincerely doubt with your farm and related purchases of units will not let you afford a decent usable dozer/loader without having to face repairs. Like the man told me once, I'll pass it on to you, "your chasing the will'o'the wisp", if you think you can buy a decent low price dozer, while trying to maintain a farm. From reading all your posts and reading between the lines,the time to rebuild the unit plus parts would be prohibitive due to farm expenses. As I stated buying a good dozer with no problems,no repair costs,no time loss from farm work, is indeed chasing the will o the wisp, unless one has a huge bank account.JMHO.
LOU

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Actually Lou I've been spending on the average about 600 a month in repairs over the last year or so. I like to fix things right. A simple clutch job on the 1206 ran about 1500 when it was all said and done without any labor. My 8N engine rebuild was right at 1200. I could have afforded to work on that dozer but finding the parts and the cost were factored into the decision to get rid of it. It needed A. new pins and bushings or B. complete chains both NLA. New sprockets, new steering clutches and brakes. Complete engine rebuild and a head for a British IH engine. Again expensive parts. Had the wife's uncle who is a retired heavy equipment mechanic try to run down parts for me and was coming up with nothing. I did find a complete engine, attached to a beat to crap wheeled trator that the seller knew what the engine was worth and wanted about twice that for the tractor. So with starting to buy farm equipment and livestock it was time to part ways. The cost of repairs was going to far exceed the cost of buying a running dozer and with the knowledge gained my next "buy" will be a bit wiser. My next one will A. run, B. be complete C. have at least some parts availability and D. a heated shop to work on it in......LOL

Rick

Granted there are a few "old stuff" haters on these forums. That's kind of hard to figure considering this Site is names "Yesterday's Tractors."

But - I look at the crawler forum every day and I haven't seen any posts on Terratracs in quite a while. What did I miss? Who's post was it?

OK, I see it now. No "Terratrac" in the title so I missed it. I don't see any thing in ANY of the posts that express "hatred" for TerraTracs. The only somewhat negative post is by Pops1532. His opinion is greatly outweighed by many other relevant posts.

I've fixed up countless crawlers bought in that condition or worse. Deere 1010s and 350s, Terratracs, Oliver HGs, OC3s, and OC4s, Allis Chalmers HD3s and HD4s, etc. And yeah - if I calculated the worth of the effort by charging a high rate for my own time - it's rarely worth it. That might make Pops1532 on target. But how many fix up old tractors just on the dollar-return basis? For many - there is the "fun" factor and maybe a bit of pride in bringing a piece of US heritage back to life.

The guy paid $1500 for a running machine. Parts are not very hard to find. In fact I just bought a brand new set of rollers for a Terratrac for $60 each (made in Korea). Terratrac uses the same Clark transaxle as many other crawlers. For someone with skill, time and parts-scrounging abilities - $1500 purchase price plus another $1500 in pars will result in a very useful small crawler. Only slight problem is the fast gearing in low range.

This is a forum for crying out loud!

When is the last time anyone has gotten EXACTLY the information they were asking for, and only that information?

So what if people are tooting their horns or bashing or whatever... The advice is worth exactly what you paid for it... ZERO!

Heck, I have a generator question over in implement alley... I've gotten ZERO response. I'd welcome someone going over there and calling me stupid for buying this non-working generator right now.

If your skin isn't thick enough to deal with whatever you get, you don't belong here.

Tractor vet,
What you say is true. I had a dinosaur of an excavator and backhoe. Spent a lot of time wrenching vs. working. Then I went the rental route. That worked great. Finally was renting enough, that buying was really the next option.

Found older, but well maintained equipment. Life is pretty good now, maintainence and a little wrenching here and there.

I wouldn't mind a little seat time on that 750, would go faster than my 350B, but I am getting the job done, a little slower though.

Here's the old Hein Werner at work. Sold now.

Rick

LJD. You are a valued internet friend. I never hesitate to let em all know the help you've been to us. I read all your post and am amazed at the knoweledge you present on this forum ,on many other subjects as well as dozers. Again THANKS!!! WARMEST REGARDS LOU & VICTOR.

You were pretty stupid to buy a non-working
generator. You're welcome.