ac hd5 - Should I buy or not?

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of very nolegible people on here who will tell u what to look for. I will tell u that old dozers can get costly quick.

Hi Coke.  

That machine should be big enough for what u would want to do. You just gotta remember the size of the machine u have and treat it accordingly.

I live not to far from that dozer. thought about calling him. the guy seems to be very knowledgeable about dozers. For what he is asking and the description then I don't think you can go wrong. ihave an h4 allis. the h5 is a little bigger. If you were going to buy it and use it everyday I woudnt recommend that but I would think if you just operated when you need it, did the reguired maint on it it would last a long time. people will tell you to look at the tracks and sprockets. the guy said the sprockets  were very nice. He is suppose to have new rollers for it. Go look at the crawler. Look under the pads and you will see the outside of the pins that holds the tracks together. when the rails wear down it get into the rollars. they start wearing the outside of the pins. if you have at least an 1 1/2 metal left before it gets into those pins then using it every so often they will last along time. once the rollers wear down into the pins then they will come loose and you will have to replace them.  he said the motor was over hauled with less than 10 hours. Who overhauled it is a good question to ask. In regards to everything I said its a gamble either way. Go look at it. drive it and make sure all works as it should. Talk to the seller and try to determine how honest he is. Sounds good according to the ad and the price seems okay but you have to make that decision. If you cant work on them your self then your probably best to back away. 80 to125 bucks an hour to work o them mounts up fast. you can get help from people here on how to to fix things but some parts will scare the hell out of you. Good luck on your search.  norm in missouri

Transport cost = $1750 for about 8 hours transporting.  This has to be the highest.  At that price, I'd put a down payment on a Cummins diesel rig and rent a flatbed.  This hauling aspect has me stumped.  I'm now leaning towards a lease for a backhoe or excavator to remove the trees.  Thank you for all the responses and feedback.  

I had an HD5 once hauled it in on a single axle rollback.

158 miles from kcmo to the track loader.
284 miles from track loader's current home to it's new home.
Then about 120 miles back to kcmo.

If I got a 1 ton dually avg about 6mpg, that's 562 miles, about 100 gal or $250 for fuel. Hmmmm..... You got me thinking again.

Might talk to trash hauler with a roll off  box  - 2 machines i bought had them moved that way - and at good low price 

Thank you for the replies.  I will look into these other options.  I reached back out to the seller to see if it was gone yet.  He had someone check it out today.  I asked for a video and got one of the engine running.  Sounds good.  

Thanks ddh5b. I'm checking other transportation options. If it's still available, I told him I would come up when he was available and check it out. I've pestered him so much. It's time to make a decision and I'm leaning to buying it.   

I advise my dad he better get ready to drive a loader. I keep thinking we can keep mowing the 10 acres and never make headway or bite the bullet, buy this loader and give it a shot. We will easily get another 10 acres of farm ground and really start returning the farm to it's former glory.

I suspect everyone on here and I will become great friends.

I don't know if I will ever come close to $5k for a track loader/dozer.

What's funny is I thought I would stop at harbor freight and buy a micrometer set for measuring and take a notebook and go to measuring and figuring ( almost Jethro style 😀). My gut says the guy has been honest. Use the loader for the most critical work that needs to get done. Then when or if we have to plunk 2k down on track or repair well we just have to.

I will have the most expensive 50's hd5g in the Midwest. By the way, my wife is going to "frown" at me. She may have said yes but underneath she meant no.   

I bought my h4 up north of kirksvlle. since I knew they had halled it I told him I would pay his asking price if he hauled it to my place 80 miles and he did.  He has had that for sale for awhile. you would think it would have been sold by now so maybe you can make some arrangements for him to haul it to your place. Those people who buy that stuff usually have the means of hauling it or has a friend that does. offer him 300 to deliver it. he will still make money for delivering it. Not sure where your at but if your around the jeff city area then 200 miles he still would make another 200 for delivery. Guy sounds like he woud work with you. Loader is a lot more versital. Remember one thing if you buy it. Make sure you check all oil levels before you operate it. If the motor was just overhauled then I would change the motor oil. I think I have an allis h5 service  manual so if you do buy it I live in Moberly so you can look at it on the way through. $50 bucks. norm in moberly

A very quick assessment of the track is to look at the front Idler position. As the pins and bushings wear the idler is adjusted forward. If the idler is at the forward end of the adjustment the chain is worn out. Unfortunately some people remove a link from the chain to keep the chain tight. Operating with a link removed will wear out the sprockets quickly. So if the idler is in the adjustment range and the sprockets are good and the bushings are nearly round the chain should last a long time.

Make sure you know how many links an HD 5 should have, then go count them...

DiyDave wrote: Make sure you know how many links an HD 5 should have, then go count them...

The HD6G is the better deal with fresh motor and better track. Check oil level in the transmission and final drives. The HD6G is heavier and better balanced than the HD5G. It is easy to stand an HD5G on the front idlers when carrying a full bucket of wet earth even though the HD5G has a counterweight on the rear.