old dozer recommendations under $10k to spend

BC Placer gold said: I think you could do better. Personally I would pass (no offense) but seeing that ‘canopy cover’ would be an immediate disqualification…trees and tree work can be extremely dangerous (even with sweeps; proper caging) Click to expand... Weld up a new one....

Making a decent ROPS is a pretty substantial project. You need heavy tubing and a qualified welder. If someone didn't have fabrication and welding skills would need to hire a welder. This would be OK but a lot of people would think that's too much money and want to do it themself. They end up with something very marginal at best. I've had trees fall on the ROPS. You need something well made.

I was clearing a mining cut with a Hitachi EX270 when a large dead spruce (notoriously brittle) came down on top of heavy logging cage… No damage or injury…. Safety cannot be underestimated!

Maybe I missed someone saying this, Why not rent??? You may get a 10k dozer that will do what you want it to but it may break down and cost you 10k plus to repair. If the rented dozer breaks down, they are on the hook. Hope this is helpful.

reganj said: Maybe I missed someone saying this, Why not rent??? You may get a 10k dozer that will do what you want it to but it may break down and cost you 10k plus to repair. If the rented dozer breaks down, they are on the hook. Hope this is helpful. Click to expand... I've got 2 miles of trails at the cabin I'm not going to finish the project in a weekend or even a week with PTO from work if I rent a dozer. This is more of a long term project when time permits and in a couple weeks until next may were are going to be in the "mud season" in upstate NY

Yeah dozers in the woods and clearing very hazardous, I've had many close calls, you need your head on a swivel and eyes every where. The one that is the big surprise is when the track kicks up a small but good size log from the side that flys at you. The machines I ran mostly had no side screens, the most dangerous are vine maples. The type of dozer work that really keeps you on your toes is pushing demolitioned rebar filled concrete, you have to protect you and the machine hugely.

chidog said: The type of dozer work that really keeps you on your toes is pushing demolitioned rebar filled concrete, you have to protect you and the machine hugely. Click to expand... No doubt. I was pushing some rebar protruding concrete from a gas station demo at the dump with our D5G. It was early winter with a mist of rain where the windows were fogging up. Should've just stopped but trying to keep the trucks rolling in and the job going. Trucking along with a blade full of concrete chunks and all the sudden "POW"! At first I thought someone was shooting at me until I saw the 1/2" piece of rebar sticking through the little window directly in front of the operators seat. Fortunately the glass was laminated and didn't shower me in the cab. Gotta be careful **** sneaks up on you.