Yeah, that seems to be pretty common Final Life Stage for a lot of heavy iron. Repair costs far exceed replacement cost. Equipment life cycle (here in Alaska, at least) goes from the prime contractor who bought it new, to the smaller local contractor, when he's done with it it might go to a small gypo logger or a gold miner. And that's always the last stop. When it finally gives up they'll just push it off to the side and walk away. Thirty years later trees growing up around it.
Got a Free Cat 977H. Now What?
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The one that was stuck down over a bank in Fairbanks finally sold. Of course no one would buy it where it was at. The seller finally hired a winch truck to pull it back up on the road. Think he got $12K for it. Supposedly less than 1000 hours on it. Pretty good buy if true.
No equipment junk yards in Alaska, so if it don't run and drive it's just yard art.
No equipment junk yards in Alaska, so if it don't run and drive it's just yard art.
Parts machine... I want to say it's sad, but kinda the way it goes with old iron. Once the undercarriage is shot it's pretty much game over without substantial investment of time and money. The grouser plates should be the least of your worry so long as the link holes arnt wallered out. They can be welded up better then new in reality. The final(s) and wish bone would be the real issue as I see it, and a hard pass for me. Like you say too many decent used machines you could grab up sub $20k vs dumping that kind of money in this thing. (it wouldn't stop there either.)
Not having reasonable access to used parts here in Alaska like folks in "the lower 48", a typical field fix in interior Alaska (IF the critical final parts could be sourced) would be to poor boy it to the max. Cut the cross beam apart as needed, pull the track frame, and then put the absolute minimum necessary parts back into the final. And the track frame and cross bar go back together "as is". No other repairs. And maybe get another couple seasons out of it. A miner who is deep in the interior with no road access might be willing to spend 10K on it because it's difficult to find a replacement machine. Very few comparable machines to be found, and even if you do, getting it out there is often a major project in itself.
I've run across more than a few field fixes where I've been amazed that it ran as long as it did.
I've run across more than a few field fixes where I've been amazed that it ran as long as it did.
The very first thing to look at on old track machines is the condition of the tracks, rollers, sprockets. If they need replacing, like you found out, they’re megabucks, and usually the deal killer. Looked at a Deere 455 track loader and did not get past the undercarriage. Even for the small machine I was looking at $20k to replace. Bought a 310SE instead and haven’t looked back. Hard to pass up that Cat because it was free, but no free lunch.
Yep. Lots of lessons learned here.
Is there any scrap value in this old iron or does the transportation cost/stripping of the machine eat up any $$$ that could be made?
If you're not far from the scrapper, you can make a little bit of $, especially if you have a tractor trailer.
