Got to put the little FD5 into service this weekend. Hopefully I can keep the place up and take my game management to a whole new level.

ought to work good.

Fun!

Good looking little machine, congrats

I'm jealous. I'd love to have such a machine.

Congrats, you will be amazed at what you can do. I kept one 6 years and did a lot of land clearing and put firelanes everywhere I might ever need one. I really miss having it, but keeping it up became too big of a job for an old man.

I got a 650H and it's a handy machine but damn those things are expensive to maintain

That would be as handy as a shirt on a pocket.

Sweet! Maybe you can start to grow some big bucks and PBTs!

Those are dang good tractors, I ran one for a while, wiring harnesses and a couple of turbos is the only problem I ever know that tractor to have. I know the guy that bought it, has over 12,000 hours on it now.
But yeah they are not cheap to run, I'm running a 650j now and a Cat D5k2, the Cat is having pins and bushings turned now with new sprockets, bout $6,000, and people wonder why dozer work ain't cheap

Definitely keep an close eye on the wear on the pins, bushings, and sprockets. Also do a cursory check on the rollers and idlers periodically. Like anything else, maintenance is the key. It's way cheaper to replace or turn a worn part than it is to run it to failure. Undercarriages can get very expensive. If the undercarriage is currently in good shape and you're using it for just recreational, non-commercial use, you should be in good shape for a long long time. Congrats on the purchase, I would love to have one to use on my property full time. Just guessing at what you'll be using it for, I'd highly recommend finding a good used root rake that'll fit it.

Fair warning, it will NOT outrun a yellow jacket!

You make some good points, however, I'm good, I know a guy.

Are the side covers factory? Mine has expanded metal over a little bit I assume for heat release and allows a little visual inspection.

No BS, plan an escape routine for yellow jackets/hornets. I know just turn key off, jump, and run for me.

I put a couple of bags like the saddle bags on 4 wheelers on the inside of mine for Gatorade, flagging tape, snack, etc.

Because of leaves and debris that gets inside the covers, a small fire extinguisher should be readily available. I drop my belly pans ever winter and clean everything out. A ton of dirt and debris.

WEAR EAR PLUGS!! Noise not that bad but it is continuous.

Side covers are factory. I plan on mounting a fire extinguisher on it.

Good plan. I would suggest a celing fan too.

I know a guy that ran one for APCO. He would wear a full beekeeper suit in the middle of summer to guard against yellow jackets.

I'd love to have one as well, but after buying it and keeping up with the maintenance, i would come out way ahead just hiring what i need done. Nice looking machine, 2dogs.

Very good point. There will always be a need for a dozer. But after you get your property the way you want it, it probably make sense to sell it and about 1 week a year have someone tidy up some. Save money overall. Same goes for people buying a tractor just for food plots. Cheaper to pay someone. But sure is convenient to just hop on it and do what you need.

if I hit one of those huge lotteries I'd buy a dozer, till then I'll rent one for a weekend. I ran one for a living just out of college and can rent one for $400 er so for two days(8hours). Get everything done I need done.

If I just hired someone to do what needs doing it would be a heck of a bill. Add that to what I want to do and we're talking real $.

I know the history of my machine for the past 15 years. I bought it from my cousin. I did a lot of work on it myself, oil, trans fluid , all filters , some new gauges, tapped and replaced missing bolts. Built the limb risers and clearing screens. I then took it to a good friend who is the best diesel / heavy equipment man in the area and told him to fix what needed to be fixed. That was brake adjustments, rebuild some leaking cylinders, 3 new hoses, little welding on the blade and a few other odds and ends. It's in pretty good shape. Now if I could just master the pedal steering. I can work the blade and make it do what I need but 5 pedals is new to me. I've operated a stick steer TD15 a little but never one where you use both hands and both feet!

They proud of them hoses!$$$$

I'll do my on cylinders from now on. We aren't dealing with big cylinders and everything can be had cheap on eBay. Really not difficult. In fact, nothing about working on them is difficult with Google, but heavy and awkward. Correct tools is a must.

On the older machines I like the foot steer, used to run a 99 case 850G that was foot steer and had an accelerator instead of a decelerator, had forward and reverse with independent tract speed selection. Took a little bit to get used to it but once I did I really liked it. Worked awesome doing road work, put one track in high and the other in low and it would walk so smooth around the curves.

I can't give any driving tips. My 650H is a 2004 and all joystick lol but I have never operated a pedal steer dozer

You won't want to either, that H model has already spoiled you, haha
The H's spoiled me, then the J's, the cat K2 im running is even worse, the joysticks are mounted to the seat and the seat is like a lazy boy. I can rake in my 650j 6 or 8 hours and feel like I been in a car wreck. I've put 16 hours on the meter in the cat k2 raking one day and felt fine when I quit that evening.

I have a friend has one of those, interesting machine .

Nice ride

2Dogs, How long is it gonna be before you put a Toyota pickup cab on that?

LOl, actually I'm thinking bout getting out of the Toyota business . I'd like to have all my roads worked well enough to get my old Chevy 4X4 farm/huntin' truck anywhere I wanta go.

I would have got a crawler loader with a 4 in 1 bucket.

You can do road maintenance with a tractor blade.

You won't on my roads or at least not for long lol

Huh.... well if you don't know how to build one I guess you'd need a dozer all the time?

Wonder why loggers and dozer operators that work in the mountains don't use a loader with a 4 in 1? No tilt , can't cut a hill down, put in good water bars and turn outs, cut grade and such with a loader. Dozer suits my needs, BTW, I have a 55 HP 4X4 tractor with a loader and heavy box blade. These aren't flat land, all sandy loam roads up here, you can beat a tractor all to hell using it like a dozer round here .

Yea, I'm familiar.

I don't know now many years I can get out of a road with maintenance but it is a lot. I've had some for as long as I can remember.

Dozer is the correct tool for building roads.

I was referring to what 2dogs said. You will tear a tractor to hell and back

Yea, I usually push all the big rocks and stumps out of the road and if I can't I go around them.

But that's just how I do it.

That way I don't need a dozer to maintain the roads but every now and again. Like I said, some have gone as long as I can remember with some dirt, rock and a tractor.

Couldn't have got it graded correctly without a dozer though so there is that....

I've had both dozer and loader. Both have advantages over the other. For pushing over trees, a loader can get much higher on the tree for leverage. The dozer will push more because of traction due to grouser pads vs. flat pads. Putting a crown in a road I prefer a dozer. Cutting drains is better with a dozer. Water bars are easier with a loader. I'll take a dozer overall.

I think you can cut a correct water bar and turn out with a dozer much better and faster than a loader. Much easier to angle the bar and cut the turn out. I've scooped them with a loader, those days are behind me now.

1). Its just what I prefer. Doesn't make it right or wrong.
2). Talking about just a hump of dirt without a turnout.
3). Type of soil and debris will always be a factor on what's best.

I'll still take a dozer overall comparing same size equipment.

You're in very good shape with what you have.

In have several... of everything. To me a track loader it is a much more versatile machine with a 4 in 1 and a ripper. You can't grade but you can dig and transport gravel or dirt, rock from the creek bed, etc you can then grade that with the tractor blade, clear trees easier, pile higher, pick up logs, dig up rocks...I could make a list a mile long.

But you can't easily grade. You CAN but nowhere as easily as the dozer. So there's that.

I agree with you on those pros of the loader. It definitely makes tree work and piling brush piles a lot easier.