...what should I look out for in buying a used one?

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Just about everything and replacement parts.

Track wear, bearings and the transmission are the biggies.

Right. How does one determine routine/acceptable wear? I've never looked closely at one of these things...

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I am novice at best so I don't want to lead you astray. Try reading ePray ads because in most ads they will point out that they replaced X because it is a known problem with the model.

Good idea.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

At one time a had a Hein Werner C16. A 42K Lb Detroit 6V71 powered track hoe. Man, I had fun on that machine.
I had to rebuild the rollers under the tracks. Other than being really heavy it was very easy. Welded up some sloppy holes in the levers.
Other than that its pretty much all hydraulics.
Some machines are just not very friendly when it comes to maintenence/repair. Look for easy access to all the hyd lines. You WILL have one break.

I'd ask old mechanics at a rental place around the area. Lots of good info there.

Consider the weight. It cost me $600 to have the track hoe moved just down the road a few miles. Anything a 1 ton dually could tow would be my pick.

Can I drive it at the gathering?

Dan,
That's great info and guidance. Thanks! FWIW, I have an F250 PowerSmoke (chipped making 300+hp and 400+ ftlbs of tq) and a 14,000# tow-behind flatbed. Whatever I buy has to be haulable with that rig.

Ultimately, when I'm finished with what I need it for, I'm considering hiring it out with an operator for light work. I think that there's plently of jobs in the area of the farm for a small dozer with a 6-way blade.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

....mmmm, dozer.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Plaster looking that bad huh?

Is this a new toy?

Speaking of toy bulldozers, I'd like to find one of these:

Struck Mini Dozer

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!

Maybe not a toy. I'm seriously considering the possibility of starting a light excavation/dirt pushing biz based out of the farm; the Bride and I are working on a business plan to see if it can, in fact, pay for itself and me.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I think with any common sense you'd do very well. Most... all of the dirt guys around here are always busy and, not cheap.

Next you'll need a small 13yd dump. Diesel of course. And a pintle hook equipment hauler trailer.

I would look for a track loader though. There's more than pushin' dirt.

I want to come play when you get it!

are you thinking of something like this?
http://www.esnips.com/doc/ef84defa-76b6-45f7-a11c-55168ba6bf73/WhereismyDozer

My current landlord has been in the earth moving business for many years and I chat with him regularly. He pays a bunch for insurance. Stop and talk to some guys with big yellow toys parked in their yards.

As was stated earlier in this thread, the undercarriage on crawler machines can get very expensive. People sell them instead of replacing the pins in the tracks and that is just part of the job.

My landlord has wheeled machines now. A big loader, a backhoe and a bobcat type machine. He also has several trucks and trailers for hauling and spreading dirt and hauling the earthmovers.

It would be easy to fall into a trap with run-out equipment. When you weren't working a job you would be fixing the equipment.

A couple years ago in Maine a guy told me he was paying $4000/year for insurance on one dump truck.

All good points. I won't do this unless I can make it work first on paper with what I would consider to be a reliable machine that has some hours left in it.

For reference, that little dozer has about 3k hrs and is about 70% on the pins. Replacing the pins and rails is about $3000. The rest is in excellent condition. He's asking $14,500 for it and the deal includes a full set of repair manuals and a couple of sets of filters.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.