looking at a running 1942 D2 5J

codykodes

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Been in the hunt for a dozer/crawler on a somewhat light budget of $7k or less, and have been doing a lot of research and basically believe I could easily be getting into a POS or a gem, haha. After losing on a few auctions and getting uneasy answers to questions from a few pasture sellers, I have come across a CAT 42' D2 5J, owner asking $7500. Described as "it runs and operates very well and has a very clean dozer blade."

It looks very well maintained and very clean for its age. Is the price probably where it should be given the limited info I've provided, assuming everything is in "as good as it should be working order"?

I am a general contractor in the PNW, mainly doing residential remodeling/new construction work, but I have found myself a few times needing equipment to do flat work, move some dirt, driveway, spread some 5/8" gravel, etc... and I have 3 acres of property needing some work done. I am basically wanting something where we can putt around and knock out the small stuff on easy sandy silt soil, flat terrain, no trees or stumps, when it doesn't warrant calling in the big boys.

Previously was looking at 70's era Case 450s which are kinda hard to acquire in my price range without risk of undercarriage rehab being not too far away. Ironically our dump truck for delivering materials will be a 51' Chevy 6400, haha! Appreciate feedback, this site has been a wealth of knowledge as I've deep dived old posts.[attachment=47844]D25J-003.jpg[/attachment][attachment=47845]D25J-002.jpg[/attachment][attachment=47846]D25J-001.jpg[/attachment]

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 2:44 PM

ianoz

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Does not say your location , So not sure how far this machine is from you.http://acmoc.org/bb/showthread.php?28299-F-S-D4-7U-Toolbar-dozer-Took-a-video-of-it-working-2day
From what I have seen Mike is a good guy , So you would think , it should be a good machine . There is videos of the machine in the link.

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 5:19 PM

drujinin

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Reply to ianoz:

Does not say your location , So not sure how far this machine is from you.http://acmoc.org/bb/showthread.php?28299-F-S-D4-7U-Toolbar-dozer-Took-a-video-of-it-working-2day
From what I have seen Mike is a good guy , So you would think , it should be a good machine . There is videos of the machine in the link.

Would be "Pacific North West".
It would be a long haul for ag-mike's D4, though it is a good tractor!
I wouldn't consider a D2 as a good tractor for a Contractor (small or large) to be making money with.
Operating a blade on it for general grading is a skill that often needs practice to get good at and stay good at.
I'd be looking at a CAT D3 or 350/450 class John Deere as a Contractor you need a PAT blade to make money!

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 6:28 PM

dpendzic

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Reply to drujinin:

Would be "Pacific North West".
It would be a long haul for ag-mike's D4, though it is a good tractor!
I wouldn't consider a D2 as a good tractor for a Contractor (small or large) to be making money with.
Operating a blade on it for general grading is a skill that often needs practice to get good at and stay good at.
I'd be looking at a CAT D3 or 350/450 class John Deere as a Contractor you need a PAT blade to make money!

unless it has the larger front idlers it will tend to rock a lot and be more difficult to grade with. Price seems a bit high to me as i only paid $3500 for my 1957 4U

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 7:06 PM

JackD6-5R

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Reply to dpendzic:

unless it has the larger front idlers it will tend to rock a lot and be more difficult to grade with. Price seems a bit high to me as i only paid $3500 for my 1957 4U

Nice looking machine ,but may be a little old for serious work. Parts can be hard to find. I had to buy a parts tractor to get parts for mine.

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 8:26 PM

d2gary

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Reply to JackD6-5R:

Nice looking machine ,but may be a little old for serious work. Parts can be hard to find. I had to buy a parts tractor to get parts for mine.

I have used my 5j on various jobs clearing brush, pushing hog fuel and cleaning out barn stalls,and pushing dirt. I would stay away from a d2 if you need to do any kind of finish grading. If you can find a long frame with the big front idler it would be ok. If you have the dump truck already get a d4, much better machine for what your trying to do.
I have bought and sold a few d2 bulldozers and probably wouldn't pay $7500 for that one. It looks clean and probably is in good shape but there are plenty of them around and pretty easy to repair and maintain

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 9:09 PM

codykodes

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Reply to d2gary:

I have used my 5j on various jobs clearing brush, pushing hog fuel and cleaning out barn stalls,and pushing dirt. I would stay away from a d2 if you need to do any kind of finish grading. If you can find a long frame with the big front idler it would be ok. If you have the dump truck already get a d4, much better machine for what your trying to do.
I have bought and sold a few d2 bulldozers and probably wouldn't pay $7500 for that one. It looks clean and probably is in good shape but there are plenty of them around and pretty easy to repair and maintain

Good info, thanks everyone. So sounds like at least a D4 class is the best bang for buck to accomplish grade work at a minimum then. I've seen two of those as well in area for sale, a 46' D4 for $2750 in "good working order" and a 7U D4 for $4500 which owner has barn stored for last 30 years which is "in good shape, runs strong", which is appealing since they've had possession of it for 30 years, makes you think they likely know that beast up and down and every qwirk it throws, so probably took good care of it.

Is a D4 getting closer to what I'm looking to do, would I grow to form a palpable relationship for occasional grade work?! Haha, this is just a beginning setup, so I'm not looking to break time records nor start out with biggest and baddest, just need some direction that the rig can make it work, and these two D4s are in that price range if the CATs are up to the tasks.

-edit: I should add that the cheaper one has been outside stored it appears and has the addition of a pony motor, so the other one I'd assume is likely less likely to see maybe water in tanks, etc, having been barn kept during non-usage. These are both Oregon located D4's, so anything kept outside around here is seeing water!

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 10:14 PM

ronm

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Reply to drujinin:

Would be "Pacific North West".
It would be a long haul for ag-mike's D4, though it is a good tractor!
I wouldn't consider a D2 as a good tractor for a Contractor (small or large) to be making money with.
Operating a blade on it for general grading is a skill that often needs practice to get good at and stay good at.
I'd be looking at a CAT D3 or 350/450 class John Deere as a Contractor you need a PAT blade to make money!

[quote="drujinin"]
I'd be looking at a CAT D3 or 350/450 class John Deere as a Contractor you need a PAT blade to make money![/quote]

This.../\/\/\...
I had a 500C IH around here for a while after I put the steering clutches back together & fixed a final drive for the owner. Anything with a 6-way blade beats the heck out of anything without as far as actually getting something done...

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 10:25 PM

jstandle

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Reply to ronm:

[quote="drujinin"]
I'd be looking at a CAT D3 or 350/450 class John Deere as a Contractor you need a PAT blade to make money![/quote]

This.../\/\/\...
I had a 500C IH around here for a while after I put the steering clutches back together & fixed a final drive for the owner. Anything with a 6-way blade beats the heck out of anything without as far as actually getting something done...

Please check out this link below, PM me if you have any questions;

http://www.acmoc.org/bb/showthread.php?28337-For-Sale-Caterpillar-D2-5J-with-straight-blade

Jordan

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Fri, Mar 30, 2018 11:23 PM

mog5858

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Reply to jstandle:

Please check out this link below, PM me if you have any questions;

http://www.acmoc.org/bb/showthread.php?28337-For-Sale-Caterpillar-D2-5J-with-straight-blade

Jordan

i would say in my area that's too much. 2500-5000 is the rage i think for a good running. as said the 5j has small idlers and was never design to have a blade hang off the front of it. that being said it's be done lost.

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Sat, Mar 31, 2018 12:18 AM

dpendzic

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Reply to ronm:

[quote="drujinin"]
I'd be looking at a CAT D3 or 350/450 class John Deere as a Contractor you need a PAT blade to make money![/quote]

This.../\/\/\...
I had a 500C IH around here for a while after I put the steering clutches back together & fixed a final drive for the owner. Anything with a 6-way blade beats the heck out of anything without as far as actually getting something done...

[quote="ronm"]This.../\/\/\...
I had a 500C IH around here for a while after I put the steering clutches back together & fixed a final drive for the owner. Anything with a 6-way blade beats the heck out of anything without as far as actually getting something done...[/quote]

I had a 500c with a 6 way blade and now have a D3B with a 6 way blade--would never have another grading dozer without a 6 way blade.

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Sat, Mar 31, 2018 12:21 AM

looking at a running 1942 D2 5J

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