I'm 2-1/2 years in to the adventure of farming 165 acres of my great grandfather's 1900 homestead in SE Idaho. When I started it was overgrown with sage after 25 years in the CRP. It's looking pretty good now, and I've just got my 2nd harvest of spring wheat this fall.

So far all the work has been done with a 7U D4 and a 5U D2. They are running nicely but it is slow going and I don't have hydraulics. We used to use a D4D SA 84J that we bough new in the early '70s after it had sat on the dealer lot for a couple of years. It was a good machine, but doing some light dozing a rock cracked the oil pan and now it needs a bottom end overhaul, and also some brake work.

My dad and brother bought a 44A D6B with hardnose 2-way blade on it. We've put a bunch of money into fixing it up, but just don't use it. It isn't a good match to our needs really. It runs well but the steering boost leaks and that is making one clutch slip.

Anyway, I'd like to find a nice newer ('80s) D4E SA out of the Palouse region that still has some good life in it but is too small for the owner's current operations. I have seen these on occasion for sale in MO at Zimmerman tractor, but would rather avoid the cost of hauling from E-WA through SE ID to MO and back. I'm hoping to find something I can use for another 15 years at less than 100 hours per year without needing much other than routine maintenance. Ideally the transaction could be with the original owner of the machine

I'm also looking to sell or trade both the D4D SA 84J machine (not working) and the D6B 44A machine (working with some maintenance squawks).



Joe

I have 6 D4E SAs, They are great Cats very dependable.All of mine have Factory Cabs,turboed,6 roller track frames with 24'' track pads.70'' track gauge.I would get one with the long and uc. I have four29xs and 2 70xs . The 70X tractors are variable horsepower 125hp in 3rd,4th,and5th gear.If you don't need that much power I would stick with a 29X non vhp.They are good on fuel to where the vhp realy suck the fuel.They are hard to find,most guys that have them don't want to sell them.I will call some of the guys I know. I good place would be in the pacific northwest,eastern Oregon,Walla Walla, Pasco. What kind of price range?

Hi Joe check out Zimmerman tractor he has a lot of ag cats and ih crawlers for sale we bought two td 9 ag tractors from him and are nice pieces I used one to work ground this fall to plant wheat aint nothing like it! Jason

Thanks for the info on series. It sounds like the 29x would be a good fit for me. We have terrain that is like eastern WA & OR, but not so many acres and most of it is still CRP for now.

As I was getting started into farming again, thinking I'd have more money after the first harvest then the second harvest (kind of like a gambling addict thinking the next roll will be the winner), I'd see the occasional D4E SA at Zimmerman for ~$20k. So far I'm in the hole on farming enough to have bought more than one at that price. However if I could sell the D6B for half what we've got in it and get salvage value on the D4D, we'd probably be able to go as high as mid-20's for a 29x D4E SA in really great shape. However a price in the high teens to ~$20k would be easier to swing.

What do you see as a realistic price for a machine in good enough shape to rely on for operating a couple hundred acres of dry farm for another 15 years with minimal repairs expected? I have 60 year old machines still running strong, so my expectations are rather high in that department.

Thanks,

Joe

"d4e" wrote:

I have 6 D4E SAs, They are great Cats very dependable.All of mine have Factory Cabs,turboed,6 roller track frames with 24'' track pads.70'' track gauge.I would get one with the long and uc. I have four29xs and 2 70xs . The 70X tractors are variable horsepower 125hp in 3rd,4th,and5th gear.If you don't need that much power I would stick with a 29X non vhp.They are good on fuel to where the vhp realy suck the fuel.They are hard to find,most guys that have them don't want to sell them.I will call some of the guys I know. I good place would be in the pacific northwest,eastern Oregon,Walla Walla, Pasco. What kind of price range?

I may have what you need, send me a private message if you still need help RT

Do have one ? Thanks John