D4-D Specs

if its an ag D, 84J with the weights around the radiator it will weigh 24000
without a blade. they do not make great dozers as they are so short. a
good operator can grade smooth with one, myself cannot. 1978 you will
have oil steer clutches and oil main clutch. one thing to look for is black
engine oil in the main clutch. the clutch oil should be a dark shade of brown.
if its overfull or black in color the seal between the engine and clutch is out.

another problem is look where the frame rail connects to the rear deck, just
infront of the drive sprocket. on the bottom of the inch and a half thick steel
frame they can crack upwards. the 3304 engines are bullet proof. non turbo
is 60HP, turbo's more. these are a tough little tractor, i hate them but will
admit they are tough. they pull real well, lots of torque.

whats the serial number. they ,made a construction D also that i am not
familiar with. old magnet will know more about those.

That's a good unit....1978 would be near the end of the 84J model run.
Pretty much as "U-Joint" states. I'll dig around in my stuff more later...gotta go get some work done.

Well it turns out I don't have a lot of spec info on the 84J but can add a few things.
Bare tractor weight dry is 14,900 lbs (info from parts book)
The later engine for high serial numbers is a 3304 (78P) engine at 75hp.
They are a non-turbo engine with sleeve metering fuel system.

If the unit was used in a logging operation I would take a close look at the undercarriage and the frame rail to case mounting as u-joint mentioned.
Otherwise they are a good workhorse unit.

You really need to get the model/serial number of the unit your looking at.

I have had several D4Ds over the years all direct drives. 78A, 82J, 84J. The 84 J is an ag cat. The last D4D 84J I had the 78P engine turboed. It had a 70 gauge, 5 roller frame with 24 inch pads. The 78P engine was used in the late D4Ds and the early D4Es. I didnt have any problems with my D4Ds other than normal wear. What info were you looking for.

Well, I went to check it out. On the plus side, the seals between the engine and the oil clutch appear fine. Nice looking light brown oil in the oil clutch. It also appears to have a very nice 6-way blade by J.H. Beales.

Engine Serial Number 78P34531
Machine Serial Number 8334090 (?) -- it was a bit hard to read.

On the minus side . . . well, where to begin.

The engine won't idle properly. Governor?
There is a diesel leak.
There is an oil leak.
There was no oil in the transmission!!!!
There are at least two pins that are damaged / not seated properly in the track.
The under carriage has clearly been damaged and repaired.
Broken air cleaner.
New, but intermittent starter motor. Current owner beats on it to get it start, but still wants to return it. Good luck with that I figure.
The current owner let it sit out without the air cleaner on it, and allowed the engined to get filled with water from rain. He's drained the oil and refilled it, but it's still milky.
The center pin on the blade is shot and needs to be replaced.

I've attach some pictures. In short, it appears to be another project, as opposed something I can put to work in short order.

The owner said, "make me an offer," and it's tempting to because I think it would be a real nice machine with some TLC.

Oh, and the service meter reads 3819 hours -- but it only has 4 digits, so who know how many times it's rolled over.

I think you'll find that the serial number is 83J 4090 (it is hard to read), which means it'a a powershift tractor (as the pics prove)....4090 would make it a '77 build with sleeve metering fuel system (also shown in the pics) and wet steering clutches/brakes.

The 3304 would be rated at 75h.p.

I'd certainly be pulling the transmission screen and cutting the filter open to check for nasties.

It looks like it's been fitted with a power angle blade which would be handy but it also looks like it's been beaten to death....in fact the whole machine looks like it's had very poor maintenance.

The undercarriage looks shot.

They are a great little dozer, particularly the late series one such as this...but this one looks like a money pit to me.

Good Luck. 😊

Hi, Mgtstuber.
Methinks that machine may have a LOT of history behind it - most of it HARD usage and LOW maintenance. As Rusted said, it looks like a money pit.

They are a great little dozer when they are working well, with very few issues and relatively easy to maintain. It looks to me as if somebody in its past has not done a lot of maintenance on it while attempting to kill it as painfully as he could. It would also appear that most of the maintenance and repair work that has been done has been 'butcher-shop' in nature. I seriously doubt that there was much love of good machinery to be found in that machine's recent past. PITY.

Just my 0.02.

Hey, why are you maligning butchers like that? They tend to keep their knives it really great shape, and do excellent work. 😊

Thanks for the feedback, it's confirms my suspicions.