First D2, how to evaluate a candidate?

check the under carriage for wear, items such as the drive sprockets, rails, rollers, front idlers, pads, (badly wore grausers look bad in a restoration but welded up ones look worse!) sheet metal, is it all there. nice original oil pressure and water temp gauges are very hard to come by. on gas engines is it the original mag? check the radiator cores for damage check the top and bottom radiator tanks for cracks due to freezing. steering clutches/brakes do they work? intake/exhaust manifolds.....can be hard to find a nice set on some crawlers....is the air cleaner rotted out? .....just a few

make sure all the tags match too.....and dont worry about the seat.....some sheet metal you can get new

Biggest thing is the undercarriage. If the tracks aren't sagging look at how far the front idlers are out on the track frame if they are near the end of the frame the UC is probably worn out.

Here is how to measure pin and bushing wear. The tracks should be streched out for this. http://www.crawlerheaven.com/wearlimits.htm

Here is how to check link height. http://www.crawlerheaven.com/tracklinks_chart.htm

A free main engine is a plus. The steering clutches seem to be a bit of a pain in the rear to do. So having the clutches free would be nice also. A good body man can straighten thin, but it's becoming a lost art.

Take a hydraulic jack and jack up the engine/track frames under the main spring--then you can check the rollers for vertical play, and rotate the idlers for transverse movement which will tell you if the idler shaft/bushings are worn--also maby be able to check for transverse movement of the track frames which will indicate pivot shaft/bushing wear

Besides all of the above, it all boils down to the "how bad do you want it and how much are you willing to pay" question. If you look around a while and don't just jump into something, there are some real bargains out there. Don't rule a machine out just 'cuz it's got bent ftin or a bad paint job if mechanically it's in good shape. .there are some real "gems in the rough".

To add one thing. Don't let a good paint job fool you. Seen alot of painted machines that are very worn.

Why is it that you look at the under cariege so close if your not going to use the tractor to plow you can still get a lot of hours out of worn stuff!! As in a parade once or twice a year. I don't think you need brand NEW TRACKS for that..

ZIP,
Your absolutly right about not needing great UC for something that is going to see very little use.
Pulling a wagon around the farm or lot.Maybe if your lucky and you have a dozer,twice a year you try your luck out on grading your neighbors driveway.
The rest of the time you are either tinkering with it or just plain looking at it.
So, in my humble opinion,you do'nt need much of an UC to pull this off.
But,with that being said there is one thing that I promise you'll need good.
Not your pad's,not your rail's,but the first and last bottom roller on eash side if those flanges are worn or broken off,there is no way you'll ever keep your tracks on to grade your neighbors gravel driveway.That I promise.
JUST A THOUGHT COMPRESSOR