Looking at a D4 for sale

that's a 1952 year--yes that price is quite high--if the pony is removed does it have electric start?
check the rollers and idlers for wear also. check the crankcase and gear boxes for oil contamination.

Like mentioned that price is a bit high. I’d only pay that if it was a real nice original. I’d find out more about the gears that were replaced and what exactly was done. I sometimes get discouraged when people work on machinery without knowing what they are doing. Not saying that’s the case with this one do look into it.

Thanks for the quick responses. Concerning price, I know I waited too long on a D4 (might have been a D2) and his price was $5K and that included a second parts dozer he had robbed the tracks off of. That one had been restored about 10 years earlier.

Tell the guy that the tractor needs to be cold when you arrive so that you can check its cold start performance. Look at the track bushes for wear, and look at the track pin bosses on the links to see if they've been hitting the rollers. If they have, then the tracks and/or rollers are "worn" (without being too specific)

Links to my photo website in case that helps. I really didn't get anything of the undercarriage that's probably worthwhile.
Select a picture and click on that picture on the right side. down near the "buy" button is a frame looking icon and you can select better sizes for more detail.

Dozer in question

If you do enough searching on this website, you can become an expert BEFORE You buy , not after.
My favorite quote - " experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"

The rails look fairly worn in the pictures. You would have to measure to be sure.

Then more patient you are, the better deal you will find.

Good luck !

Looks like the pin bosses have been hit at one time or another. A lot of the rail is shiny so the bottom rollers may be well worn. Need to check those out good and need pics. of the bottom end rollers and better shots of the rails. catskinner