HD4 Dozer good or bad?

nastcat · June 18, 2013, 10:42:39 PM

I just bought a older HD4 dozer and I was wondering what I should know about these dozers before I start trying it out. What is the word on parts and reliablitiy. It is a diesel. Anything I should watch out for?

mad murdock · June 18, 2013, 11:57:00 PM

Should be a Detroit 2-71, hand clutch machine. Does it have a straight blade, manual or hydraulic angle? They are a tough machine. Keep on top of fluid levels, grease regularly, should last a long time. How's the running gear(under carriage)?

loggah · June 19, 2013, 06:20:31 AM

Murdock, you are describing an earlier HD5, The HD4's were built later with a 4 cylinder Allis engine,3 speed trans. with a hydraulic reverser. I have owned a bunch of the HD4,653 style tractors,they are good little tractors,but engine and undercarriage parts are hard to come by. The engine is specific to these tractors and was not used in any other AC machines. Don

Okrafarmer · June 19, 2013, 08:19:27 AM

Show us a picture. ;D What year is it?

mad murdock · June 19, 2013, 10:00:10 AM

Thanks for the correction Loggah! My uncle ran an Allis-Chalmers for years, thought it was a 4, must have been a 5 then. Were tough old machines!

chevytaHOE5674 · June 19, 2013, 10:20:23 AM

Allis Chalmers Industrial parts are hard to come by. Some are available from Minnpar, others need to be sourced through salvage yards. Hopefully your undercarriage is in good shape as most of those parts are NLA.

Okrafarmer · June 19, 2013, 05:50:02 PM

If you're ever stuck trying to get parts for an old crawler, and simply cannot get them, you can try picking the brain of Landis Zimmerman in Ephrata Pennsylvania. He can source parts for most any Oliver or Cletrac crawler, but he's branched out a little lately into other brands, such as Terratrac. What he can't get or doesn't specialize in, such as Allis Chalmers, he may at least have some leads on who might have it.

Al_Smith · June 19, 2013, 06:41:25 PM

I don't have any idea what became of Surplus of Fargo N Dakota but they listed a fair amount of AC parts at one time .

loggah · June 20, 2013, 05:08:11 PM

I basically had 5 machines to keep two going!!! just keep your eyes open for a spare parts machine,sometimes they can be got fairly cheap. Don

Ken · June 20, 2013, 07:47:36 PM

Quote from: loggah on June 20, 2013, 05:08:11 PM
I basically had 5 machines to keep two going!!! just keep your eyes open for a spare parts machine,sometimes they can be got fairly cheap. Don

Well said loggah If you run old equipment and rely on it for your livelihood it is very useful to find identical units for parts. Down time while waiting for parts is a killer. Parts for old gear is not often stocked in the local parts store.

chevytaHOE5674 · June 20, 2013, 08:40:46 PM

My experience with buying parts machines is they are usually missing the parts I need... :D

Okrafarmer · June 21, 2013, 09:07:36 AM

Quote from: chevytaHOE5674 on June 20, 2013, 08:40:46 PM
My experience with buying parts machines is they are usually missing the parts I need... :D

Yes. Many machines will have an Achilles' heal part that breaks every time. Good luck finding final drive parts for an IH TD-6 or T-6. Seems like every TD-24 in the world (that hasn't been scrapped yet) is sitting in the weeds with the owner contemplating where on earth he will get the one drive-line part that is holding the whole thing down.

SOMEBODY seriously needs to make a dedicated bone yard for crawlers.

BargeMonkey · April 05, 2014, 08:51:40 PM

Ive come across one of there AC-HD4 dozers cheap, with a good undercarriage but needs an engine and going thru. Is it worth my time ? Figured for a small spare machine, ive got 4 deere dozers now but wondering about this thing.

chevytaHOE5674 · April 05, 2014, 09:46:03 PM

Better get it very cheaply as finding a motor and the parts for a "going thru" are going to be pricey and hard/impossible to find.

I sold my AC dozer because I got tired of trying to track down parts that were unique to the machine and then once I found the parts affording them was another killer.

Told myself if I ever get another dozer it will be a more modern machine that parts and service are easily available for.

coxy · April 05, 2014, 10:00:23 PM

the jd 350c is hard to get some parts for and that's 82 the newest thing I own :D :D

BargeMonkey · April 05, 2014, 10:12:45 PM

This and about 8 other machines set out behind my GF's parents house. The grandfather was a contractor and was killed in the driveway in 94 working on a truck. The brother is never going to do anything with them and I figured for 500-1000 it might be worth it. I have 4 dozers, a 450G, 450J, 650J and an 850B, kinda looked at this as a yard toy. Well from what you guys are telling me I think im going to pass, but if someones looking for parts its a whole machine.

woodhick · April 05, 2014, 10:45:41 PM

Uncle has had several HD5's over the years. Still has a HD5 loader. Several weak spots on them. They have a lot of power for the little 2 cylinder due to the double reduction rear gearing and they sip fuel. One bad area of them is the outer axle bearings will seize and the the shaft will turn in bearing. You wont know it until its too late. Try to find a good axle for one of these and you will see that is a sought after part. Uncle had a couple of then turned down by machine shop and new ends or bushings made to fix them. Would be too costly but had a cousin that was doing the maching.

Big timber little dozer · April 07, 2014, 08:05:38 PM

Get a Oliver OC3 I have nothing but good things to say easy to work on (relatively speaking) and easy to get parts for though Landis Zimmerman and they never run out of power but can have problems with roller lubrication they take oil from a gun. but they are great woods dozers