Timberjack 240 opinions

[Old TimberCutter]

 Hello, I was looking at a 240  late 80's for sale. The cradle pins are wore bad , axle wil move up and down 3/4 of an inch or more when putting presure with blade. What is involved  time and money to fix this.  Also when running it I noticed the main gear stick  would move several inches when accelerating and letting off the fuel while driving it . Is this normal or could there be something wrong with the transmission. I have always run clark and deere skidders and am not to famliar with timberjacks . The skidder has a good appearance and motor has been built a year ago 453 detroit. tires are 20%  and gearmatic 19 winch. Would it be worth $ 9000? Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks

[spencerhenry]

$9000 seems quite high for a skidder of this age. the wear in the cradle could be very expensive to fix. transmission? hard to say. those detroits are good motors, but they are not called "screamin meanies" for nothing.
these days skiddders are for sale everywhere. the best deals are probably on newer machines, but they all should be cheap right now.
last week i found an '06 jd 648  with 1700 hrs for $70,000

[lonewolf]

I have ran TJ's for the last 15 years if you replace the cradle pins yourself it shouldn't be that expensive for parts. I would guess around $400. It isn't that big of a job as long as you have the tools to do it. I regards to the shifter moving the top of the transmission cover is wore and needs to be replaced. This is another simple fix. I buy most of my parts from After Market Parts out of North Carolina they should be able to fix you up and have always been really good about giving me a price quote if I am looking at a machine that needs fixing.

[spencerhenry]

if it has that much slop, it is quite possible that the pins are bad, the bushings are bad, and the steel that the bushing presses into is worn. if the steel pivot is worn and wont hold a new bushing, now you are talking LOTS of money.