Military Surplus JD 350 Straight

[bulletpruf]

Did anyone here buy the military surplus 350 straight that was on govdeals.com near San Antonio, Texas? It wasn't running, but the engine wasn't stuck and it only had 440 hours! Had a 6 way blade and a really nice undercarriage, too.

With one minute to go in the bidding, it was only at $1,300 and I bid $4,511. Ended up getting outbid! Sold for $4,561. Should I have bid more? I already have a 350 straight, but it has 2k hours on it and I paid $8,500 for it.

[Jason37756]

Sounds like you wanted it. So yeah I would say you should have bid more. Probably could have had a decent dozer for around $7000 by the time you got it going. Transportation, maintenance, and some repair work would have been in order in the final drives. The undercarriage looks great on that unit.

I would think $4500 was toward the top of the value for anyone who knows the amount of labor that would go in to an old machine. All of my purchases have been between $2500 and $5500.

[bulletpruf]

I hear you. If I didn't already have a 350 dozer, I would have bid it up a bit more.

Thanks

[dabear3428]

yes i did
sorry to beat you out of it but,
My father just passed away last year and he left me his mid 70s 350B, he had it for a long time but neither he nor the previous owner knew about the bolt issue with the reverser to transmission bolts nor the fact that the reverser had a filter so his burned out the bearings in the reverser. in his last few years i was helping him run down parts to repair the reverser, but the output shaft in the reverser and the input shaft to the transmission was compromised, on top of that he broke the front cover casting on the reverser. just before he passed, he had me go up to Leaky and collect the parts so i have a most of the parts that were scattered around his shop and the compromised reverser/transmission issues, I was having a difficult time getting enthusiastic about reassembling this pile of parts. the 350B undercarriage is 75% or so (per my father). I was on the hunt for a doner reverser but stumbled across this listing and i'm 2 hours south in Orange Grove.
I had gone out over the weekend and took photos thru the fence and could tell that it was a low hour machine with what looked like newish hoses. I had also seen your question about inspecting it. I did not think anyone would go over 3500 for it so had bid 3650. was all happy that is was staying down at 1300 right up to the last second when you dropped 4500 on it. I knew that you had inspected it so thought it could not be too bad and went up to 4650 which is where you left off.
nothing personal about it but i was motivated by the above, with this i can get my father's last project off my list (i know i'm cheating).
anyway i know enough about jd 350s to be dangerous, so any insight would be appreciated, also i will have a lot of spares that maybe we can work out a deal on since we are close enough that logistics will not be a problem.
also as a pre-retirement project i am building a machine shop here in Orange grove (no production but just one-off parts for my projects and friends, and as a fellow JD nut i include you in that circle so if you need a part made i have a 14" lathe as well as several knee/bed/horizontal mills that im setting up here.

[dabear3428]

How do I post photos in here?

[dabear3428]

some repair work would have been in order in the final drives
i would love some pointers on what those repairs would need to be?

[dabear3428]

well it looks like the rain has let up here so back to loading up tools in trailer, i will be picking it up after lunch.

[Jason37756]

The repair work will be rebuilding the steering clutches & break bands. Also, any seals or bearings that may have rusted or dried up over the years of setting around.

I would recommend you call Lavoy for some manuals and parts. 701-361-1006

[dabear3428]

I have 350b manuals, it turns out that it was last used in 23, I was able to steer it with the clutches/ brakes while wenching it so the clutches are not froze up and the brakes are effective, may have dodged that bullet. I need to sort out electrical and I assume fuel but we will see

[dabear3428]

Got it on the trailer then blew out a tire on the trailer and my jack will not lift it all so waiting on the tire guy

[Jason37756]

Can’t ask for better than that…clutches and breaks may be good. Definitely dodged a bullet.

Filters, fuel, and fluids is where I would go. Something will pop up that will need attention, but it sounds like the major stuff is worth the purchase.

Bummer on the tire, we’ve all been there.

[dabear3428]

has anyone seen a stanadyne CBC331-1AL INJECTION PUMP ON A 350?
this one was recently retrofitted with one.
all of the external hydraulic hoses were replaced recently. also my favorite mod on this dozer is that they moved the fuel tank and seat back about 5 inches, i'm a big boy and that mod will make the dozer much more usable for me.

[dabear3428]

never mind i found the info, it seems that the CBC pump was the earlier design and that rostamaster was sold to stanadyne who discontinued support for this pump, but this one was recently rebuilt/replaced, it is a different color so i assume that it was replaced so it should be good for a wile.
also i have a complete spare engine so i assume that i can take the newer pump/drive off of it and retrofit.
I'm breaking out my inspection camera to look in the tank to determine if i need to clean it before proceeding, just looking into the fill port it looks good.
the tank does not currently have a inlet strainer, is there a good place to get a replacement?

[bulletpruf]

yes i did
sorry to beat you out of it but,
My father just passed away last year and he left me his mid 70s 350B, he had it for a long time but neither he nor the previous owner knew about the bolt issue with the reverser to transmission bolts nor the fact that the reverser had a filter so his burned out the bearings in the reverser. in his last few years i was helping him run down parts to repair the reverser, but the output shaft in the reverser and the input shaft to the transmission was compromised, on top of that he broke the front cover casting on the reverser. just before he passed, he had me go up to Leaky and collect the parts so i have a most of the parts that were scattered around his shop and the compromised reverser/transmission issues, I was having a difficult time getting enthusiastic about reassembling this pile of parts. the 350B undercarriage is 75% or so (per my father). I was on the hunt for a doner reverser but stumbled across this listing and i'm 2 hours south in Orange Grove.
I had gone out over the weekend and took photos thru the fence and could tell that it was a low hour machine with what looked like newish hoses. I had also seen your question about inspecting it. I did not think anyone would go over 3500 for it so had bid 3650. was all happy that is was staying down at 1300 right up to the last second when you dropped 4500 on it. I knew that you had inspected it so thought it could not be too bad and went up to 4650 which is where you left off.
nothing personal about it but i was motivated by the above, with this i can get my father's last project off my list (i know i'm cheating).
anyway i know enough about jd 350s to be dangerous, so any insight would be appreciated, also i will have a lot of spares that maybe we can work out a deal on since we are close enough that logistics will not be a problem.
also as a pre-retirement project i am building a machine shop here in Orange grove (no production but just one-off parts for my projects and friends, and as a fellow JD nut i include you in that circle so if you need a part made i have a 14" lathe as well as several knee/bed/horizontal mills that im setting up here.

Well, I'm glad to hear your side of the story! I wanted it, but I just bought a 1967 350 Straight so the timing wasn't great.

$4,500 was my max bid. I think it was likely worth more than that, but I was worried about steering clutches after it had sat for a while. I was also worried about the reverser, transmission, hydraulics, etc., because I wasn't able to start it. My buddy and I rolled up there a few hours before the auction closed and just had a chance to look it over and confirm that it was a low hours machine.

Jealous of your shop! I recently retired from the Army after 26 years, but I work full-time from the house. I have a 20' x 50' shop where I do my wrenching on weekends, currently have the 350, a few 71-74 AMC Javelin road race projects, a '69 Bronco, and a 1991 F350 crew cab diesel dually. You can check out some of my projects here - https://www.youtube.com/@THEBULLETPROOFGARAGE/videos

Anyway, I have a Bridgeport clone (Comet) mill that I need to set up. Need a lathe, too. If you end up making any parts, please let me know!

My 350 is in fairly good shape, but I wouldn't mind having a ripper for it. It has loader shoes on it now, but I'll probably just buy new single grouser dozer shoes. I may need a track tensioner for the left side; mine's currently frozen in the extended position, but I'm thinking I'll be able to get it collapsed. My 6 way blade control is really loose and wonky, so if you have a decent one you can sell, I'm interested.

Also thinking about picking up a 350 loader; let me know if you run across one for sale.

What's your plan? Get the military dozer operational and use your 350B for parts?

I'll send you a message with my contact info.

[bulletpruf]

How do I post photos in here?

I use postimages.org - it's free. Here's my 1967 350 Straight.