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Bought the Nortrac dozer in May 2015. Have had a LOT of problems. Last thing was the clutch went out last fall. Overheats. Turning breaks work when they want to. Cotter pins missing from 3 point hitch from factory or maybe just plain fell out. Was using 3 point hitch mower and the arm came lose, breaking/bending lots of the hitch parts on the way down. Drove through some weeds and that pulled/broke the safety switch wire for starting. Left steering rod cotter pin fell out and I had to do a lot of backup/forward effort to get the dozer back where I could crawl under and find the problem. Hydraulic hose started spurting oil like I just hit a gusher. Oil on me, floor plate, etc. Found it was missing the “O” ring. Worked until pressure final broke the seal. Gear shift lever is a BAD design. The groves the lever slips into are a plate with sharp corners and eventually cut the knob off the bottom inside where the lever resides. Stuck me on a hillside, lucky my brother had a D4 Cat and pulled me out. All they needed to do was round the corners to prevent this problem. Think that would help when shifting. All the light switch knobs fell off the first few days. The lock/latch where the battery is housed had the screw stripped on one of the three screws and wouldn’t keep the door closed. Now use duct tape to keep it closed. When trying to find the overheating issue, pulled off the air cleaner. The heavy circular rubber gasket and been forced in and bent over with a groove in it so it wasn’t really sealing the air cleaner. Underneath on the right rear is a place where a plug should be but it’s missing. Told Nortrac and even sent pictures of it to Bob Daily at Nortrac. They had no clue what size the plug should be, sent small ones. I gave up. Grease zerk under the blade lift cylinder can NOT be accessed because the cable covers it. Had to buy two 45 degree zerks so it could be greased. Nortac said there are location all over that will work on the dozer. NOT true. Called a couple of them that Nortrac gave me and they said they wanted no part of that dozer. They finally found a guy by calling any/every tractor repair place around Peoria IL where I’m at. The guy really knows his stuff and instead of the 11 hours Notrac said it would take to fix the clutch by pulling the motor, he did it all in 3 hours and didn’t have to pull the motor.
Going up an incline in 1st or 2nd, I have to brace my foot on the gear shift because it will pop out of gear and the brakes are basically worthless so I have to drop the blade or keep my foot there. First time you will get quite a ride… Nortrac was told well before the two year warranty expired about the overheating issue. They sent a new part that attaches at the water pump. Started the dozer and the needle whacked the red zone of the gauge. Put the old one back in. They suggested it would be best for me to get ANOTHER two year warranty. I started asking about items like the clutch which I knew was having problems. They said, “Sorry buddy, that’s just NORMAL wear and tear. Not covered.” I said I knew the answer before I asked and wasn’t about to spend $2000 for that answer every time I would have a problem.
I bought it because of the idea it was new and had a warranty and supposedly places where it can be fixed. I didn’t want to be a mechanic, just wanted to have a working/reliable dozer. Didn’t happen. Could have bought a small used Cat or John Deere but I knew that I would be getting something that probably already had problems and I couldn’t repair it without spending thousands and waiting for the next breakdown. How many hours on my two plus year old dozer? 150.
Am sure I’ve missed stuff but as you can see, expensive toy. Oh, the guy that fixed the clutch found the left brake/clutch rods reversed. Who assembles these things??? Think I still have a case for the lemon law.
Looked at some of the posting, good stuff. Wish I would have found this site sooner. -
That’s an impressive laundry list of issues, some of which just don’t make sense to me.
Did you purchase the dozer new from Northern Tool in 2015?
“I didn’t want to be a mechanic, just wanted to have a working/reliable dozer.” Sorry to say, but you can’t have one without the other. Small to large excavating companies have their own operators, mechanics, and shops. In my experience, it seems an extreme rarity for an individual operator to NOT be a mechanic. You can go broke quick if you rely on a dealer to repair any little glitch or scratch, or perform standard maintenance.
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Which ones don’t make sense???
Grew up on a farm so I know how to piece stuff back together, a little baling wire for a temporary fix. But after dumping $20,000, I don’t think it should require that much baby sitting for a mere 150 hours of use. That’s an indicator of a pure junk product. The dozer is a basic machine, not much sophistication. Nephew and brother can tear/repair just about anything. They can help but think it’s a joke that this dozer has so many issues. Am 76 years old and not in the mood to be a hobby repair guy.
The guy that fixed the clutch is my only savior. Am sure he can fix any future problems. As for brother/nephew fixing stuff, I found out over the years that it becomes cheaper to pay someone else to fix the problem else you will end up with owing more favors that you’ve received. Part of my education…
Yes, bought it new. So it shouldn’t have had all the issues delivered new from factory. The people that assembled it were either careless and inept. Period.
Saw on post where a Nortrac rep came out to see the problem. Where did that guy live??? Got NO such offers for my $20,000 paper weight. Also, spent another $5,000 on add on equipment. You would think Nortrac would have made a little better effort after I dropped that much on their company. Will not be spending another dollar on them unless it’s an out and out necessity.
Have a couple of farms and could have hired it done much cheaper. But I like the idea of being able to pick and choose projects rather than someone else needing to have instructions and later wanting something fixed/changed. It shouldn’t have required 50% work and 50% down time for repair. That’s why I bought it new.
Live 200 miles from the farm where the dozer sits so when I make the trip, it’s not with the intention of staring at $20,000 of useless equipment. My time there is limited so I have to make the best of the time, not waste it.
Sorry, but it makes an old man a bit cranky.
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Well, I’m 76 and have over 750 relatively trouble free operating hours on my dozer.
I self imported from China through a broker, and did all of the assembling and preparation myself.
The only problems I’ve had are the ones that I asked for.
So you dropped 20 large like it’s a lot of money – price out a new Cat D-11.
I think your dozer needs a new owner.
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That’s sounds like a real solution, sell that junk to some other poor sucker.
I know what a D 11 goes for, I’m not going into the strip mine dirt redistribution business. My brother has a D 4, D 5 and D 8. Too big for what I needed to do.
Might as well took the 20 and lit it on fire in a parking lot. Wasn’t a big deal for me, was what I figured was worth spending for what I wanted to do. Think you’re naive to think 20 is meaningless. Shows more money than brains…
As I already know, “Free advice is worth the price you pay for it…”
“You can’t elect or teach common sense.”
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And therein lies the truth. These little dozers aren’t Cats, so consequently don’t expect them to perform like one. I have been through Cat schools and worked for Cat dealers, and I can easily recognize “operator error” when I see it. So when you are through venting maybe we can address your issues ……. or maybe not.
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Interesting about “operator error” reference in each reply.
Let me see if I understand your logic…
I take my car to the dealer, they rotate the tires and change the oil. Problem is, they didn’t tighten up all the lug nuts and failed to replace the oil. I drive it, a wheel falls off and the motor freezes up. So, it’s operator error because I drove it… And I should keep my mouth shut, not let anyone else know about the lousy service they performed. Perfect.
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Each diatribe you wrote points to you not doing a walk-around inspection before AND after operation – that’s just responsible ownership. Tightening nuts and bolts that work loose is part of the fun – get used to it.
Apparently you had never been under the dozer to see that there isn’t a belly pan. Driving through brush and saplings is bound to tear something up if you aren’t careful and know what you’re doing. This all comes from experience.
One thing puzzles me: You said that the left steering clutch and brake linkages were reversed. How was it even possible to operate and steer because the linkages are geometrically timed in a sequence. The clutch is released before the brake is applied. That just won’t work in reverse sequence.
You complain about missing cotter pins?
Your overheating issue, what’s up with that? Radiator plugged? Thermostat removed? Lugging the engine? Bad gauge? Improper coolant?
I’m glad that you have found a good mechanic that can explain and sort things out for you. Remember, “A good mechanic is expensive, a great mechanic is priceless.”
That missing plug you mentioned is for the steering clutch/brake compartment. It’s a straight metric thread. Those are important because they keep debris out of the compartment, and they will also tell you if your final drive or transmission seals are leaking. The last thing you need is oil on your steering clutches and brakes.
Your air cleaner complaint is a valid one. These engines are used in a variety of applications, and the air cleaner included does not fit this application. These are the only pieces of equipment I know of that allow the radiator fan to blow directly into the air cleaner. I installed a Donaldson outside of the engine compartment.
You should have known too, that Nortrac isn’t the only small dozer in town. Mitsubishi BD2, Komatsu D21, Sutter 300, Sweco 480, and the Magnatrac. To name a few.
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First, you “assumed” just because I didn’t spell it out for you that I didn’t check out the dozer before I used it. Remember, assume makes an ASS out of U and ME… I owned several motorcycles and if you had the desire to come back in one piece, you had to do a damn good job checking out everything BEFORE you climbed on. Found nuts loose on the dozer during several occasion that needed tightening. Check radiator, oil, hydraulic tank level, etc. So, your assumption of me not checking the dozer before I use it was a waste of your typing skills.
Been under the dozer plenty. Read my original message, they didn’t bother trying to keep the wire up high enough to keep it from catching on just plain dead weeds, didn’t occur going through brush, just dead weeds on the edge of a field. Am always careful about brush, have stopped several times to cut brush/limbs off areas because they were wedged where just backing up could rip off a hose. Told Bob Daily at Nortrac they needed to get the wires up out of the way. He said he was going to tell the assembly group to make sure the wires aren’t drooping. That and a dime won’t get you a cup of bad coffee…
Should I have crawled under the dozer to see the cotter pin was opened to prevent it from falling out when I lost all control of the left side turning ability???
The guy that fixed the clutch showed me the manual and how the clutch was inserted in the bottom hole position for the brake and the brake was inserted in the top hole for the clutch. Actually crossed. He said he had to reverse the adjustment they had made at the factory to get it where it should have been. He was amazed to the stupidity for something that simple. I wasn’t, already had seen plenty of stupid or lazy quality control issues.
I have checked the all the possible basic things for the radiator overheating. Pulled out the thermostat and did a test to see if it was working/opening. Watched the flow of the fluid through the radiator with the cap off. Was moving normally. Keep checking the oil dip stick to see it’s NOT rising from antifreeze leaking into the motor. Clean off the front of the radiator constantly. Had the mechanic drain and replace the antifreeze. Said he found no blockage anywhere. Seemed to overheat faster when I was in reverse just smoothing off bumps/lumps with the blade floating over the ground. That should be the process that takes minimum effort/power.
I crawled under the dozer and took pictures of the hole with the missing plug and sent it to Nortrac. It clearly showed where it’s at by the rest of the area in the picture, including part of the right rear side of the track. I even measured it so they would know which plug it is. Probably one of the largest on the bottom of the dozer. They sent something that was about 3/4 of the size needed. Wasn’t the first time I tried to get the damn plug. I gave up.
I bought plenty of stuff from Northern and saw the dozer in their catalog. Looked at the reviews on their site and nothing glaring about issue others had. But I’m somewhat skeptical about reviews. Nothing stops them from putting in their own glowing reviews.
Turning brakes work when they desire. Notice they work better in high range.
Know it’s not a D4. I have learned to pick my battles as to what it will do. Some small trees can be removed easily but you ain’t going to root out a hickory tree… Roots are straight down, half way to China. Have made a lot of trails for kids to ride ATV’s when they show up. Cleaned off a lot of area where I was once using a weed whacker with a blade and chain saw. Nice to be able to pick up a log with log chain and do some easy slicing and dicing before carting of the the wood spliter.
Are we making progress/having fun yet?
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In your testimony about cleaning and checking the radiator, you didn’t say if you water washed the core fins and reverse blew them out. Can I assume you did? These don’t have a pusher fan so a lot of flax and dust will get sucked in around that rock filter and lodge in the fins. Knowledgeable operators fit furnace filter media to the radiator when brush hogging.
One other little dozer that is well worth mentioning is the Hanmey Trio MD50. A sweet little machine.
Did you remove the inspection plug on the other Steering compartment to check?
Here is my rig, along with some videos, and some mods I’ve made. Enjoy.
https://www.facebook.com/yuchaidozer/
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Tried to remove the other plug but it is on so tight I can’t budge it… That was the plan, take a look at the other one.
I had the mechanic change oil/filter, fuel filter, drain and check the radiator. He didn’t find anything not flowing as it should.
I tried changing the oil and fuel filter earlier. Wouldn’t budge and the parts Nortrac gave me originally were so far off that I could see that the fuel filter I bought with the numbers they gave me was about half the size of the filter installed. I was afraid IF I used extra force and screwed up the original taking it off, I had nothing to put on temporarily.
I added some antifreeze to top off the radiator. Bought what was recommended to mix but am suspicious that it didn’t blend in. However, actually added very little. Since I got it back and have run it a bit on a warm day, temperature stayed pretty normal. Maybe draining/flushing fixed that issue???
Next issue to fix is the steering brakes. Will try myself but if all goes to hell, will have the mechanic do it. He makes house calls and has worked on my brothers farm equipment.
Appreciate your input.
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Your mechanic will find that making the steering clutch/brake sequence work correctly he will have to pre-load the brake band so it will always be dragging (it’s a Yuchai design issue).
Mixing types of anti-freeze can have a very detrimental affect. I know you won’t follow my recommendations, but I strongly suggest you perform a good chemical flush and rinse, and install a good coolant formulated for diesel engines such as Final Charge. You will notice that I also have a cooling system filter – which you will find standard on higher end equipment.
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I am going to see if draining/flushing worked to keep the temperature down once the weather starts to warm up. If it still runs hot, I will check with you on doing the process and supplies I will need to do the major flush.
Looked at your pictures, you have some impressive pristine equipment. See you have rubber tracks, is it because you are on and off highways a lot? Do they grip as well as steel tracks? Any advantages?
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