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LMC 3700 cf beartrac

T

track lover

New member
Hi all
I am considering the above machine for agricultural work in wet soil.
Crop spraying and I might adapt a mower for front attachment with hydraulic drive from the aux circuit.
Main attraction is the forward cab, the low ground pressure and power of turbo 3208.

Can anyone comment on this?

Were these machines over powered?

Was the hydrostatic system reliable?

Any comments on the machine would be appreciated.

Has anyone seen one fitted with aircon?
Tks
Ian:smile:
 
These cats have definitely been used in crops although I have no personal experience.

I don't know about over powered but more like good power and the hydraulics were very reliable. How reliable they are in a used cat depends a lot on how they were treated/maintained.

Mowers have been adapted to other brands so I would say it is certainly possible but could get expensive.

No reason an aftermarket air conditioner couldn't be put on, they put them on just about everything.
 
Ian: There are much better machines out there than that one. the 3208 used in that cat is rated at 290 or 300 HP or there about. They drop valves quite often. Damn hard to pull that one. The wiring on them never was very good. ALWAYS broken wires or shorts. There are practically no parts for them anywhere. (I have a few) I can go on all day why you should not. I have spent many years keeping them up. Look for a BR 400 or a 275. (Yes I have two). There are plenty of parts easily had for them and they are built so much better.
 
the grousers would also have to be modified to be less aggressive I have the little brother the 2100 I used it once on the tundra. it had low ground pressure and could pull alongside a d-6 but after one steering maneuver you wont have anything left to mow look at a pb or bombardier product with rubber tracks the muskeg is a machine really intended for what you are doing and live hydraulics can be added
 
track lover said:
Hi all
I am considering the above machine for agricultural work in wet soil.
Crop spraying and I might adapt a mower for front attachment with hydraulic drive from the aux circuit.
Main attraction is the forward cab, the low ground pressure and power of turbo 3208.

Can anyone comment on this?

Were these machines over powered?

Was the hydrostatic system reliable?

Any comments on the machine would be appreciated.

Has anyone seen one fitted with aircon?
Tks
Ian:smile:
Click to expand...

An older Caterpillar challenger in the row crop size. 35, 45, or the 55 models are the ones to look for. With wide tracks they would work well for what you want to do.

Snow cats are really better left to work in snow. The engineers never anticipated farm operations, I don't think.

Regards, Kirk
 
Anything snow cat related interests me so it was quite interesting several years ago when I saw a picture of a BR400 pushing silage. Then I have seen Tucker makes a cat specifically for ag work. Do a google search with 'snow cat silage" and you will see a bunch of You Tubes and pictures of a wide variety of snow cats used to push silage and other ag products. Not saying it is the best machine to use but certainly well used.
 
It's just amazing to me what you can see on You Tube...

Randy your right about the pushing silage.. I stand corrected..

I suppose as long as you stay within the normal operating parameters, snow is not required.

Having pushed silage a good bit myself, I still want a wheeled AG tractor. But in a pinch, if a Prinoth or PB cat were just sitting around handy, I might change my mind..

Silage would be easy for them to turn on, and it probably not has heavy/dense as snow...

Taking one to the field in mud would be interesting. You would need a good power washer when you were done..

I have seen a Tucker here of course that had a seeder on it. It resold not long ago in the BST section...

Regards, Kirk
 
Hi all

Many thanks for the responses.
We have peat so low ground pressure is important.
We can set up for long straight runs so turning may not be a major problem. We may even narrow the tracks a bit.
I will look into the valve dropping issue - did CAT have a fix?
I have attached a photo outlining our problem with high ground pressure tractors
Ian
 

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As a fellow farmer, I have to ask, were you are at.. And what do you grow?

Here in the mid west, it is corn and soybeans. We have soft conditions, but not like your perhaps. Peat bogs are small here..

I still wonder if an older Caterpillar row crop tractor would not be a tougher solution than a snow cat. Wheeled tractors end up around 30-40 psi on the soil. The Cat tractor I speak of is more on the order of 5 lbs. A snow cat is usually in the 2 lb. or less per sqr. inch. I am not sure you could tell the difference real world. I have seen these Caterpillar tractors sell for very reasonable prices. Good support, and parts availability would definitely be a plus as well..

There is a Detroit diesel powered Tucker in the buy sell trade forum right now for $22K. The 1744's are a beast of a snow cat, and have been used in farming. Might check it out..

Regards, Kirk
 
as kirk say what are you farming my 2100 will pull like an ox after 2 years the new belts are shot. may just be poor quality belts. they were stamped fall line and came with the cat after 2 years they stretched so bad all the grousers came loose the flexco ends are pulling through the ends of the belts and grouser alignment is all out of wack
 
Hi All
We are between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour on the east coast of Australia. We recently bought this particular property in order to acquire the residential land around its margins. As well as farming our company develops residential land and holds realestate. Farming residential landin New South Wales means we don't pay land tax. My family has farmed in the area for over 100 years.
On this property we hope to produce hay for the chinese market. It is a very unique property, peat soil, flood irrigation, very low salinity and high phosphate. If the groundwater is higher than 600mm below ground surface we cant use conventional machinery. We are hoping that a low ground pressure machine may not only allow us to spray, mow and bale at will but we might even be able to irrigate more often. We wont be pulling ploughs. We have had CAT dozers and excavators bogged in the peat - very messy. I believe that the bog soils in Canada and Florida are drained to > 1 meter so they can use heavier crawlers. On other properties we grow macadamias and fatten cattle.

I was storm-chasing in the mid-west this time last year - saw 3 tornados.
I was impressed with the mid-west and old man river. We did a river cruise from NOLA to Memphis, a bus trip to Chicago and a road trip in the SE. The SE was extremely humid - not to my liking. We have more tolerable dry heat here.
Regards
Ian
 
ian aside from the other previous issues noted I run snow cats in unconventional conditions up here in western Alaska. if you like the bear cat some mods you should look at would be cutting down the width, also a redesign of the grousers maybe square tube or just cutting down the profile of the j grousers which will weaken them my vote would be the square tube for operations in conditions other than snow.
 
I should also note the wider the track the easyer it will throw the track if you are crossing un even ground like mounds or ruts
 
We have supplied tracks for the Bombardier BR275 and the 400 for dirt work
It is a u shaped cleat not as aggressive for summer use.

They are used with the standard 66" wide tracks for pushing sugar beets into
Piles in ND also BR350 machines


Sugar beet machine
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vg667BZd1lk
 

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Hi All
Many thanks for the informative responses

Can anyone recall the model year when the LMC 3700cf "went downhill" ie when cost savings affected the electrics, chassis etc
Could I assume that the CAT 3208 and or the hydraulics were not downgraded much. I am assuming that the tracks are consumables.
I have not inspected it yet so all help is welcome.
There are BRs in Australia but they don't come onto the market.
Tks
Ian
 
the big expense you may have is the hydraulics electrical can be simple and easy to re wire I don't think there was a brain box to control the 3700 hydraulics the 3208 if not run hard will last a long time. I'm no fan od the 3208 but have seen a few in marine installations that just keep going and going. good luck
 
Hi all.
I recently inspected the LMC that was the subject of this thread.
I have attached the identification plate.
Does anyone know how to transpose the serial number into year of manufacture? I would prefer to buy a pre 1996 model
Many tks
Ian
 

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