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Looked at the shovel dozer... it is a OC3-42 shovel dozer... unsure of year.  Appeared to be in good condition in my opinion.  Undercarriage seemed ok though it had been sitting awhile so hard to see the lower rollers since it had settled about 3" into the ground from sitting 2 years.  Exhaust had the normal flap on it and it was raining out but inside the exhaust pipe was drive which is good.  Engine turned over freely.  Not sure what else to report.  The owner owned it 3 years total, used it for a few months to make a foundation for a large barn...and once he built the barn he bought a new tractor and this has sat.  He said it seemed to have good power, worked well and no engine knocking or unusual noises.  Bucket only has 3 teeth that were added on....  about 5 teeth short but not a big deal.

Currently Im the first person to actually show up and look at it for the last month he's been trying to sell.. originally listed at 2,500 then 2,000 now 1,500...   he said he was quoted 300-400 for scrap price but has a guy that wants to buy the loader off it for $600 to put on another oliver he has... so sounds like that would drop the scrap weight so his best offer right now is about $900... I got him talked down to 1,200 and said I'd have to think about it since I'd have to pay someone to move it and there's no clear path from the driveway... he parked it then built a barn in front of it, has about 5 cords of wood next to it and trees on the other side of it so is gonna be an event getting it onto a trailer but gonna attempt to get him to 1,000 or 1,100 though I'd give him the 1,200 he said he wants... 

Didn't see any major issues... just a detached magento ground and he doesn't know where the key is... but minor stuff....   I'll probably call him tomorrow and try to push for 1,000 or 1,100 and take my chances...  Gonna read some more about how to install a distributor off the points in place of using the magneto to see what that would cost and how difficult it would be....  just considering worst case scenarios though I'm a bit optimistic about this but realize with it being probably 60 years old...  there may be issues...

Blake. Good point. Didn't mean to play the what if game. But on the plus side now I'm aimed with some negotiating leverage since I can talk about the unknowns of the condition of the engine and how expensive and hard to find replacements are. And that I can't test ride it to find any other potential problems.  Any thoughts on what he could get for scrapping it?  Sounds like the weight is around 6,000 lbs and I saw earlier this week scrap prices for scrapping cars was about ten cents per pound which would put this dozer around 600 bucks though maybe more if the scrap yard parted out some of the hydraulics etc. Anyways just wanna know what he can scrap it for and hopefully try to talk him down to that price. He sounded frustrated with the no shows and wants it gone so I may have leverage. Anyways. Gonna look at it at 10:30 tomorrow morning. Ill post an update afterwards. Thanks again for all the info so far.   was about ten cents per pound which would put this dozer around 600 bucks though maybe more if the scrap yard parted out some of the hydraulics etc. Anyways just wanna know what he can scrap it for and hopefully try to talk him down to that price. He sounded frustrated with the no shows and wants it gone so I may have leverage. Anyways. Gonna look at it at 10:30 tomorrow morning. Ill post an update afterwards. Thanks again for all the info so far. 

Thanks Doug...

ya, I was reading a few posts on Magneto problems and the posts were talking about having the magneto's rebuilt by a pro shop...

What price range are you looking at for performing a motor rebuild?  is a "rings" only rebuild ever possible or usually a more involved rebuild...  I know it's nice to do a complete full rebuild but sometimes not always necessary... though I've never rebuilt a motor this size..  more so smaller two stroke dirbike engines (top end only), riding lawn mower engines.. usually just top end and motorcycle engines... have done bottom end on motorcycle but parts were cheap so did it more for the learning experience though probably could have gotten away with rings only, but it was a long winter ...

Well what would you guys do if you were looking at a non running dozer such as I've described?  certain things you'd try to check for?  would you take the chance in buying it non running?

Talked to the guy with the OC3-42 during my lunch break.  He said he used it for a few years but parked it two years ago after buying a new Kubota 4x4 tractor and hasn't moved it since.  He said he just wants to get it out the yard since it doesn't get used.  He has had about a dozen no shows and is about to scrap it.  He said everything worked fine on it before it sat.  He recently charged the battery and the motor turned over freely but didn't start.  He said it's not getting spark but while turning over with the battery he moved the loader controls and the loader moved.  Sounds like he has someone that wants the bucket off it if he scraps it but doesn't feel like doing any of that work.

In my experience with other older motors that have sat a while without running, the points often need to be cleaned up...  Anyone have any worst case thoughts... things that could happen from it sitting for two years...  he mentioned maybe it is a magneto problem. 

I made plans to go look at it tomorrow morning but sounds like all I'll be doing is literally "looking" at it...

Lots of good information.  I appreciate all of it.  I'm holding off on the HG 42.  It may work for me, but I'd hate to buy it and not really get much use out of it.

I called on another dozer and the owner said he'd give me a call back possibly during his lunch break or after work.  It's a OC3 -42 with shovel dozer and he's been trying to sell for a while..  downside is he parked it 2 years ago and hasn't tried running it.  He just wants it gone and is looking for scrap pricing on it according to his ad.  He's asking 1,500.  I'll try to find the weight so I can determine scrap price and know what his break point is.  Downside is you can't test ride it to determine engine power, operation etc and is harder to get on a trailer!..  plus side is the low price.  I'm mechanical and wouldn't mind a winter project...  there's a good chance it wouldn't take much to get it going if the engine turns freely.  I have a free weekend so maybe can take a look tomorrow.  He said he's received a lot of interest but no one has actually showed up.  Only about an hour from the house so not too far.

Based on the post from oliver chris the OC3 with bucket would be a good option for me... (of course Im sure you were talking about a running one)...

I appreciate the replies.

Personally I'm a fan of the track loader.  And think it could work well for what I'm looking to do.  My plan is to buy one of these machines and probably use it this fall and the spring then probably sell it.  I have about 2.5 acres of land but but about 1/3 to 1/2 of that is yard so my area to "play" in the woods isn't huge.  I think once I have my trails made and the area for the garden cleared I won't really have much "need" for it and would plan on selling it... at least that's what I told my wife to get her approval.  So my friend has just said track loaders are usually priced on the cheap side cause they're hard to sell and I'll admit, I see the same track loaders being relisted online and in want ads and they appear to be harder to sell than tractors or bladed dozers.  I also should mention my budget is about 2,000-2,500.

Most of the trees are on the small side, less than six inches and some are probably less than 14".  Larger ones I can just leave.  There's not many boulders, so mostly trees really.  A big thing are old rotting trees that have fallen and need to be pushed out the way which im sure this would be more than capable of.  It looks like you have a track loader.  Has that worked well for making trails?  There are about 4 stumps by the end of the driveway I'd like to get rid of which are larger...about 24" diameter.. but id be ok to paying someone else to remove those if they're beyond the capacity of this dozer or even a smaller track loader or tractor.

Oliver Chris - around what price range is that tractor in?

From both your replies it's sounding like the HG 42 may not be as ideal for what I'm looking for.  Glad I found this site since I wasn't able to find much other information online..

I've been trying to find info on the web about these dozers for days and have determined there's very little info... hardly even any youtube videos!  I recently bought my first house with about 3 acres.. I want a "toy" to make trails through the woods for my dirtbike and four wheeler...  I also wouldn't mind clearing out a small area, maybe 40'x40' for a garden.  I have no experience with tractors, dozer etc and first started looking at a few older farm tractors with loaders to buy, then got hooked on shovel dozers but a friend of mine has said shovel dozers are hard to sell... and half of my property is very wet and soggy so a tractor might not be best... he's been pushing me towards a 1940 HG42.  I have a voicemail in to the owner so dont have much info about this yet other than it looks to be maintained well and the ad says its in good running condition but needs paint...  he's dropped price from 3k to 2.5k and now he's asking 2k or best offer.  I had previously been looking at an older Case 450 shovel dozer but reading reviews, people said it was a terrible machine and was too small to do any work.. and that was a 11,000lb machine... i think this one is about 3,000lb? 

so what im looking to do with the dozer....  have fun... make trails.... push downed trees and rocks out of the way...  move stumps after ive cut down the trees.... clear an area for a garden  and maybe try to make some jumps for my dirtbike...

Would this be a good machine to do that?

Thanks for responses...im hoping to take a look at it Saturday