Nutty,
On one hand, there is nothing more fun than having a dozer. When it's running good, you can do more with it than anything else. There's no way to describe what it's like to spend a day on one and see all that you accomplished. The bigger the dozer, the more amazing it is!!
Unfortunately, a dozer will also become your biggest nightmare. Nobody sells a dozer just to get rid of it for less than they can. When a guy sells a dozer, he knows everything that's wrong with it and has decided it's not worth fixing it himself.
Buying a dozer means working on the dozer. The longer you have it, the more work you'll have to do on it. Never expect a mechanic to come out to work on it for you. They have plenty of customers to keep them busy and your just not important to them. If you find a guy who has the time to fix your machine, than there's something very wrong with him. Why isn't he working steady for the big construction companies where the big money is?
Learning to run a dozer isn't very tough. Getting good at it is. To dig a pond and push dirt isn't very complicated. Grading a road or a level pad is.
Rent one if you plan to do the work yourself. Rent it on a monthly basis and expect to spend twice as much time as you plan on.
If this sounds like your getting in over your head, than hiring it done is usualy a pretty good idea. Find a guy who believes in coreing and compacting the dam, and you shouldn't have any problems.
Good luck,
Eddie
