Ductape said:
California,
May i ask what you paid for the backhoe? I looked at one identical a few weeks ago. The one i looked at was well used, with several welds/repairs over the years. That being said.... i thought is was in fair condition... it did need a few hoses and the bucket needed to be rebushed. The seller was asking $2900..... i started at $2200, and came up to 2400. He would not accept my offer, and i walked. Just wondering if i was in the ballpark.
I think your instincts are right. A new non-Kubota BH would cost at least $5,000 and the one you saw sounds like you might have $3,000 in it when you put it in service.
I paid $2,500 which was a steal. This was a lesson why everyone should at some point read a book on marketing, to appreciate that effective presentation is how you get full value for anything. I found it on the regional Craigslist for a backwater corner of California, 2 to 4 hours drive from any major population center. He should have also run that ad on San Francisco Craigslist to reach 25x more people. The Subject was simply Backhoe Attachment, and the text was only: "3 point backhoe attachment with hydraulic pump. 10" bucket." No photo. It had been posted two weeks when I saw it. I emailed him and he said I was his first contact. Later I saw he had previously listed it with $2,800 in the Subject plus that text, with no replies.
I told him I would get the cash Monday and get up there (200+ miles) to look at it.
He emailed back Saturday morning and said I had better get there early Sunday. He had posted a better ad responding to my questions and his phone was ringing every five minutes. The new ad included the word Kubota (which would hit for everybody who searched on that word) and had the photo I posted above.
I wrote back I would raise all the cash I could get from the ATM and borrow from neighbors and buy it Sunday, if I could give him a personal check for the last 10%. (I gave him references he could verify online and in my region's phone book). When I got up there he was on the phone and said the caller was offering his price sight unseen if I didn't take it. I felt lucky he didn't make me bid against the other callers. His wife was a little distant, I couldn't tell if she was shy or had been telling him 'Honey if you only..." for the past 24 hours.
I doubt I'll ever sell this but if I can keep it in as nice condition as it is now, I think I'll ask at least $3,600. (And advertise it all over Northern California!)
I changed the fluid, see:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-hydraulic-fluids-huge-drain.html#post1176300
then went out and pulled some stumps. It looks like it had maybe 100 hours use in the past. No repairs aside from one hose that is unnaturally long (emergency field replacement?), the paint is nice, the pins are snug and the teeth unworn. This is a great new toy. It's too much fun to call it just a tool.
please...
