How to find mechanic for pre-purchase inspection?

[GManBart]

I know this section is primarily about buying/pricing/comparing compact tractors, but I think the topic applies pretty equally to any farm/construction equipment....if it needs to go somewhere else, I'll apologize in advance

Long story short, I'm shopping for another dozer. I had one, sold it to a buddy who promised I could borrow it any time I needed, then he wound up selling it. I'm obviously not going to buy a dozer without looking at it, so how do you find a qualified mechanic to inspect a machine you find on Ebay, Equipment Trader, Machinery Trader, etc?

So, if I find a machine I like that's too far to drive and inspect in person, any ideas for finding someone to do an inspection for me? Anything better than a Google search for heavy equipment shops in the area, or maybe checking the local Craigslist ads nearby? If I was looking at newer machines I'd probably try to find the local dealer and see if they might have an inspection service, but I think that's less likely when you're looking at 20 old machines....thoughts?

I'm looking for something along the lines of a Deere 450, Dresser TD7/TD8, Cat D3, etc. A lot of those smaller machines are pretty beat up, and the difference between used, but serviceable, and used needing $5-10K in repairs isn't usually obvious from pictures. The other thing is I'm pretty sure that many sellers either don't know what they're talking about, or are blatantly lying when they write their description....you'll see a machine described as having 50% undercarriage, and a picture showing the front idler adjusted as far forward as it can go...nothing left. I'm not sure how that equates to 50%, but a lot of people think it does.

So, if there's a machine that's within a reasonable shipping distance, but not a reasonable "drive by to check it out" distance, how would you proceed?

 

[MossRoad]

It would be awfully hard to find a mechanic 250 miles away that you could trust to go inspect a machine for you. Unless I had a good personal relationship with a friend or mechanic in the area, I'd either inspect it myself or pass on the deal. Maybe line up 5-10 machines and make a 2-3 day road trip? Its a dilemma for sure.

 

[GManBart]

It would be awfully hard to find a mechanic 250 miles away that you could trust to go inspect a machine for you. Unless I had a good personal relationship with a friend or mechanic in the area, I'd either inspect it myself or pass on the deal. Maybe line up 5-10 machines and make a 2-3 day road trip? Its a dilemma for sure.

Yeah, there's no easy solution, it seems. My thought was that if I could find someone to do an independent inspection, I could decide whether it was worth the time/money to make the trip myself....maybe not realistic.

 

[Rustyiron]

Older heavy equip is a "crapshoot" for sure. Like a ticking time bomb, any minute you could need a major component replaced or rebuilt. Oil sampling is one good method, but it takes time. I would need to see the machine myself and asess the seller, his story, and willingness to give you the time to send a "guy" to look it over. Then start looking for a mechanic locally. Dealer, rental yard, mobile h'e mechanic, etc. Good luck & be patient.

 

[Catchad81]

More then likely a machine like you're are looking for will have had more than one owner. Makes its history harder to know. If you can find out the selling dealer they can usually pull up a history on what work they have done to it, but that still is a limited source. I would suggest getting a dealer rep for whatever brand you are looking at to do the inspect. Deere and Cat usually have good customer service guys that do that type of inspection. On a dozer obviously there is the undercarriage. It's hard to go by a simple percentage overall as many times all components are not replaced at the same time. An inspector should be able to give percent on the major undercarriage components...rails, pins, idlers etc. the next thing is the engine and the hours are the main factor there aside from any abuse done to the engine not detectable. Then the transmission is a big one. The machine should be brought up to operating temp and put under a heavy load...does tracks spin, how hot does trans or pump get. May hydro drives will be weak here if a rebuild is needed.

Despite all the visual and operating inspection, you may still have a failure of some kind after purchase. Part of ownership but despite cost no different then buying new and its spending slot of time in the shop.

 

[kevin37b]

You are asking quite a bit . A used dozer is tough to evaluate . Lot of hidden issues .

 

[jaydee325]

GMan,

Just curious why you are not considering dealers? In your neck of the woods there are many. You could also consider rental agencies.

May not get the killer deal through either of these channels, but it is possible to get a fair deal. Maybe even be able to reduce the risk of a major expense through a dealer warranty.

 

[PILOON]

Been there, done that.
Cat dealer had a HD6 in his used stock.
I went to the HD dealer and asked to have a mechanic come and check it out.
Cost me a couple hrs of labor at shop rates and WOW, saved me mucho $$'s.
For sure I strongly advise that tactic.

(when I plied in aviation I often consulted in purchase analysis and saved clients mucho dinero, aircraft have many recalls, SB,s and time limits)

 

[GManBart]

I would suggest getting a dealer rep for whatever brand you are looking at to do the inspect. Deere and Cat usually have good customer service guys that do that type of inspection.

That's definitely something I've considered....it would just depend on where the particular machine is, and how close any dealers would be. I'd expect Deere, Cat and Case to be able to handle that, but if it's a Dresser/International, I'd be less confident of finding anybody at a Dressta dealer willing to take this sort of thing on.

I know it's not possible to predict normal parts failures, especially with a used dozer, but would like to rule out the obvious stuff. I think I'm reasonably capable of picking out the obvious stuff, but don't want to drive all day only to find something any decent mechanic would have picked up on.

 

[GManBart]

GMan,

Just curious why you are not considering dealers? In your neck of the woods there are many. You could also consider rental agencies.

May not get the killer deal through either of these channels, but it is possible to get a fair deal. Maybe even be able to reduce the risk of a major expense through a dealer warranty.

I'm not ruling out dealers at all, but I doubt any of them would offer any sort of warranty on a 20 year old machine that they sell for under $20K....seems unlikely. I've been keeping an eye on the local dealers, but haven't seen anything in my size/price range lately.

As an example, I'll link to a listing that I saw and thought "if that was within a couple of hours, I'd go look at it." It's not all torn up, the under carriage looks reasonable...chains aren't bad, P&Bs are okay, sprockets aren't pointy, and there's a fair amount of adjustment left available going off the front idler position. I'm not planning any 800mi trips to SC any time soon, so it's not really an option. Still, if I found one like this I really liked, I might consider it if I could get an inspection done. In fact, I saw a nice Dresser TD7E go for $4500 on Iron Planet today, but it was in NY and too far to drive just to inspect.

http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=9825121