purplewave.com
machinerytrader.com
equipementtrader.com
Several worthwhile threads on here about purchasing/owning backhoe's. To my knowledge extendahoe's and thumbs do not mix.
$30k should get you a reasonably workable backhoe.
I am not calling you out. If you have ran one much at all you know what to look for. Others along with myself on here will happy to list a bunch of points to look for.
I'll start with an easy one to miss. A "low hour machine" that doesn't look low hour. At a local auction house I regularly see beat up "low hour machines". Someone just puts in a new hour meter to hide how many hours the machine really has.
FWIW I own and make a living with a Cat 420D, 4x4, cab, heat, air, 4in1, extendahoe.
purplewave.com
machinerytrader.com
equipementtrader.com
Several worthwhile threads on here about purchasing/owning backhoe's. To my knowledge extendahoe's and thumbs do not mix.
$30k should get you a reasonably workable backhoe.
I am not calling you out. If you have ran one much at all you know what to look for. Others along with myself on here will happy to list a bunch of points to look for.
I'll start with an easy one to miss. A "low hour machine" that doesn't look low hour. At a local auction house I regularly see beat up "low hour machines". Someone just puts in a new hour meter to hide how many hours the machine really has.
FWIW I own and make a living with a Cat 420D, 4x4, cab, heat, air, 4in1, extendahoe.
I have often wondered how machines that state low hours are able to be passed as such.
Replacement of the hour meter would be the culprit.
carfacts has an awesome tool for managing that kind of an issue with std vehicles… sad they don’t track tractors that way.
I suppose the best way to scam a potential mark would be to put 1500 or 2000 hours on a machine and then replace the hour meter. For folks that use their machines very little, it would take a long time to recoup anything… 10 or more years, and then what do you get? Maybe a 10 to 20% premium on your tractor when you sell it, minus the cost of the hour meter.
I remember when I was looking at buying a used machine, and you’re right, there were lots of really beat up machines with 400 to 1200 hours on them.
It made me wonder about the durability of Kubota machines in general, that if a machine could get this torn up in 1000 hours, did I really want to spend $30k or more on one.
So yes, now that you have filled me in on that kind of less than honest activity, I can see how misleading any kind of equipment that rests its usage on a simple hour meter can be.
Previous to buying new, I had wondered for a fleeting moment about how easy it might be, thinking that Kubota might require a serial number and old hour meter to program in order to protect the consumer over just handing out replacement meters to anyone at any time … for any reason.
So now, after owning a new L3560 HSTC Cab exactly 1 year and 1 week, I can say the I’m just about 5 hours away from my 400 hour service.
The unit still looks new. TheCab is spotless except for some scrapes of the gray paint on the steps, and the internal metal surrounds and pan around the base of the seat.
Externally, the units is the same, and would still be perfect except for the poor handling of the unit when it was in for warranty work at White’s Tractor in Canastota NY.
There are scrapes up and down the door support verticals, some of which were touched up, others that were not, and none of which were ever communicated to me.
All in all, the durability is ok… not fantastic after a year, as a lot of the fit and finish issues are related to poor service practices from the dealer.