buying an excavator

[mlinnane]

A friend of mine has used a excavator for sale. It is a 1987 kado(I think) 28lbs machine he has just replaced the pins and bushing in it. He has had for sale for a while but has been away. He advertised for $18,500 and told me I could have for $17,000. I am seriously considering this as I have 106 acres and need to ripe out hedge rows, dig ponds, take out banks needless to say I have many uses for it. I understand I will need to do something with the dirt so please don't off on that too much. But the machine appears to be in very good condition. What do people think of the price?
Michelle Linnane ?

 

[Spiffy]

I'm far from an excavator expert, but a couple more questions that might help those who are:

What kind of hours are on it and what is the general condition of the machine. Pictures would be great too.

Big equipment can get big repair bills (probably not as bad as pushing a small machine too hard though! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ).

 

[plowrup]

28lbs? How much does this weigh? I am not familiar with Kado (sp?) Give us some more info-

 

[Dirthog]

main thing is can you still get parts if you need them most of the major components are made by about 2-3 companies its the small stuff that can be a problem don't believe KATO makes excavators any more

 

[hockeypuck]

If you know this person then you know how well they take care of equipment or not. I would also ask yourself how dirty are you willing to get. Older machines at best need periodic maintenance, and calling service guys out to fix these hopefully small problems can get expensive quick. I have one, and last year was a good year and I dropped almost a thousand bucks into maintance and tools needed to do standard maintanance myself. I would also have at least 8000 to 10000 bucks in reserve to fix a big problem if need be. Travel motors and pumps are extremely expensive. The brand you are referring to is Kato and I believe it is still made for overseas consumption. Major components and filters should be no problem to purchase. I enjoy working on my machine, but I also fully understood the potential problems and excavator can pose. Like I said in another post, some people buy a boat for pleasure, I bought a 30 klb excavator. An excavator is a heck of alot more usefull than a boat.

Bottom line, if the guy you are buying if from is a true friend he will tell you what the potential problems are and if he takes care of his equipment, it sounds like a good deal to me.

I hope for that price it has a thumb. They are very usefull for work around the yard.

Hockeypuck

 

[tlbuser]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( An excavator is a heck of alot more usefull than a boat.
Hockeypuck )</font>

Isn't that another trade-off in life? Rumor has it that Sail boats draw the tea and crumpet crowd, Power boats draw beer and topless women. But an excavator, what does that do? Pure fun and accomplishment? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Dargo]

I'm no expert, but I have owned a couple of excavators and have used several more. When you say that he has replaced the bushings and pins, which ones? Usually when I see someone do that, they only replace the ones that are shot, not the ones that are mostly worn out; especially if they may sell it soon. I've used a couple of excavators that had so much slop between the crawlers and the unit itself that a couple inch gap opened up everytime I reached out and picked up a load. When I brought the load closer, it slammed shut and about knocked my teeth out. I've been on others where the tracks where on their last leg, but had been greased to death. They sure were quiet, but worn out. You can easily drop 8 to 10k on an undercarriage. That doesn't count if there is anything wrong with the drive system or any of the hydraulic cylinders or the pump. I can tell you from personal experience that it is no fun changing a hydraulic pump while sitting at the bottom of a (mostly...somewhat...okay 2 feet of water and 3 feet of mud) dry lake.

I'm not trying to scare you off, but I am saying that you'd be money ahead to spend a couple hundred bucks getting someone who knows their stuff to give it a good 'once over' for you before you shell out your hard earned money. I've had some nice ones, and I've had some...er...well, you know what they were. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif That is how I got the "free" education on how to work on them. Yeah, that's how to put a positive spin on it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[EddieWalker]

How big of a machine is that compared to a loader/backhoe?

Anything with tracks is gonna cost you somewhere. Metal to metal just wears out. There's no getting around it and if you through a track, what will you do? When it happend to me on my dozer, I had three different mechanics that said they'd come by and fix it for me. None ever showed up and I ended up learning how to do that myself.

Listen to what Dargo said about working on them in very uncomfortable places. This is what happens. They break down in the worse place possible. I had a hose break and couldn't control one of my tracks. I was in the middle of a stand of trees that I'd been clearing and it was impossible to see the ground with all the layers of branches. I had to chain saw a path under the dozer to get the fitting off that had snapped. It was a $2 part that took two days to repair!!!

For people just starting out and with minimal mechanical experience, I'd be very, very hesitant on buying any tracked machine. Even worse, I'd NEVER buy a machine that I couldn't get parts for within a day or two. That means a parts house with people you can talk to, not online or over the phone. NEVER EVER buy a machine that you can't keep running!!!!!!!!!

If the one your talking about weighs 28,000 pounds, than it's not a very big one. More of a portable trencher than a serious digging machine.

With a budget of around $17,000 and a true need for a large machine, I'd seriously recomend you look at full sized loader/backhoe's.

I paid $18,000 for my Ford 555E backhoe with 2,000 hours on it, and consider it the most useful thing I own. It will take out any tree on my land along with brush and debri. The front bucket holds just over a yard of dirt and I've been known to move 200 yards of dirt in a day with it. It weighs 14,000 pounds and when you backdrag the bucket, you can shape roads, smooth them out and cut new ones. I like it better than my dozer for finishing off a road!!!

If I was looking again, I'd probably get the same model, but put a 4 in 1 bucket as a priority. My neighbor has one with the 4 in 1 bucket, and it's twice the machine mine is with that ability. He just drives up to a log and picks it up. Simple, easy and fast!!!

Look around at new machines and see what you can afford. Stick with brands that have dealers close to your home and be patient. There's always another good deal out there, you just have to be watching for it.

Good luck,
Eddie