Why so Much Work on a 2400-Hour Machine?

[MinnesotaEric]

I don't know anything about its history because the dealer apparently has a policy of not responding to inquiries. I think you're supposed to drive to the dealership and take hostages in order to get a question answered.

Today I went to an auction lot. They had a lot of equipment. Trucks, backhoes, tractors...you name it. The backhoes looked pretty bad. Wet hoses. Bald tires. The auction people don't list the hours on the machines, and you can't turn them on to get the digital dashboards to tell you.

There was no way to tell how much play the booms and sticks had in them because the buckets were on the ground.

My impression is that either they sell these things dirt cheap, or only morons buy them. Maybe they turn the keys on auction day. I didn't ask.

Go to a richie auction. You can investigate before the auction and they list hours. Any auction that doesn't, avoid them.

 

[orezok]

Beware of the Aerosol Overhaul!

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I took a look at Ritchie. They let you choose the maximum hour level you will accept, but the increments are weird. I was able to select 5,000-something, and suddenly, all but 38 of the vehicles vanished!

They show a Case backhoe with 877 hours on the meter, no brakes, and leaky hydraulics. The paint looks great, except for the areas that are hard to reach with a spray can.

I guess businesses aren't interested in selling many machines that aren't worn out.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Well, I made a mistake there. There are some machines with lower hours, but they are post-emissions machines. I would rather not mess with that stuff.

 

[daryelcorran]

Hope it's okay to put a backhoe question here.

I saw an interesting backhoe on the web. At 29.5K, the price is right, since I would probably be putting under 200 hours a year on it. I don't need a new machine.

Anyway, generally, ads for these things are pretty lame. "Hours unknown." No information about leaks or wear. "Runs!"

I found one with a very detailed ad. It supposedly has 2400 hours on it. Nonetheless, the ad lists a ton of work:

Nox Vidmate VLC​

Here is what I am wondering about: how can all that work be needed just because a machine sat around? Most of the hydraulic cylinders had leaks. And why would a machine with 2700 hours need to have the head planed and the valves replaced?

I know 2400 hours mean it's not new, but I know a lot of earth moving machines go much longer than that. I always assume any tractor under 4K should be in reasonably good shape.

When something starts needing that much work you have to figure that something else will go wrong.