Hey Guys I have just joined this great forum. I am new to heavy machinery – thus some friendly advice is required. (Please go easy on me…) I am looking to buy an old excavator in the next 6 months to help develop my hobby farm (roads, drains, wet areas, pad for shed, house, clearing light trees and lantana etc etc). The property is very steep in most parts. I need some advice as to what to buy (looking for 15 to 20 tonne machine). (1) Is there a brand that tends to be more reliable and easier (cheaper) to fix when they are old? (2) Is there a machine that suits steep country better than others (eg wider tracks for stability or lower centre of gravity)? (3) What brand has a spare parts readily available for old machines.? (4) Will plan to use it for say 5 to 7 years developing this property but use may only be 200 to 300 hours per year. (5) Of the brand you suggest – what are its weak points I should look to check before buying. (I’ll probably be buying at machinery auction so testing is limited). I was thinking Hitachi originally but after reading this forum there appears to be a disproportionate number of problems with them. But I have an old mini excavator at present on a smaller property (Hitachi Mu33) which has given me good service. But I want to sell this to get a bigger machine with steel tracks. My budget will be about $AUD20K including trade-in. What would you advise? Thanks in advance. Cheers
All hoe's have pumps and hoses that need to be checked final drives and under carrige Make sure the swing bearing is in good shape aswell. All hoes have problems dont look at what brand has problems more so look at how well the hoe was taken care of thru it's life this will give you a much better chance of getting a better hoe.
Then the problem is getting the parts, even a good machine with broken parts, that can't be found, is only good for scrap. I'm sure others can advise much better then myself. I'm also getting an older machine and still believe I can get parts with a little bit of looking around. Some of the folks here have good knowledge of what is or isn't worth your time. From what I have researched insley and others like it{bantam, hein werner etc...} are still fairly easy to get parts for, depending on what is needed???? :drinkup I agree, get a feel for whom is selling it also, if they seem like a dope then chances are the machine was neglected. These machines are tough but if not greased and maintained they're only worth their weight in scrap. BUT even though you may find a great machine I'd still make sure you could get parts, more then likely something will probably break. Once you start looking around chime in here with what you're interested in. That way the folks will know exactly what to give info on.
E-200 b I HAVE HAD GREAT LUCK WITH THE CAT EL200B.THE ARE A GOOD BASIC MACHINE .MAKE SURE YOU CHECK ANY MACHINE OVER VERY WELL. JIM:usa
sounds like a dozer would suit you better as you are building roads, and house pads:beatsme
I found an excavator that was a good price and in good condition, then I did my research to make sure I could get parts and service for it before I bought it. I also talked with the excavator guys in my area. Put my mind at great ease when I bought it.
Wow that was fast What did you get?
I'd say the number of problems you see related to old hitachis on the board has more to do with how many are still kicking around then anything else. Looking at late 80's to mid 90's machines I would go with Hitachi, Cat 200's, or Kobleco/Link-Belt(If Link-Belt made it over there). The first consideration should be you local service situation with each brand. Try to get some impressions from people who use your local dealer and take a trip in there to see what they are like. You're basically making a 5-10 year commitment to do business with them by buying a machine they service. So, making sure they are a good dealer to work with, especially in the parts and service departments, is important.
Yes Tonka (Beatsme) you are probably right for that aspect and in a perfect world I would have both. But I have a tractor I use for slashing that has a blade for leveling etc. But I need excavator for putting in pipes at water crossings, drains etc and as I have an old tipper I can still excavate house pad etc and remove spoil by truck. It seems to me (but I could be wrong) that an excavator is more versatile than a dozer, Cheers
Hi Hvy1ton - No as far as I know we do not have Link Belt machines here. Also Maddog we do not have Insley, bantam ,hein werner. Australia has little manufacturing industry - we import everything. But all the big name brands are here - Cat, Kobelco, Komatsu, Hitachi, Samsung, Hyundai etc etc. Thanks for the advice so far Cheers
Here is a photo of one of our private roads that needs work to make it all weather access - concrete pipes to take water under road from top side, drains on top side to control flow etc. Removal of landslides. Some is virgin rainforest country. We have about 6 km (4 miles) of roadways that were cut into the hillsides maybe 100 years ago - there are about 8 water crossings that needs pipes or box culverts. This is why I need an excavator.. Cheers
I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to where you are from ops
a good dealer with a friendly parts department pays dividens. nothing worse then a dealer who dosen't what to help someone who's not a equipment mechanic and knows what every part is called.
Link belt is sumitomo in Aus... They seem quite popular in WA at least, i've seen quite a few and also looked at one when I was buying for my farm. I found in the end that I didn't have much choice of brand as the limit is really what was available for sale thats was reasonably priced and in ok condition. I suspect you probably have more options over east. I was originally looking at late 80's machines but in the end I decided to spend a bit more and ended up getting a 97/98 hitachi EX270-5. I am doing all the same type of stuff you mentioned on a hilly jarrah block in South West WA. Most of it is gravelly but I also have a creek and swampy area and a fair amount of rock up the hill where we are building. I started with a little mitsubishi D2 sized dozer with swamp tracks that was really good but in the end I think you are right about the versatility of the excavator. I find the dozer a lot easier to for some of the jobs as my skills are still lacking on the excavator, but I'm working on it.
alot of john deere parts are interchangalbe. this may help you to save a buck
Where did you see that? I wondered why Link Belt was not in Australia but i thought they were made in the US? Because Sumitomo is made in Japan. Nick
To the best of my knowledge Sumitomo signed agreements with link-belt in the US and with JCB in the 80's to help these companies improve their machines to compete with the Japanese made items like Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Kobelco Kato etc.When JCB went alone Case who had purchased Poclain ceased production and did a deal with Sumitomo like fiat did with Kobelco that later became New Holland.
Looking at an H560B, looking into part availability.