I bought some land in southern California that will need a house pad, some roads cut and overall a good amount of dirt work. The ground is decomposed granite and hard as heck. I can only afford one machine and I was thinking that a 977 with a 4 way bucket would be a good versatile machine. So what I found. It is a 1884 977L and claims to have around hours on it. Not sure if that is believable based on the age. The machine just received a new coat of paint which also makes me wonder if it was bought at auction and being puffed up for a quick flip. I will speak the owner today. Anyway, can anyone tell anything about the condition of the undercarriage from these pics? This is all new to me. I will probably have a local shop survey the machine prior to purchase.
Undercarriage looks ok from what I can see. Real measurements are required to tell the whole story.
Hi Evotech, I think you missed listing the hours in your post. Like Old magnet said we would need measurements or some close up pictures to gauge the undercarriage. The pads look great but the rails look pretty shot from what I can tell. My experience with this model of machine has been very positive, they are tough, versatile and powerful. what are they asking for the unit?
The Krylon overhaul always concerns me....I'd rather have one that looked like hammered dookie and was tip top mechanical. Could be an honest machine though and paint was the last part of improvements. More info will help us help you.
Any chance of leasing it for a week or two? You could put it to the test and burn off some of the new paint smell. I like the ripper for your hard ground work.
Can you even legally run the darn thing in California? I'm no expert by any means on this whole CARB thing but from what I have heard that could be an issue. I think it would be worth checking into anyway. Just my $.02
Rails from what I see are SALT, sag indicates the tension in the seals is gone maybe the seals are completely failed measuring will tell the tale there. As far as the Paint Job Overhaul there are a great deal of covers missing on sensitive areas, hydraulics tubing equipment access points so someone has been into it for some reason and hour meters do not always work nor do they stay working in rough conditions. Major scale ripper in back, where what I can see of the 4 way is a great deal of weld buildup/hard facing on the sides so I presume this was a severe application machine and was beat to hell in the process. What price did they toss at you?
Is that a hydraulic line draped along the right side going to the right tilt cylinder?!?
Just saw that, both lines to that cylinder head appear add on/bypass crap.
In picture three is there chrome peeled off the tilt cylinder shaft or am I seeing things. Looks to me that hydraulic repairs were patched as cheap as possible and no care giving to proper replacements. That usually is a good indication of how the rest of the maintenance was done. I would want to test it for a few hours working it hard "if" the price was very right.
Looked to be the masking wrapping the painter did not remove before cycling loader.
I find it insulting when a new member can't be bothered to respond after they ask a question. You have a bunch of folks on here with good intentions offering valuable advice, a simple thank you would suffice.... Common courtesy is unfortunately very uncommon these days.
There is a possibility the new guy has not responded because he was not notified. If I remember from my first sign up, the default was no email response, had to check the other box to get notified. Another 5 gallon overhaul