Hi, We run a business on 2 lakes and their surrounding wetlands in (about 45 acres) in France and have been considering buying a used excavator for landscaping, digging ditches etc. I've been keeping my eye out for something in the 3-5 ton range, however an old Poclain 45 TC (Around 12t, on tracks, mid 70's I think) has just been put up for sale nearby for 3000 euros and is apparently in OK condition. I've obviously got a few concerns so am only really half considering this: How reliable are these old machines - I'm mechanically minded and have vintage tractors which I maintain and repair so I'm willing to try and learn, but spares are easy to buy in comparison and I don't have heavy lifting facilities or the tools if anything goes wrong with the tracks, boom or turntable. I'm not really that interested if the things going to be breaking down regularly as I want it for work not play. My other worry is that the controls would be too crude to be useful for a lot of jobs, such as building up and smoothing lake banks and other landscaping tasks. I know a lot of this is operator ability, but there's no point fighting a battle you can't win! Another small worry of a machine this size is that it would have very high fuel consumption, would this be correct? And what is 'high' consumption for these machines?! Cheers guys for any help you might be able to offer me.
I haven't worked with Poclain excavators since the early 80's. The only thing I remember from that far back is that they needed a special Poclain blue hydraulic fluid and they used to leak oil a lot .......!! Not much help I'm afraid.
Then buy something better is my advice. 40 year old equipment is OK for the occassional farm use but for regular use production work, it's going to be very frustrating. Are Poclain parts easy to get in your area? It's not a brand you here of a lot in the US, especially in my area. At a minimum, seals almost always leak on the older equipment and thus you go through a lot of hydraulic fluid. My uncle has an old "American" excavator and an old Ford backhoe both for farm use. He goes through hydraulic fluid fast when they are operating... It would probably burn fuel at a pretty good rate. How much I don't rightly know. Also consider your transport costs to get it to a job. Personally I wouldn't be in a hurry to purchase this machine. Something tells me it's not likely going anywhere in a hurry...
Cheers for the advice. Just to clarify: When I say "I want it for work not play" I'm not talking about regular day in, day out work contracting. I just want something capable of farm type work on our property that's capable of a days work when needed.
Hi ! question is can you get parts ? if so then it is a plus if not then re-condisder a make that you can at least get parts , or if the price is ridiculous ( mean close to the scrap metal price) then hop in and burn some fuel !!!
I had a LC80 POCLAIN for 10 years and I paid $7000.00 and after finish my work I sold the same price and the guy still work with .
I worked for the dealer in the early eighties and then an end user who purchased two HC300s. They never figured out the seal issues and the tubes they used had mechanical fittings on the ends. We used Dexron automatic transmission fluid in them back then. I'm sure what is used now is just as expensive. When the machines were running good I went through 5 to 10 gallons of hydraulic oil a day. When it got over 55 gallons in a week, I would shut the machine down and go all over pipe fittings and replace as many seals as possible. You better have some big wrenches, 2 inch is an average size nut fitting on those. Were it me I would run away from it. However it appears you are from the country where they are made so you might have an easier time getting parts. I've had machines in this country down for two months waiting on parts from France. Good Luck!
I wouldnt pay more than what the junk man would give me for it... Looks like a money pit to me...
I've bought lots of used machines but nothing that looked that rough. Always try to go into it with my eyes open - you know that things will need to fixed and there are always problems that are unforeseen. When you go to use it you want it to start and be reasonably reliable without blowing oil all over the place. The last thing you want is to spend $5000 on it and then have to repair a pump a bunch of hoses or electrical when you need it to work. Bought a used 1998 SK130 this year and am still putting time and parts into it and haven't used it yet but when I'm finished it will be reasonably reliable for limited use on my acreage. With complex machines like excavators and lots of hours of use and just time sitting there will be lots of things go south on it. I would be very careful if you aren't prepared to devote plenty of time and money to it before you plan to use it. Would always try to buy the newest and best condition machine you can reasonably afford given what you want it to do for you. The worse the condition also raises the spectre of major damage, operator injury or unexpected fire especially with old hoses and hot oil. Good luck.
Cheers guys, I'll keep looking for something a lot newer and easier to maintain. I've had a good look around and funnily anough the only place I can find selling parts for these old Poclains is the North America Case website. It was cheap, but cheap here is still very expensive compared to the UK... as is hydraulic fluid.