I'm a general contractor that has always done my own excavating, but now that the market is finally turning back around I'm getting some larger projects that are too big for my Takeuchi TL140 and Kubota KX-040. One project in particular requires me to cut in about 700 feet of driveway and then dig out a walkout basement for a 2400 square foot rancher plus a 2 car garage. I'm not looking short term so I want to get a machine that I can use on a variety of projects. From what I am seeing locally I can get a Cat 955L or a Cat 951C in decent condition for around $10k. This would be something that I may use a couple weeks a year and only for the larger projects, but I don't want to go too large that it creates a problem when I'm on a half acre lot doing a smaller house. From your experience which one would you prefer and why? Things I am looking at are: bucket size, ease of digging in rocky conditions, maintenance (segmented sprockets and such), size of machine for smaller lots, able to clear lots of trees and stumps, and overall reliability. Right now I can dig out a 28x32 foundation in about a day with my KX-040 and my dump truck. I have really great equipment for the smaller houses and additions. I need something that won't make me take 3 weeks on these much larger projects and I figure rentals and delivery of these machines would run me about $4,000 per project so I may as well spend the money and buy an older (read: less expensive, but still reliable) machine. Thanks in advance for your help!
My Personal experience with a 955K was very positive, reliable machine with excellent parts availability. I used mine during our house/acreage construction and had very few issues, that being said they are somewhat crude machines and lack the creature comforts that most people these days come to expect. I found the 955K to be the perfect size, powerful enough to accomplish most any task yet light enough to haul with minimal hassle. I have no experience on a 951C, so no comment there Best of luck to you in your search
For the same condition go for the 955L. They were a little more common, have a turbo engine and a bigger bucket.
If you're looking for something of that vintage it may be a good idea to look at machines with the later 3304 model engine rather than the older D330 series engine. For a 955L that would mean a machine with Serial Number higher than 64J5183 or any 13X-prefix machine. For a 951C that would mean a machine with Serial Number higher than 86J2598. That information is correct AFAIK but as usual - YMMV
I did some basic research when bought my old Allis as I had a narrow pocketbook range, 955K was just out of reach for local machines and just as worn slick requiring at least as much in repairs. I had sighted up a few early 953 series units, nothing newer than a B but had not the funds, had I access to the funds or could put enough away I would be looking to a 953(B) for a longer term better response and functional machine.
If you want to keep it a while I would go with the 955L over the 951c,it will do more work.