Can anyone tell what model year loader this is? https://buffalo.craigslist.org/hvo/d/niagara-falls-55-michigan-payloader/7179523598.html Also, I doubt that CAT 3208 is original? Doing some research should be a Perkins, Cummings or Detroit power plant.
Best guess for age would be late 1960's or 1970's just going by the cab style. Place I worked had some of the larger Michigan/Clark machines of that vintage. And yes the 3208 Cat would not have been original, if you could give me a S/N off that I could possibly tell you it's age and maybe even what it was originally in. Not to put down a machine I have not seen in person but with all the problems listed unless I was well equipped to do the repairs and just wanted something off-beat to play with I'm not sure be jumping at something like this with so many unknowns. It says it needs an injection pump, does this mean there is none there to be repaired? If so what are you going to use for a core? For what you would be putting into it on top of the asking price I would expect you could find something that would be usable without many hours of work. To be honest the model year is the last thing I would be worried about! Who cares if it's a 1967 or 1972 or whatever. Equipment like this are not the same as a 1982 Chevy where you just stop by at AutoZone and pick up the parts you need!
This would be for a future "play around with it" project. I have a spare 3208 injector pump. I have a bad habit of collecting lost causes like this that I one day want to tinker with, it's a vice... I'd only pay ~$2500 max for this machine if I can find someone to truck it. I did not think it was as old as late 60's, yeah, 3208 is definitely out of place then... Seller states it's a Model Number 55-C, Serial number: 433B-238
Honestly, think the seller is either pulling my leg or he has a 55-C plate on a 55-B machine and doesn't know any better. Looking at pictures online, that machine looks like a 55-B not a C. However I know nothing about these...
So anyone able to look up Serial number: 433B-238? Curious as the the date of manufacture and original engine model/HP.
You probably already tried but I looked at the Clark Michigan/Volvo web site and that was of no help! They do show some of the older equipment but not really much information. They don't show the equipment I worked on in the 1970's Had to do some digging but found a picture, not the greatest but best I have, of a Michigan loader that was at the quarry when I started in 1968. You can see the similarity to the one you are looking at: Now I know that heavy equipment styles don't change as much as automobiles but you can see why I put the age range I did on that machine!