We need an excavator where i work to load scrap metal from a bin into dump trailers. The machine will only be used once a week or so. There has been much discussion about what size/how new/hours etc but i want other opinions. Our neighbor just leased a 312E and its a really nice machine. We were thinking about trying to find a 311 for a decent price. The more i have been thinking about it i think we would be better off going with an older machine. It wont be used much and it just has to be big enough to be able to comfortably load dump trailers. Im a deere guy so i started looking at 490E's and older 120's. Im thinking find a mid-late 90s machine with around 6000 hours and a hydraulic thumb. Im thinking one could be had in the 30k neighborhood? Another plus of getting an older machine is we would be able to fix it if something happened. If we got a newer one theres all the electronics to worry about and for some issues would need to call a cat/deere/whatever brand we get mechanic. Any machine we get will be pre 2007. Thoughts?
I've used a 120 in my scrap yard for over 10 years I have a grapple that I designed and built for it that can load trucks quite fast. It's extremely easy on fuel and it's easy to move to other sites. The only thing I wish I had for loading trucks is an elevated platform to sit on so I could see into the trailer as I load. How high are the sides on the trailers that you are loading? Would you be wanting to use a magnet sometime in the future?
http://www.machinerytrader.com/listings/construction-equipment/for-sale/8312151/1995-deere-690e-lc Add a grapple or magnet......
We used to load high side end dumps with a 215 cat. We had several of them and wore several out. After I left they got a 320 with a raised cab that looked real nice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Is it not possible to borrow the 312E or use more oxy gas to chop the scrap into smaller pieces and get in a loader (hiab, palfinger, prentice, linkbelt etc) on a truck and not have to worry about purchasing an old excavator? What is your site like? Would a rubber tyred excavator be more useful if you have a clean site to use for other jobs? Once a week to load one truck or once a week to load trucks for 16 hours straight? Does the scrap has to be sorted , then you might need a steel track excavator. There are plenty of electrics in the older excavators to worry about. If the slew does not work in an older one because the slew has disintegrated due to age etc, mere electrical trouble in a newer one can be minor by comparison. Battery maintainer/ charger for the excavator might be necessary.
We will be loading into a standard height 26' dump trailer no high sides. Theres no chance of magnet or anything else in the future. Just the excavator with a thumb. it will be perched on an elevated platform and reach down into the scrap pile and load into the trailer. The neighbor has the 312E on lease for site work and will only have it for another month or 2. We have the means to transport it so in the future we could always take on other jobs but for now its just going to be for scrap metal. The main part of the scrap is household such as washers/dryers. Nothing really big enough to cut up. We do have a loader with a 4-1 that we are using in the meantime but we are pretty settled in getting the excavator to load in the future. It will be used to load the dump trailer when the pile is full so it will be used 1-2 hours at a time. There is some minor sorting that will need to be done. There may be electronics in the older machines but no where near as much as the computers in the newer machines. The machines we are looking at are mechical diesels whcih in my opinion are very easy to work on.
Ex120/ex200-5 onwards deere/hitachi (same machine) around 6-9k hours will do you fine, reliable as heck and plenty of parts.