Hey guys. Looking at a 1987 Gehl 6625 skid steer with 4 cylinder Perkins. Can you guys give me any info on these machines? I've tried search all over Internet to not find much at all. Are they dependable and reliable? I realize it's an older machine but how much can you expect out of them? Any reviews what so ever would be awesome. Thank you very much!
I don't have first hand Gehl ownership experience, but it might be worth a trip to your local Gehl dealer too and ask a couple of their longer-term mechanics who may have worked on them over the years what issues they've seen come up. Let them know you may be bringing it in for work/service ...if you buy it. Then go talk to a Parts' guy at the same dealership and maybe that person will have some thoughts/ideas on things to look out for. Often Parts guys are former mechanics and may have worked on the machines back when they were new. I knew a demo contractor who had a 6635 with t-bar controls and he worked that machine pretty hard day to day. He had experience with many different skid loaders over the years. I asked him about it a couple times, how he liked it over others he's owned. He liked it, said it was a great machine for him, very strong, easy to manouver, good visibility, tall reach. But a lot of changes were made between the 25 and 35 series. I've seen several Gehl's on local jobsites last couple years where major excavating was being performed. It caught my eye because I would have expected Cat machines to be parked next to these excavators and dozers. For an excavating company who could buy just about any machine they want, to buy a Gehl, they must have some confidence in them that motivated them to buy them over another machine. A lot of Farmers around here have them as well. The machine you're looking at is probably priced pretty right, given it's age, but if there was a choice between the two, the improvements in visibility and safety, make the 35 series a nice machine. If the machine you're looking at has survived this long and still running strong, I think, it's a pretty safe bet it was probably maintained fairly well, the faults worked out by now (although new boogers will always come up), and it's a matter of looking at bushing wear at the lower bucket pins. Sorry, that's all I can help with. Hopefully some owners will chime in.
BTW, .... how many hrs?? Any leaks?? Has it been converted over to universal quick attachment? If so, that's great. If not, and you have to spend money to convert it over, and you intend on doing so, then it could cost you probably at the very least $800 and more like $1,200 to do so by the time you buy a new adapter (even a used one is pricey) new pins and bushings and so on. Don't underestimate the cost of new pins/bushings. This alone might make it more cost-effective to keep your eye out for a '35 series machine. Just some things to consider.
I have a 6625 machine that I have used for years; they are pretty much trouble free, simple design which is easy to work on; no computers to screw up. about the only downside is the japanese perkins engine parts are becoming scarce.