https://abbotsford.craigslist.org/hvo/d/chilliwack-central-mini-excavator/7235456429.html Newly painted. New tracks. This is vancouver, canada. This is the typical mini excavator for sale. Why brag about a bunch of repairs(prolly shade tree mechanic). Tells me machine was neglected.
Why not brag about them? It's a 26 year old machine and if nothing had been done I'd be more worried. Might be trying to flip it for a buck but at least real repairs have been done and not just a quick paint job.
I asked what the hours are. Owner responded as follows: "Motor was rebuilt in sept 2007. Under 1500. Its a 15000hr motor. I put a new hour meter on in 5 years ago and its at 166 ."
It's a typical smoke and mirrors machine. You are likely to find yellow lipstick in the driveway. Test the slew ring and that may prove out a few things. I was just offered a tractor in trade for a machine I am selling. He said "only 400hrs" yet the tires are nearly worn out!... I called him on that ****. I would say if you ask for receipts for that engine rebuild, you won't get them. By his math "it's a 15K hr engine" so....it must have wore out at 15K so that is 1150hrs/yr average. Rebuilt in 2007, so machine has about 30k hrs on it??????? But usually once you back people into the honesty corner, they just cut you off and move to the next. What irritates me the most is people that flat out lie about repairs. I am far from mechanically declined and I like to ask "so when were these cylinders rebuilt?" They usually say "recently", then they cringe when I look at the wipers and realize they are crusty, broken, or missing entirely. Then their tune changes to "well, I can't quite remember"..... Then you leave......
In the ad he says it's a low hour machine so he means the hours are around 1500. 15000 is typo. To me a bunch of repairs Suggest neglect or lying about hours. I don't care about your repairs. It should be given that machine is in good condition. $18k usd is getting close to cost if new machine. Ask $5k and I might get interested.
Well I would certainly want to know about any repairs, but his list is exhaustive compared to the hours. I suspect he bought it not running for scrap price and is flipping it. Someone will be turned on by the fresh lipstick.
run away hrs are bs the saying around here is what would you like the hour meter to read?? quit looking at the offshore grey market 5 gallon overhauls if you want a good machine spend a few dollars more and get a jd 35 or hitachi 35 all these you have looked at are junk with no parts backup
It the boom cylinder covered in yellow paint?
I just want a machine to have on my acreage for many years . It won't get used too.much. these grey market excavators are robust and parts can be found. It just seems like most of these thirty year old machines are overpriced and neglected, the nice paint job notwithstanding.
if you know all about these grey machines just buy it you seem to know more than those of us that have worked on these i have seen this many times people buying these ooooold machines and getting burnt
The story I am getting is he has put 1500hrs on it since be bought it. Engine was "rebuilt" when he got it (highly doubt that) and he did in fact paint the boom rod. Too many questions. As mentioned, you can get a real machine for that price and this one seems like a lipsticked piglet. She probably needs way more help than even the owner knows because he is just fixing things as they pop up. he is not willing to lose money and expects new buyer to pay for all his expenses in the poor purchase.
Out of the blue, he just sent me this message. : "Less than 1500 since motor was rebuilt in 2007. Probably 6-8 thousand before that. I am second owner. " His ad says it has low hours. Basically, he is now nonchalantly admitting its a 10000 hour machine. I don't know why he would admit this.
Nothing wrong with buying an old grey market machine, but I won't buy one that's been fixed up. I would much rather buy a machine with all the warts and wrinkles, for a price that reflects the condition. Completely ignore anything the seller tells you, trust your eyes, ears if it runs, and nose. Back before the crash of 08 I would bring them over direct from the auctions in Japan, volume is your friend there, try to buy the same models in a select group and figure about one in ten would end up losing money due to major issues. Have to average it out. Oh, the Isuzu engines I dealt with were dry sleeve throwaways, if you religiously maintained air filters and rolled in fresh inserts at about 5-6K you *might* make 10,000 hours. Big Mitsubishis always made 12,000, maybe 20,000 if as I suggested you roll in fresh inserts every 5-6K. YMMV, ancient history now.
The guy is selling a used machine and letting everyone know what was done to it. It's the buyers responsibility to check out the actual condition of the machine, whether buying one with 10,000 hours on it or one with 1000 hours on it. Until you actually look at the machine you have no way to tell its condition nor any reason to bash the seller.
When they say small machines are used up at 10,000 hours, are they talking mainly about the engine. Is the engine expensive to replace? With a car, they kind of go forever.
Yeah I'd rather buy one all roughed up and fix it myself or spend a bit more and get a newer one that's pretty clean looking. Ask to run it for a while and sample some fluids.