Can anyone tell me an average hours on specific machines should have on average basis ? For example a 2003 case 580 super m has 6000 hours is this a normal usage ? How do you determine cost of machine ?
Well a 40 hour work week for a year is 2080 hours. That's assuming machine was used full time. So it can vary all over the place depending on what kind of application the machine is used in. Also the location the machine is in can control the number of hours. If in a warmer area it may be used year round digging ditches or foundations, in colder areas might spend winters parked or doing duty plowing snow. Just a wild guess on average I'd say around 500 hours a years could be "normal". Care and maintenance would be more important than simple hours use.
Over the years I've gotten pretty jaded about advertised hour meter readings. To be blunt, they don't mean anything and do more to confuse the buying situation than anything else. What you need to know is the actual condition of the machine! Hour meters are meant to track maintenance time and not total machine operating hours. Even with today's computer driven machines which have a far better chance of really being total machine hours, I've found problems.
Typically machines used for residential, light commercial, etc I've seen average from 500-1500, hours a year. Pretty large range, you never know how much of that was just idle time. Like kshansen said, Machine condition is a much better way to price than going by hours. Tight pins and bushings, all the glass in good shape, no major dents and scratches, inside the cab still in nice shape, how well the maintenance was, etc. are you looking at auction machines or dealer/contractor equipment? Don't be fooled by a good cleaning and paint job on some auction units. It's not too hard to tell if something was cared for or used and abused.
and then you have the problem of seller's changing the hr meters
I used to know a dealer that always had hour meters running on a battery charger for whatever reason... apparently he was to lazy to actually tamper with them internally