Hello long time reader first time poster, so I’m looking in buying a second hand excavator to do some projects with mostly clearing stumps an a house lot. My question is how many hours is too many on a machine if it’s never had a motor rebuild or a hydraulic pump rebuild? I know these things only go up an down an round and round so many times before they don’t work so well. I found a Volvo EC150 with a 3.9 Cummins which is somewhat uncommon because they only made the 150 a few years from what I gather but it has 13k hours buts seems to be in good shape but the price is right.
If a machine has been well taken care of and maintained correctly, I don't believe the hours really matter. I have seen some with over 20k hours and are still in good shape...……..and I have seen some machines with 8k hours that are all tore to hell and undependable due to lack of proper repairs and pm's.
Design has a lot to do with a machine lasting only 4000 hours or lasting 15000 hours. Many items we buy nowadays are warranted from "defects in materials or workmanship", thereby avoiding the fact that 1/3 of failures are caused by poor design. When I did mechanic work, I liked to draw a distinction whether a failure was caused by normal wear and tear, abuse/neglect or poor design.
Good day The Volvo EC150 originally had a Perkins engine changing to a Cummins must have been an improvement the Perkins had a short life, the machine was a product of Eslov is Sweden evolved from the H3B Akerman these machines had a good life span engine aside, if you need any tec. info drop me a line. The spec is for the 130 much the same. Kind regards Uffex
Defective design is a defect in workmanship. Smaller machines don't last as long as larger machines. I've not seen many excavators of that size go past 15,000 with very good maintenance and repair practices. A general rule of thumb used by Cat dealers was 12,000 hours was the right place for rebuild considerations on all machines. I would be concerned about 13,000 hours and no history on the machines. Items needing close inspection include the engine looking for leaks, start ability in cold temperatures and blow-by showing at the crankcase breather if there is one. If it has an EGR I would be checking the filter looking for how much oil was in it. The speed of the implement functions is another thing to check. I use boom up cycle times and a good rule of thumb is that with the stick and bucket opened all the way and the bucket sitting on the ground, the engine at high idle and the system in the fastest mode; the boom should top out at around four to five seconds. Next check that the machine travels straight over at least fifty feet. Traveling up any kind of incline is a good test for that. Next make sure each track will turn the machine at a dead stop in low range. Finally comes the mechanical stuff. The condition of the undercarriage, any cracks or deformations, damage and on and on. Good Luck!
Oil samples should answer all your questions. How much walking the track motors have done is about all I would be worried about at those hrs.