I know there is a thread about steering , but my question is about longevity. I am currently looking at buying a 10 ton machine with hydrostatic transmission. I am looking at Komatsu and Deere as well as Cat. I found 2 Komatsu with 3300 hrs or so and the Deere has 5800 hrs. I have requested the HST trans to be sampled and the u/c be measured ( these machines are 4 to 10 hours away) I am having some trouble getting feed back from them. Machines look good but I know I'm not buying a picture. The Deere has a newer u/c looking at the photos and the money on all three are close. Are these things bullet proof or should I push on for the HST oil samples. My last machine was a clutch brake unit.
In my experience if they don't want to give you any information you ask for be very cautious. Oil samples are great but they don't do you much good if they are done right after the oil and filter were changed. I would want to see current samples as well as previous ones. Good Luck
I would arrange for a third party to take the samples and u/c measurements. I think both machines will begin to require drive maintenance in the next 2-3k hours. Not so much in the pumps or hydrostats but the drives and speed sensors on the deer tend to go between 5 and 7 k in my experience. Also depends what the machine has been used for- if it was a support machine at a larger company it has obviously had a much easier life than if it was the sole dozer at the company.
It may b different in the USA but in Australia John deer parts are very pricey food 4 thought. Komatsu drives are very good I can vouch 4 that. In my experience hyd systems such as these tend to give about 15000 hrs trouble free on average a SOS on the oil will only tell u so much but u can hook up gauges and look at pressure and flow if it were me I would push for this to happen and don't forget to check for bypass this will give u a good idea of wat sort of shape it's in. If the owner won't allow this stay away. Good luck.
When I do a buyers inspection on a Deere H or J model I get them good and warm and try to calibrate the TCU. If they don't pass it could be something simple or something serious but it gives me somewhere to start. Most of the time it electrical gremlins that get you though.
Well I made the deal today , thank you all for your input.