Hello, I am looking at a 2003 Bobcat 334, the digital hour meter only reads 79hrs the seller estimates the hours at around 2000 based on the condition of the machine. He bought it at an auction in PA to flip so he is really just guessing. Is there anyway other way to read the hours? Any thoughts on buying a 20 year old machine with a defective hour meter? The machine appears to be in decent shape, has brand new tracks, asking $22,500 in New England. Thanks
IMO hours are only part of the equation when buying a machine. I've worked on year old skid steers with 1500 hours that were thundered into the ground and I've worked on a 15 year old one that had over 18,000 hours and was in better shape than most I've seen. How does everything else look? Does it look abused? Does everything on it appear to be looked after? Has the previous owner done any fluid sampling?