I have an opportunity to purchase a 2004 JD 250 Series II skid steer. It has 1100 hours, comes with bucket and forks, tires are 1 year old, enclosed cab with heat & A/C, exterior paint is in great shape, interior has some wear. I haven't yet had an opportunity to inspect the mechanics, nor run the machine but would certainly do that before a purchase. I got the guy to agree to $13,500.00 which includes delivery, providing the machine passes closer inspection. I understand that the 250 was somewhat of a train wreck but that the Series II addressed many, if not all, of the issues with the earlier version. I plan to use it around my farm, mostly light duty but some usage one could consider heavy. My questions are: 1. Is the 250 Series II a safe buy? 2. Is $13,500 a good price? 3. As I've never owned a skid steer before, what should I look for as I inspect this machine? Thanks in advance for any information/opinions you can provide.
Seems like a nice machine ...heat and A/C would be nice to have. Those aren't a ton of hours so as long as normal maintenance was done one wouldn't normally expect a lot of wear, but I guess just have a John Deere shop check it over for anything unusual like excessive wear at the pins and bushings (they can be replaced but add up in price quickly if there are several that are worn), cracks or welds on the arms or frame, oil leaks, unusual noises, do fluids look like they are where they should be, drive chain assembly condition, ...and the usual engine things. A few minor oil seepages wouldn't be a make or break to me as long as they are negligable. Are there any electrical upgrades the machine could use, and if so, what are the costs? All machines seem to have some weak areas, and a JD dealer should know what to look for (I'm not familiar with those series machines personally). You might as well figure that the machine will probably need to have the chains adjusted and new fluids all around unless the PO has changed them recently. You might ask whatever dealer does the inspection to put a list together of the cost to do routine maintenance and adjustments just so you know what you're up against. Some things nice for a skid loader other than heat and A/C would be 2-speed (nice but not really necessary unless you have a really big farm), high-flow hydraulics (probably only necessary if you plan to run a snow plow, stump grinder, road planer and items which benefit from high-flow), but there are normal-flow snow blowers out there too that will work. Quick attach (hydraulic) is nice to have as well, but not a make or break. That price doesn't seem out of line for a machine as you describe it, especially with a cab and climate controls. Good luck!
Definitely not even close to being one of my favorite tire machines due to the issues many of the II series have - that being the flywheels are often out of balance causing bad vibrations at lower to mid rpms. Was on my friend's 240 series II (he bought new...currently has around 600 hrs. on it) the other week, and like every time I run it I can't wait to get out of it. Nasty! It's the same engine that the 250 would have minus the turbo. I've had several 240's and 250's and can say that the majority of them weren't smooth. Even ordered a new flywheel from JD and it was out of balance! They also have a plate-less hole in the bottom of the pan for draining hydraulic fluid...pretty stupid. Have seen one that had a piece of river cane push right up into the poly hydro tank. Cabs are small, and with the fold down door, are a pain to get in and out of (and I'm not that big of a guy). Having said that, I have seen many of them with 4 to 5k hrs on orig. engines and pumps. There are some people that like them. They have very good hydraulic power for their size and will outwork/outlift a similar sized CAT. Be careful of assuming the hours are correct as the panels do go bad and get changed out. Look for excessive seat belt chips on the paint on the left side where the seat belt buckle would retract, or wear on the seat arms or control stick foam. Pull the oil fill cap off after it is hot and check for blow-by. Wouldn't hurt to bring someone along that is very familiar with skid steers to get their opinion. More eyes the merrier.
I bought a '05 250 II in 2012. It had 900 hrs then, 1100 now. I gave $15000. I jumped on it too quickly because I thot it was a great price for a newer machine with low hours; a John Deere no less! I did almost no research before buying, although I cant say I would have heeded all the 'beware JD SS warnings' that are available if you search a little. It has vertical lift and had (i think) original tires, with one damaged rim that has given me fits - not the skid's fault of course. Also came with some JD brand, grouser-style over the tire tracks, which i have never used. It is a workhorse, built like a tank in most respects. But it is rough idling, slow, uncomfortable and I'm sure the controls would drive a pro nuts trying to do a lot of fine grading or smoothing. The pedals are stiff and sticky, and with the curved bottom bucket I have is tough for a not very experience operator (like me). I dont like that i cant see the ground on the side without raising the arms out of the way. And you may want to check all the chunks of foam stuffed here and there to seal the engine compartment are in place and not replaced by leaves or nests. Also, check that hyd lines on arms are straight, neatly arranged hopefully in original restraints and not rubbing. I had to replace several ruined due to sloppy install of replacements. Also, dont think you can do a DIY repair on the headliner if it has already fallen; order a new one or do without On the plus side, it starts right up every time, (except the time the injector pump froze up - $2700 for JD reman), it is very stingy with fuel, it is strong, it has good rear visibility. It will pick up an amazingly large slab of concrete. I like that it doesn't have a lot of computer stuff, codes and interlocks and other intrusiveness. It was free of fluid leaks, except for one persistent one from the pan. If you see a drip but no source, check the fluid in the chain cases. if the parking brake(s) or drive motor(s) are leaking internally, they can cause the chain case to fill up on the side thats leaking. It doesnt seem to hurt anything; same fluid. If it leaks enough, it will run out the breather on top of the chain case, run down the top of the chain case/frame, drip into the pan and then onto the ground. You can be fooled for years into thinking you have a slow leak from a hose or ? All in all, I think I came out ok, even with $6k unexpected injector pump and parking brake repairs. Ive done a lot of work with it, moving and leveling road demo rubble and some general support to house building. I do enjoy using it as a retiree doing my own projects, but if i was trying to make a living with a skid, I'd get rid of it, but not sure what I'd look for. Something smoother to operate. Good luck!