Hey I am looking at a 1997 Kobelco Sk115DZ. Does anyone have some feedback on these machines?
Does it have a blade?? with a blade and a hydraulic thumb you will love it. They are a good machine, have any pics? what kinda shape is it in??
Thanks for the feedback. It does have a blade, but no thumb,yet. It's in great shape for a 10 yr old machine. 4000 hrs on it.
If the price is right I wouldnt hesitate.
The price is $37,500.00 with new paint and decals.
I looked at a sk115 before I bought my 311 Cat.It was a nice machine with a blade it's only real draw back was that it wasn't plumed forward to run a thumb or a wrist I priced the parts to do the job myself came up to over $8000 If it is plumed aleady a Kobelco is a fine mahine:usa
A friend of mine just sold his kobelco 115 about 10 yrs old. it had about 5000 (Rough) hrs on it and it had the hydraulic thumb and blade. I think he got $30,000 for it. I would say your machine would be good deal, better if a thumb was included.
I'm Looking at one of these as well! I am still a junior/new member here and not sure if I can post, but I wanted to ask the same exact question! We are a 2 man operation right now, have a Kubota KX 121 and one truck and want to get a bigger machine. The Kobelco seems to be a good machine for the $$$, I have used rental units and they have been nice to operate. Where in Oregon do you work? we are in the Portland area, go anywhere the money is! Thanks Karl
We are out of Oregon City, stay in the area mostly. But we all know $$$$$ talks!!!
I have a 1997 sk115dz for sale if any one is still interested??
any pics???
Welcome to HEF tasco112! :drinkup
Sk 115 Dz The machine was produced in Calhoun Georgia, If you need a thumb, contact the local Kobelco dealer there in Portland as they are HEAVY into logging conversions. It WILL NOT cost $8000 to add. Have heard of few problems with them. Do check the linkage between the stepping motor for wear or the engine will not run at full speed resulting in lower productive speed. Good Luck
Look this machine over very carefully. I see alarm bells in your description from the first sentence on. First of all, 4,000 hours of use in ten years is absurd for that size of machine. That kind of use is usually done in three years. I've found very few people that would put out that kind of money to run a machine for 400 hours a year. I have no doubt it has many more. Check the condition of the muffler. If it has been changed the machine likely has over 7,000 hours. Many people cut the stack off the muffler and clamp or weld another one on. Look around the engine bell housing. If it is black from exhaust soot you have an indication of a rat. If it has new paint, make sure and run the machine at high idle and look for exhaust leaks. As far as the price on a thumb goes, you need to state whether or not that is installed. Your machine is probably using the extra valve to run the blade. In order to use the thumb you have to install a diverter valve to run the other circuit. The thumb will have to be fit to your existing bucket and you will have to run new tubing over the boom and install the cylinder to the stick. If you can get all that done for $8,000 or less you should jump on that deal quick. The Kobelco dealer in Portland is Feenaughty Equipment. They aren't bad to deal with. You might be able to get the work done through Jewell Manufacturing. They build up many of the logging machines that Feenaughty sells. Weldco Beales, PSM and Highline PortaFab are three other manufacturers of thumbs. Weldco Beales is in Tacoma, WA and both PSM and HPF are located outside of Woodenville, WA. In addition there are a few startups doing thumbs and attachments all over the Northwest. You might find a deal by doing a search on the web. Kobelco excavators are not bad machines, but there are a lot of bad operators and owners. Check this one out very carefully before laying down hard cash.
115dz Fyi. While Hyundai, does or did, use the auxillary Circuit for the dozer, Kobelco does not. Using the auxillary circuit will cause the machine to abruptly turn if the blade is raised or lowered. Kobelco dozer machines use a dedicated pump for all dozer machines. If, if so equipped the thumb and dozer can work together easily. By adding one more valve section to the dozer circuit, you COULD run the thumb, but would be slow..around 12 GPM for the dozer pump. I agree, 400 hours per year is a bit low, look at the under carriage and or bucket linkage for wear. Good Luck