There is one coming up for sale and I am thinking about looking into it. What would be some things to look into on the machine. It has a cummins engine which to me is good. when they say the undercariage is 70% does that mean gone or left? Are parts still available for this machine and how expensive are they. Is it a 64,000lb machine. What is the weight? How much would a ditching bucket cost for it? thanks in advance.
does anyone have anything good or bad to say about these machines? how about the years they were built?
70% refers to what´s left on the UC. Cummins makes a good motor, but it´s far from being the most expensive component to repair or replace. Hire a mechanic to check it over for you.
I tried this machine out today and decided against it. The owner has had it for a little over a year he said it is a 85 or 86 to the best of his knowlege. The final drives were cast into the undercariage or somthing like that. I've never seen that on a machine. The reason I was considering buying it is because I like the pc40-3 I bought. I thought the older machines would be harder to run but i can move quickly with that little machine. The 300 I tested today wouldn't swing and it lugged the motor to much when you gave the levers full swing in the rest of the comands. It is for sale at auction and is at the price I was wiling to pay if everything worked to my liking. Most of the machines I have run have been 200's after looking at this one I really want one this size. Can I ask some peoples opinions on why they choose different size machines. I personally would like a 65000lb machine but anything from a 490 deere up to 300 would work for what I need. After looking at this one I am searching for a 160-300 but will probably finish all the work I need done with the old PC40 I bought as long as it holds together.
The size of the machine depends on what you are planning to do with it. Give us some background on what you want to accomplish with the machine and we can give you advice on the size you need.
My advice is to go through your posts in this thread and look closely and carefully at the places where you used the words 'want' and 'like'. For me, when it comes to spending money, the keyword is 'need' . In your own words, you said that your pc40 can do what you need. The way to approach this is to ask yourself, what do you need that your current machine can´t do? Once you answer that question, you can look at performance charts and figure out what you need.
I think you hit the nail on the head joispoi. I farm so an excavator is not needed but they are very handy machines and can pay for themselves quickly if you don't spend to much getting one. I have neighber's with larger machines that have and are willing to let me use their machines which is another reason I don't need one. It would be nice to have one because I would like to do work for other people but there are many in the area. I also have a few ditch's I would like to clean where a bigger machine would be nice. As long as the 40 can reach out of the ditch it isn't needed. I could use one for loading dirt but I've been doing fine without. Here is an example where one was needed. Summer flood several years ago we couldn't keep up with the dozer's. If we would have had the excavator from the start it would have been all we needed and it would have did a nicer job.