Bought this machine in 2020. First four days, a pilot line failed. Fixed that myself. Track broke later that year. Bought new tracks, fixed that. Could not get the right track adjuster to move. Replaced that and replaced both tracks in 2021. This year, had a pilot line under the house fail. This was around the time I had my second heart attack, so could not deal with it myself. Required the cab be removed, so hired a diesel mechanic to come out and do that. He replaced the one line that failed. Said the others looked okay. Then I had the track falling off issue, and that involved replacing upper rollers and dealing with a frozen check valve on a track adjuster on the left side. That turned out much more costly than I was prepared for, but well okay, now I can use the machine again. So today, first time using the machine, barely 15 minutes in and I'm noticing that while boom up is smooth and has good control, boom down does nothing until I push the control almost halfway, then it lets go suddenly. So I make a mental note of that and keep moving logs and bucking firewood with a saw. In the next five minutes, moving the boom or curling the bucket resulted in loud scraping noises, making me think "didn't I just recently grease the joints, why does it sound like metal one metal?" And then I realized the sound of hydraulic pump cavitation, that loud whirring sound, took over and that's when I stopped and hopped off the machine to look under and see this: The thing is it happened quickly this time, so I doubt it's a pilot line. Fluid GUSHED out of the underside of the house, more on the right side of the machine this time. To date, I've spent close to $9K on repairs to this machine since purchase and it seems like something else breaks immediately after the last repair. I'm retired on a fixed income and basically used up all of my savings on this machine, which I'd originally bought as an investment that I could hopefully get my money back out of it when I sell it. I've yet to find out which line failed this time, but it looks like I need to invest ten or twenty grand to have all the lines replaced or this is going to keep happening. To do that, I'd have to take a mortgage on the house. The other option is to put the machine on the market and get what I can for it. Not the best investment, after all.
Sorry to hear about your machine issues Mark, but, and this is a big but, all of things happening is not something that is unheard of on an older machine. Mostly the reason people get rid of a high hour machine. All machines cost money to run and maintain, an older piece of equipment costs more. The company I work at has 15 employees, out of that 15 we have eight legit operators, the other 7 are laborers/can move a machine around guys. Something breaks everyday. Everyday We have machines anywhere from 100hrs to 7000hrs. We typically turn over machines before they start to nickle and fine us to death. Equipment is not cheap and is rarely a profitable investment. I do understand your frustration for sure. Unfortunately, this is kinda how owning equipment goes.
When I bought this, I realized there would be SOME maintenance, but I figured I'd get some light use out of it and resell it. Instead, it's pushing me into bankruptcy. Ugh. The thing is, I cannot sell it if it's not working. If I could find a buyer, I would not get my investment back out. If it's repaired and working, I could probably get most of what I paid plus documented repairs, back at sale time. In hindsight, I'm thinking it would have made more sense dollar-wise to rent a machine for $400 a day plus shipping plus tax, than to own and maintain a machine for the 3-4 times I really needed it.
I think you may have been overly excited to buy it and didn't have someone experienced do a proper inspection on it. It's more common than a lot of people think but you have the machine now. You should have stopped as soon as you realized something wasn't working right and investigated. However, you don't need to panic yet. First thing to do is try and find where the oil is coming from. Then you can assess what all needs to be fixed. It may just need 1 hose or an o-ring or something else fairly simple. You don't automatically have to replace all the hoses. Find the problem before you assume the worst.
My inspection revealed nothing, unfortunately. Unlike the first pilot line failure where it was obvious where the leak was, this one is again, like the one in March, coming from under the cab. The last line that burst under the cab required a crane and a full day for the mechanic to repair and cost me a small fortune. I wanted him to replace all of the lines, but at $350 each and there's a dozen or so, it would have exceeded my ability to afford. So it looks like we have to get the crane up here again and go through another round of this. What I don't want is to replace one line at a time, and have another one burst 15 minutes later. Originally, I wanted a mini excavator, not a big hulking monster of a machine, but the minis were over twice the asking price, used and not that many for sale. This was about the only machine in my affordability range (I had saved up $30K since 1960 and was worried about hyper inflation making it worthless in a few years, so I wanted to invest in gold originally, but no gold exchanges would accept cash, so the next best thing I thought would be heavy equipment. Little did I know...
Damn. That sucks. Very good chance the hose you just replaced, burst. Because the guy at the hose place that built it was working at Burger King the week before. At least, he’s working. Probably not sober, but he did make it in to work long enough to build you a hose. Can’t tell the difference between one wire and two wire. If I was within driving distance of a state, or two, I’d fix that ol’e hoe for you for free. But, we would have to sit for a spell, so you could spin a yarn or two.
Where did the hose come from? $350 a hose on a mini-ex seems really excessive. I'd think getting a hose matched at a good hyd. hose shop could save you some money. Is there by chance an access panel on the cab floor? I had something similar but not quite as hard to replace. When I had the engine out of my track loader getting rebuilt, I asked about replacing the main pressure hose coming off the hyd. pump. It was rubbed almost to the reinforcing wire in one spot. The shop said not to worry about it because it was a 4 wire hose so I put it back on. I think part of the problem was it was a bit of a complicated hose. It had to go back from the pump then had a 90 deg. steel elbow and curved up around the back of the engine on the firewall and came down with a threaded fitting on the end of the hose. That fitting had to be at the exact angle in order to line up with a hose that was clamped in place. Being such a stiff hose you couldn't twist it. Well it lasted over 10 years but blew a couple years ago and made quite a mess. I had the replacement made in 2 hoses but still couldn't hook it up as original. The hose it connected to underneath couldn't be clamped as it was. I looked at it pretty close and figured it was OK to leave the closest clamp off. While looking for where all the oil was coming from it was a little hard to figure out. While looking I also discovered one of the steering clutch valves was leaking. More to fix. It wasn't the worst hose I ever had to change though. The worst was the main hose going to the control valve. I can't remember if was from the power beyond valve to run the backhoe. Some idiot tried to use non Cat hose with Cat reusable fittings and stuck pieces of sheet metal and plastic in the fittings to make up for the smaller OD of the hose. It came apart when I was using the backhoe. I shut the machine off as soon as I lost swing. I was in a soft spot with the stabilizers down so couldn't even pull the machine out where it was easier to work on. I had to crawl under the machine with very little room and take the belly pan off. To do that I had to lay in the 60L's of oil it had pumped out! Not fun and to make matters worse the belly pan wouldn't drop down far enough to remove. It has to drop down and then come backwards to come off the track frame cross bar. I had to take a shovel and try and lift and drop the belly pan enough to get it to slide back. 20 minutes later I finally had it off and could pull it forward a couple feet. Then I had to crawl back under and lay in the oil to get the hose off. Had some choice words when I saw the perfectly scived hose pulled out of the fitting and a metal tag stuck in the fitting. The other end of the hose had a chunk of plastic used as a spacer. Got a new hose made and used an extra fitting so I could swivel it in the exact direction. I didn't want to fight with it trying to put it back on. Picked up 3 pails of oil and headed back to put the hose on. Had to lay in the oil again but it went pretty good. Didn't need to put the belly pan on to drive the machine out of the soft area I was digging in. What a BS PIA situation that was! I'm only telling you all this because I've been there as I'm sure a lot of other members have been too. We all feel your frustration. If your cab has to come off at least you know what's involved so hopefully it goes a little faster. If it's same hose check the pressure rating and if it is correct for your machine you could get a higher rated hose. Have also heard of some brands of hose being more prone to failing. Sorry I can't remember which brand, might have even been Parker. I do know that similar looking 2 wire hoses can have quite a bit of difference in their pressure ratings. I got some Rayco 1/2" that is rated for 5100 PSI from a farm type store. I needed it on the weekend and they were the only place open. They did blow the foam plugs through it and it is very good hose. Good luck with your repairs and hope they aren't too expensive.
I could spin a yarn or three just chatting about this excavator and all it's issues. No shortage of stuff to talk about, fer sure! And on top of that, my daughter's car is in the shop again, this time for a refrigerant leak, and the refrigerant line costs $430, plus a similar amount in labor to replace it, so about $1000, after putting $2400 into it last month for brakes and tires. On top of $97K in medical bills for my heart attack in March. All I can think of is the view in bankruptcy court. I think the hoses were built by a reputable local company. I've bought from them some pilot lines myself 3 years ago. There were over $100 each and the larger hydraulic lines (like those used on the boom) were quoted at $350 each. The mechanic replaced one pilot line that was hissing and leaking fluid at a much lower pace. Whatever went this time was something MUCH bigger. Everything dumped out within seconds. About 15 gallons of fluid on the ground, creating a lake under the machine. And the sounds the machine made as it happened, sounded just like when the bucket is scraping against a big boulder, but all I was doing was curling the bucket! When I heard that, followed by the sudden onset of aloud whine from the hydraulic pump, I shut her down pronto. The whole event went from relatively normal with just the jerking problem when I try to boom down, to full on disaster in just ten seconds. Good god, laying in oil under the muddy bog with low clearance is the stuff of nightmares! My days of doing that sort of thing are pretty much over with. Won't be long I'll be needing assisted living, 'cept that I can't afford assisted living.
Sorry to hear you had a heart attack but very glad you're still with us. I'm glad I'm in Canada after being diagnosed with cancer. All the medical costs are covered. I'm on a trial drug that costs $400/pill but is fully covered. I could never afford it, well over $100K in pills so far and I think I have to take them for the rest of my life. For standard prescriptions I have to pay 20% so it's maybe $100/month. As for your leak, if it dumped all the oil very quickly it might not be from under the cab. It really sucks though. All you can do is try and figure out where it's coming from and go from there. If I had another major leak like I did on the Cat, I'd have to have someone help me. I took the articulation valve off the grader last year and got it working but it quit working one way so I need to take it off again. Not looking forward to it and hoping to get some help. Lost 2 pails of oil in the process. I'm going to get metal caps for the lines though. The oil slowly leaked past the plastic caps over a week and a half. Was barely dripping when I took the lines off. Now I know.
Yeah, it was unexpected, but I'd been on a high fat low carb diet (lost 40lbs that way) and was eating 3 strips of bacon with eggs for breakfast daily for the last year. When I went to consult a hernia doctor about my inguinal hernia, the nurse said my BP was dangerously high. About a week later, after a bunch of stressful crap (well pump failure, truck power steering gearbox failure) I had the first heart attack. March 15 landed me in ER with the second one, ironically happened while in a cardiologist office for a consultation on the first attack. At least I got great medical care. They were competent all the way. The experience restored my faith in modern medicine. When I jumped off the machine and looked underneath, the gush of fluid appeared to be coming from the right side of the underside of the house. Somewhere under the manifold/valve where all the lines converge. There's some dried leaves at the bottom, but saw no oil leaks of that magnitude evident there. Not coming from the car or the final drives either. Definitely under the house on the right hand side. Whatever it was, there was a really bad metal against metal grinding noise shortly before the pump started to whine from a lack of oil. All of this happened in under 10 seconds. Not such a good investment. Turning into a money pit. But I have to get it running, else won't be able to sell it. And I need it to move a MEP803A generator set (1140lbs) off my truck onto a pad soon.
Finally got a diesel mechanic out here today. With a crane, pull the cab off the machine. He found out that a large high pressure hydraulic line burst open (4" slit wide open) inside the Rotex. He's going to work up an estimate, but I can sense it's going to be expensive. Since the machine is worthless as is, I need to get it running again before I can sell it. I'll need to take out a loan for the repairs, but on $1,067 a month retirement income, I'll likely have to sell the machine this year to pay the loan off. It's been a terrible year. And on June 30, my solar panels got hit by lightning. 58 years on this mountain and this is the first time I got hit by lightning.
Buying equipment is the luck of the draw if it earns its keep or just buying someone's headache. Have seen some stuff at Ritchie 3, 4+ times. Gets bought, buyer ends up putting it back in the auction in a year or two... or sometimes it never even left the yard! I have a little 941B that I bought over 2 years ago for maybe $2k, it's still sitting exactly where it was dropped off. Allegedly ran fine at the auction but by the time I got it, no one could get it going.
More and more, I'm beginning to feel like the person that sold this machine was aware that it was on the cusp of becoming problematic. Literally the fourth day of ownership, had a pilot line go. The mechanic told me this is a 2001 model, based on a database he subscribes to. So it's not quite as old as I thought. But rubber can and does fail. My hope is that this is the last of the problems. I am having him work up an estimate to change out all the lines under the house, because it's less costly in the long run. Having one line blow and having to hire the crane to remove the cab is inefficient. But this particular line is in a real tough spot. I've already got close to $9K into this machine, between tracks, hydraulics, undercarriage work. Some "investment". And I've got to get my roof repaired. It's a flat roof and requires recently installed decking to be replaced as the liquid rubber coating failed after just 11 months, letting water into the ceilings. All that sheetrock has to come down, insulation replaced, etc. I used to do all this before the heart attack wiped me out.
Not sure on other brands, but in the service books I've been in, Hitachi specs total hose replacement every so many years. I think 5, but I may be wrong. Pretty sure no one dies that
Wow, only five years! The mechanic did say that the offsetting factor is that the hoses are shielded from UV rays and should last a lot longer than on some machines where the hoses are easy to get at. I can't imagine anyone changing all the lines every five years. These lasted about 23, based on the what he found out from the serial number of the machine.
Hopefully this will be the last major repair. Just take your time and don't over do it with your projects.
Getting up in years means chance of lines going here and there. Have had 70yr old stuff with mostly factory lines, and 20yr stuff that blew so many lines we just redid them all as the oil, cleanup and down time was costing alot.
Well here's the latest update: My mechanic has been waiting on fittings for the lines. He said most of the lines except one are ready. I assume the one they are having trouble finding fittings for is the large line that goes up through the rotex. Every week, I'm told "it will be ready next week" and the week comes and goes and nothing. The shop in Danbury is supposedly making the lines. I never waited this long for them to make me some lines with banjo fittings 2 years ago, so I don't know why it's taking months to get these lines now. I'm at a point where I think I need to do some research to find another source for that large hose. I'm going in for triple hernia in a few weeks and once that happens, I'll be laid up for the winter. I've a large army generator to move off a trailer and onto a pad, but I can't do it without the machine. I'm facing the unpleasant specter of paying half a grand to rent a machine for a day just so I can move this onto the pad so I can finish the wall on the opposite side, or hiring someone with a machine to come out and do this. Either way, big bucks that I don't have. As it is, my wife took out several thousand from her 401K to help me pay the repairs on this excavator. I gave the mechanic $2500 for the hoses to be built, months ago, and I'm still stuck with no way to get work done. I am looking for another source for the hydraulic hose assemblies for this PC60-7. If anyone knows of a source, I'd like to pass it on to my mechanic. The Longshoremen are likely to strike on Oct 2, which means all supply lines are likely to be delayed for months. My machine is in pieces, with the cab off of it and the floor jacked up, all exposed to the weather. If it goes all winter like that, likely much of the electrical stuff will be ruined.
Put a tarp over it. You could also tape up and/or put plastic bags over the wiring connections. I wonder if Komatsu uses special fittings that aren't near as common as American brands and that's why it's taking so long?? If the generator is the one above or similar, a tow truck could pick it up and move it for you. I worked at job where they used a tow truck to lower a large 1000lbs.+ concrete cutting saw into a basement. A tow truck could lift more than your excavator and should be a lot cheaper than getting a crane or picker truck. I bet if you went to talk to them in person and explained your situation they wouldn't charge too much.
I did put a tarp on it back in the early summer, but the wind keeps blowing it away. Irregular shape makes trying to tie it down not so easy to do. I called the place that's making the hoses. It's a 1/4" hose that they are waiting for the fittings for. A vehicle can back within 15' of the generator, once I move a slab that used to be the roof of the old concrete building that I demolished using a truck and a chain. The slab is 5x6' and 4" thick. It's got sections of wall still attached to it, so it's not sitting flat on the ground. Cannot be driven over and it has to be moved before e vehicle can back in there. I can't drag it because it will tear up the underground wiring that goes to my east facing solar array. It has to be lifted and flipped over first. My entire plans for cultivating a field for vegetables and a pasture area for a chicken house are completely off-schedule now. I had planned to cultivate a grass area and build chicken coops this past spring and then another area to raise vegetables so I have a food supply in case of **** this fall. I've got my electrical needs almost ready, once this generator is installed as backup to solar. With the impending Longshoremen strike Oct 2, I'm afraid we may not get the part at all this year. A tow truck is a possible option. The only ones that I know of that can lift more than 14,000lbs are the giant ones they use to rescue big rigs that have rolled down embankments, like Pepe's Towing channel on Youtube. I don't think the boom on a regular F350 tow truck reaches out 15' or more that I need. Then it has to swing/pivot and position over the pad.
I think you have too many projects on the go at the same time and need to prioritize what's more important and also what you're capable of doing. It seems like you're making things harder for yourself than they need to be. Maybe a neighbor could help you to move the generator?
I haven't much choice on the projects. Have to get things done before ****. The front stairs are collapsing from rot--that's another project. But I don't have the money for the wood to build new stairs. I had a bunch of projects that I could have done over the summer, if I had a working machine. They aren't going to get done now. Too late to plant. I've rigged up the generator to lift with chains. A neighbor said he could help me move it with his machine. Will see how things work out.
Nothing wrong with asking for help. Remember your health is the biggest thing to worry about.
Finally moved into place. Am finishing up the concrete work now. Now I'm in debted to my neighbor! But he was fantastic, brought a JCB combination forklift and backhoe. We used the forklift to move the old slab out of the way and the backhoe to lift the chain spreader. Worked a treat!
Good neighbors are great to have. Glad you got the help.
They certainly are. But I like to keep a low profile on my prepping and don't particularly want other folks to know what we've got for **** preps.
You have to careful because if you become a recluse or people think you are, they won't be there to help when you really need it.
I was the first settler in this mountaintop 58 years ago. I moved up here to escape two things: floods and human stupidity. Better to live away from most people. Little did I know that others would eventually build on this desolate mountaintop. Now I have some neighbors. The fellow that helped out owns the largest marina on the east coast. He helped me pull up my well pump and 220' of pipe in February. So I already owe him a debt. Most folks are too busy to socialize with their neighbors here. Also, everyone that built around me has at least 10X my net worth. I'm the "poor guy" in the neighborhood and most folks are class-minded and don't mix with poor folks.
It sounds like the guy that helped you is a pretty decent person and won't figure you owe him. He was likely happy to help you and would do it again if required. There might be a time he needs some help or could use your services with your excavator. Good neighbors and friends don't keep a tally of how many times they've helped you. They just do it because it's the right thing to do. I don't care much for the new neighbor to my property. Got along good with him in the beginning but it went South in a pretty short period. I got my dump truck stuck on my property and he had his 200 Hitachi excavator on the road clearing a fence line. I jokingly asked if I could hire him to pull me out. My track loader was 1/2 a mile away in another neighbors field. He did come over and pull me out. Then he said he's all for trading some work but would rather get some diesel. He said I could fill his tank. I'm looking at his excavator and said how much is that. Then he said not the whole tank, that's 300 litre's, how about half a tank. OK. It didn't dawn on me until I went to get the diesel and realized it's $1.20 litre. 150 litre's is close to $175.00! I took it out and pumped it into his excavator. Never really said anything but thanks for towing me out. After that I don't have much to do with him. $175.00 is more than he charges per hour. He's a very odd person and feels entitled or something. I'd rather have no neighbors than ones like him. He's had 4 or 5 dogs either hit by vehicles or never came home after roaming all over. At least one was shot by hunters, the mother to a bunch of puppies got backed over in his own yard. I'd like to report him to bylaw but am worried about how he'd retaliate. He already takes pictures and calls the police on people he thinks are speeding. The cops even said you can't tell how fast someone is going by just a picture. It's frustrating having a neighbor like this.
Yes, he seems like a good person, though I've had little encounter with him. He became more friendly after I bought the excavator. Never talked to me before that. He owns the marina at the lake at the bottom of the hill and we've started renting boats for our summer excursions. He always gives us a 50% discount because we're neighbors. I wish I could say the same for all neighbors. In 2016, a developer bought tax foreclosed land across the road from us and built McMansions. The first couple that moved in called the cops on us the very first time I turned on my stereo since their arrival. This started becoming a regular thing until I had it out with the cop one afternoon (yes, it was 5pm when the new neighbors called in a "noise complaint".) Since they could do nothing, they sold the house in 2020 and another couple moved in. The new people seemed nice at first but the husband seemed to become a real jerk almost overnight. Not sure what happened to cause the change, but he became belligerent and now we just don't talk to eachother anymore. The house next door, up the hill from me, the original owner died and eventually some Hispanics bought it, fixed it up, and unsuccessfully tried to sell it for a year. Then they gave up and moved in. 6-7 cars out front, 17 people in all, living in that tiny cottage, which was originally a vacation cottage that an old couple owned until the late 1960s while I was building my house. So far, they don't cause any problems, other than loud Mariachi music on holidays. Meanwhile, the mechanic said all the lines are ready, but he's waiting on a banjo bolt. I got my reupholstered seat back from Federal ($525) and no await the reassembly of the excavator. Sorry to hear you have some flakey neighbors. I moved out to the woods 58 years ago to get away from such people, but they always have a way of catching up.
If ****, the last person I'd infiltrate is someone that looks like they don't have much LOL ! Thats why I built a pole barn house.
I guess it's a blessing that my house looks like it ought to be condemned (that's what a neighbor said in 1992). I'm the last of the hillbillies that lived on this mountain. My other neighbor from Maine went back there when the taxes started to rise rapidly in 1980.
Well it's been since June 19th that I asked my diesel mechanic to repair the hydraulic line failure. I think it was late July when he finally came over and looked at it. It was early August when I borrowed $2500 from my wife's 401K to cover the cost of the the lines and paid the deposit. Week after week went by and the standard response was "waiting on fittings". Finally in early October, I learned that all the lines were done and he just needed to get out here. I had advised him in August that I'm going back into the hospital for surgery in last week of Oct and to please get it done well in advance of that. October comes and goes. My surgery gets postponed. Now it's November and I mentioned to him that my wife is asking what happened to her $2500 and that we've missed so many weeks where he didn't show up. I've texted him at least weekly for updates, and more recently twice weekly as winter is coming and I need to finish up a few things before it snows. Plus my machine is still in pieces. Now he's accusing me of accusing him of stealing my money. Am I being too impatient? Is more than 4 months normal turnaround time for mechanics to replace hydraulic lines? I'm sorry, but I can't help but to feel I'm getting the runaround.
Yes you're getting the runaround and you're being more than reasonable. He knows he's dragging his feet simply by the fact he brought up the stealing of his money. Most mechanics get paid when ghe job is finished. They may take a deposit but never the full amount. Paid in advance they have no incentive to finish the job. Tell him he has 2 weeks to finish as you've been more than patient.
Thank you for the sanity check! I'm not familiar with the industry and wasn't sure if this was typical or not. The guy's had one excuse after another. The $2500 I paid was for all the hydraulic hoses. I'll owe another $1000 when he completes the work. I'm trying to be fair and give him the benefit of a doubt, but my last inquiry seems to have triggered a snide response. He said he'll bring over the hoses if that makes me feel better. I got the sense that he'd leave me in a lurch. I've begun shopping around for another mechanic. He's a one man operation, so perhaps he has bit off more than he can handle in terms of work, but the few times I've chatted with him, he seemed like a decent person with a good work ethic. But there's only so long I can wait for my machine to be fixed!
That's a lot of money for hoses but if he has all of them, there's no reason he can't finish the job and install them. I have a funny feeling he's using your $2500 to fund another job and is a little cash strapped and/or working on a higher paying job. Most people wouldn't pay in advance that amount of money. You did so he should get on with the job. Hopefully he took pics. or something to know where all the hoses go. That's another possible reason he's stalling your job. Take him to task to finish it! Don't have to be mean (at first) but just tell him you gave $2500 in good faith and now that he has all the hoses he needs to install them. You've been more than patient.
I would tread carefully if I were you. You need this guy to finish the job, he likely doesn't need you. You aren't likely to have much luck finding another guy to take on a job that somebody else tore apart, that is a mechanic's nightmare. Any guy that is any good is busy enough and does need that kind of work at all. A $3500 repair might seem like a lot of money to you, but in the heavy equipment world that is actually pretty minor. It doesn't appear that you have the money to get smart with the guy. If he shrugs and drops the hoses off you are going to be in a pretty big bind, and it will likely cost you more, and take longer than waiting this guy out. It's real easy to sit behind a screen name and dispense advice about how you ought to give ultimatums and such, be careful. I am not saying the guy is in the right, just pointing out that you may not have what it takes to play hardball. Prudence is the better part of valor.
If the 2500 is for hoses and you're only paying 1000 for having the cab pulled and all the associated labor that's pretty cheap. Not saying it should take this long but maybe he has other bigger paying jobs and yours is on the back burner. I'm rebuilding a motor for a customer but I made it clear it'll take a while since it's not my main source of income and I have other steady paying customers who need repairs first.
Thank you all for the various perspectives. The one that I've been thinking about is Acoals' comments. I had that concern as soon as the guy mentioned "dropping off the hoses if it makes me feel better". I did e-mail another mechanic, but have yet to hear back. I did notice when I did some checking to see if there were reviews (found none), his Facebook page, second to last post is pictures of my machine and a short synopsis. There were comments from others like "good luck figuring out where all the lines go" to which he responded "I've tagged them all". So I commented that I "can't wait to get my machine back up and running". Within hours, he texted me back to the effect that it will take him two days to finish. One day next week and one day the week following. If he misses those targets, I'm really not sure what to do next. No one wants their reputation tarnished, but if he leaves me high and dry, what else can I do short of hiring an attorney?
Hi Mark Sad to hear the problems you have had. I had a PC60-5 for a time bought 2nd hand but luck of the draw never had a problem with it. It went on to 2 contractors & they also had a reasonable run. With pilot lines going I wonder if they were the wrong pressure lines. Also your waiting times for parts are bad. In NZ we can get any parts/hoses easy within a day & theres plenty of mobile operators. Just wondering if a hiab truck to lift that generator as many are rated at approx 8 tonne with long reach… just a thought.
Hopefully he comes to fix it like he says on his Facebook. My post above was to try and nicely ask him when he can install the hoses and stipulate you've been very patient.
All I can do is keep fingers crossed. He had completed several smaller jobs for me early this year (March-May). As for the lines, I think it's an age-related thing. They're ALL over 20 years old now, and likely all about to go. So since the cab is off the machine, I decided to have him replace all the lines that can't be accessed without removing the cab/flooring. The delays totally shelved my plans to cultivate some of the land for vegetables and a section for chicken coops. It's way too late to plant now. All this will have to wait til next year, but now the wife's SUV transmission went unexpectedly at 139K miles and our regular mechanic advised us it's not worth fixing due to extent of the rust and age of the vehicle. So we spent two weeks trying to find a decent used car. Couldn't find anything that seemed worth the asking, so she went for broke on a new SUV. So any money for projects is gone now, since I'm contributing 1/3 of my pension for her car payments. I just hope **** doesn't come this winter, because we're not prepared, except for electricity, and on that front, my neighbor brought over his JCB forklift/backhoe and we got the generator moved. Here's a snapshot I took while I was building the block walls around it.
I'm a little lost and confused. I thought that money and finances were pretty tight and now your wife buys a brand new SUV? I thought you were using money from her 401K and now your pension is paying for a new SUV. What am I missing?
I'm just glad my parents were prepared for Y2K . . .
So am I. I've long been an advocate of buy old used vehicle and repair it. But this is CT and everything rusts out to unsafe drivability in 20 years. That was the case with the Explorer. We'd spent just shy of $10,000 on unexpected vehicle repairs this year including towing and being stranded. Wife had had enough of used cars breaking down. So we looked at a bunch of used 7-passenger SUVs (we have a large family, inlaws, + sister/brother in law) and many were asking in the $38K range for used with low mileage and no warranty. We looked at a few new SUVs too, in the $40K and up range, but none felt right and seemed cheap/plasticy and sluggish acceleration on highway. Since our daughter got the steal of a deal on a 2012 Mazda CX9 two years ago, my wife had been looking for a CX9 for the past two years, a 2015 or older model (we test drove the newer 4 cyl models and they don't have the get up and go that the V6 has). She could find nothing like the $5300 deal my daughter got in 2022. The car was spotless, despite 192K miles. We did have to put $4800 into it for new brakes, exhaust and tires, but it seems to drive well. Sadly, we could not find another car like that, even at double the price. So the wife had been lusting after the CX90, which I considered a pipe dream. But at our age, we might not be alive when they hit the used car market at an affordable price, plus the cost of used car repairs are no longer in the hundreds, but now in the thousands of dollars every time we brought our old car into the shop. And our shop charges less than the dealers do. It's that fear of being stuck on the side of the road and having to call a tow truck and then being surprised with "you're car is not worth fixing" that led her to finally decide to get a new car with a warranty. She borrowed $20K from her 401K to put the downpayment. The tough part is the insurance is so high. We're shopping for another provider now. Thankfully, my daughter just landed a part time job and will finally be able to pay us some room and board and contribute to her auto insurance which is on our policy. It's the first time in my life that we've bought a car with less than 30K miles on it. The wife plans to take all the overtime her boss gives her and with my daughter contributing her share, we'll figure a way to make this work. The deciding factor is we no longer have a $700+ electric bill, as we went off grid 2 years ago. So that money isn't going to Eversource anymore and can be used for the car payments.
Unless youre by the sea I wouldnt say your hydraulic lines are old " 20 years unless you have cheap connections or not using the right certified pressure hoses & the hydraulic co has the right machines. I have my old Welsh friend who has the first Kato in my town & had it well over 30years. It still has the old hoses on it and works fine although he has changed a few--must ask him & get a pic. I run a 1992 Nissan Datsun 4x4 ute & it never misses a beat. The D27 diesel motor is perhaps the best diesel made by Japan during that era & its done over 420,000 kms and still runs strong. Body wise OK, & no rust as look after it & it sits outside??? Their resale is good cause they are good??
I'm sorry but I don't think you're nearly as hard off as you make it sound. I'm sure there are good used SUV's available for much less than new that still have warranty or an extended warranty could be purchased. Seven passenger SUV's are expensive and then you want the bigger engine that will use more gas... What other options did you get? A struggling family doesn't go out and buy a brand new vehicle in one of the higher priced categories. There are vehicles much less expensive than 7 passenger SUV's. I hope the guy comes to fix your mini-ex but don't make it sound like you're going to end up homeless. Nobody likes expensive repairs.
The wife and I are pretty much done with use vehicles. Nothing but rust buckets and money pits. We can't afford a new car. Heck, we can't afford a used car either. There are no $600 decent car deals anymore. My '68 Caddy cost me $600 in 1980. I got 7 good years out of it before rust and a failed piston ring sent it to the junk yard. It's a challenge when you have your inlaws, sister and brother and children. 7 seat capacity was a requirement. But $10K in repairs spent on vehicles this year got me thinking it's no longer economically sensible to own an old vehicle. The few 4 year old cars we test drove had problems and I don't trust the dealer to fix them properly before sale. The other thing is, we're old, and we're going to die soon. After living a life of near poverty, I wanted my wife to have something nice for a change. As for the gas, it gets better gas mileage than the Ford, probably because it's a hybrid electric. Now here's the sickening part: I was headed into the city with the wife and daughter to straighten out a time card error at my daughter's work at the mall. We were driving on a divided highway on a "mixer" where a bunch of interstates come together in the middle of the city at 11:13 am, when out of nowhere, comes running a buck, across the highway, all lanes and collides with the rear passenger door of our new car. The odds of seeing a deer in a major city on the interstate in daylight hours is just about nil. All my past deer encounters were on country roads between midnight and 4 am. So now we're in it for our insurance deductible and a wait of perhaps a month to get it fixed. It was clearly a message from God: "Human, I hate you." With that said, now onto the excavator: Mechanic was here last week and again today to finish up. He got the machine back together, but while filling up with hydraulic fluid and running the engine, he noticed that the level stopped increasing. Another line burst. As far as he can tell, it's in the bottom of a bundle of lines and he can't tell which one. Said the whole thing is going to have to be taken apart. I said I think he ought to replace all of the lines as they are popping faster than he can repair them at this point. The bill for today's work ended up more than $500 over his original estimate in June. And then he's going to work up an estimate for the next step. At this point, I'm out of money, unless I skip property tax payment in January and use that money to pay him. I think I broke the $10K mark just on repairs to this machine in the past 3 years. I had planned to get it running, fixed up nicely and put it on the market to pay down my hospital debt. But it's looking like it may be another six months until these other lines get replaced, based on how long it took to get the existing work done. It has been a terrible year. I've got a major tooth infection and the oral surgeon says it's got to come out, but I have to be off blood thinners first. Cardiologist said he can't take me off them for even a day. Day after TG I have that tooth removed and hopefully I won't have to be hospitalized to stop the bleeding.
I checked out the excavator yesterday and just started it up. Without lowering the safety lever, it's spewing a steady stream about 1/2" thick out the bottom of the cab. I'm trying to figure out which hydraulic line would be pressured with the safety lever up. Any ideas? Mechanic said it's buried in a bundle of lines and he can't see where the leak is coming from.
They probably don't use road salt where you drive your ute
Mark, I'm wondering if there's an issue with the system reliefs on your excavator and it's over pressurizing the hydraulics. I can't think of any other reason that so many hoses would blow without the machine being used hard.
Ah!! you’re right no salt on our roads?just loads of witches hats/road works/ pot holes ….
If it's something that came on suddenly, perhaps, but it's all the old, rotten hoses that seem to be failing. Many of them sat in sludge that the previous owner never cleaned out. The rubber deteriorated where it came in contact with decayed leaf sludge that built up. Given the age of the machine, many lines are cracking and ready to go at any time.
I don't know if the mechanic who worked on my machine is ever going to come back and finish this project. The machine's back together, but I don't know if he reconnected the lines properly or the line the blew immediately was just rotted like so many others in this machine. This process is taking far too long. I need to find a mechanic who can finish the repairs to the hydraulic lines. I need to sell the machine and pay my medical bills, but it's a loss unless it's running. Plus I need to move some heavy concrete blocks before it snows. I can't keep relying on my neighbor, or hiring someone when I have nearly $37K into a machine that I own. Any suggestions for a reputable mechanic who won't leave things hanging for four months? I'm in the greater Danbury CT area.
There is a Mechanic on here with a screen name of TOM V who is somewhere in Connecticut . . .
Thanks. I'll try and see if I can send him a private message.
The former owner did not take much care of the machine. When I got it, there were packed, rotted muck of decayed leaves down in the engine bay and all around the hydraulic manifold on the outside. I've replaced a couple of rotted pilot lines myself. But these latest failures required a crane to remove the cab to access under the floor and outside of my tools and ability. The mechanic texted me back that he will need another $1500-2000 to replace lines and he may have to remove the swing to access it. The wife and I have decided to put the machine on the market. I have north of $10K into it. Paid $27.5K for it from another owner. But I have $182K in medical debt from the heart attack and hospitalization (didn't pay for medicare part B as my SS retirement is only $1067 without that additional deduction) and have had over $10K in MAJOR car and truck repairs this year. I wanted to finish up cultivating some land, putting in chicken coops and growing some vegetables before I sell that machine, but just getting it to run for even a day has been out of reach this year.
I finally brought a high end mechanic with a good rep onto the project. Recap: prior mechanic said he'll have to pull the swing to access the burst lines. Last week, the new mech came out, got those two lines out in about 40 minutes. Had new lines built and sent an employee to install them today. He noted that the machine would not swing to the right but only left. The machine has hydraulic pressure now. I tested it shortly after and found that it can boom up/down, but no swing. I am wondering if, due to the loss of so much fluid, the swing motor or associated valves got air bound? If so, is there a way to purge the air. I can't find any "purge" valve when searching the shop manual.
I have a customer with a Trojan loader and every time it blows a line relating to the pilot controls it has to be bled at several points by disconnecting lines until fluid comes out and then it'll work fine until the next line goes.
My gut feeling is that I've got a big air bubble in their somewhere. The system had lost 90% of its fluid, so air HAD to have gotten in. I conveyed my thoughts to the mechanic. Hopefully he will resolve it soon.
It sounds like you have a good mechanic. Does the machine drive OK? There may be a procedure for bleeding the swing and/or the drive motors.
Yes, I can track forward and backward normally. Boom up/down, stick in/out, bucket curl, all work normally. Just the swing acts like the control isn't even connected.
Maybe it isn't . . .
Shouldn't be too hard to check for flow to the swing drive. Perhaps the joystick position for swing isn't working. I'm not sure how it operates. I think you're real close to having your excavator working properly.
The mechanic emailed me this: "It is possible put unlikely. As soon as machine starts hydraulic oil should be pumped though the whole system clearing air out of system. " My question is where is the relief valve that lets the air out of the system?
There isn't a relieve valve to let air out. First thing to do is check if fluid is going through the lines for the swing. If it is an air issue you can loosen the fittings a little but that's not common to give to do. I think the swing would still move a little jerky if air in the hyd's. was the issue. It sounds like no fluid is getting to swing. Need to determine if it's an oil flow/blockage issue or the control valve/joystick isn't working for the swing function.
Sounds reasonable. The mechanic said his boss should come back with pressure gauges and measure the pressures at the swing motor. He didn't have the gauges on his truck at the time. Now I'm trying to get him to commit to a day to come back and finish the job.
Maybe someone left one of those red plastic plugs in a new line . . .
I doubt that would be the case, as the lines replaced are the output high pressure lines coming from the main hydraulic pump. All I know is I spent $3500 last August with the other mechanic and I just got an invoice for $1330 for these two line replacements. That brings me just over $11K spent on repairs since I got the machine in 2021. This is getting tough to sustain on $910 month retirement. I paid $27.5K for it, so I've got about $38K into it now and we're not yet operational.
There are two ways to own trucks or heavy equipment: 1) Ensure that the equipment is earning its keep making money on jobsites. 2) Be wealthy enough to afford the machine as a toy. Get it running and sell it before something really expensive fails.
Unfortunately, think most of us that reads these posts remember that grinding noise that happened when you dumped all that hydraulic oil and kept running it till it started sucking air. As much as I feel your pain on buying a money pit, you do have to accept some responsibility for this nightmare. When this thread started, I was hoping for a good outcome but nickel and diming it isn’t helping. You bought a big expensive excavator, think how fortunate you are to have it. Look at all the rock walls that were built in this country using mules, prybars and shovels, .
The grinding noise was when curling the bucket. I wasn't swinging the house around at that time. Bucket curls nicely now. Boom down is a bit sudden. I push forward a bit on the control, nothing happens, then a bit more and the boom comes down rapidly. I need to have him check that too. But the main thing is no rotation of the swing right now and I have a strong suspicion the former mechanic forgot to hook something up or did it incorrectly. He pulled a bunch of lines last summer all at once.
Do you have a current leak? If not get the damn thing going and get it out and dig a little with it and work all the systems you can.
None that I can detect. Seems tight. I start it up daily and move it back and forth on the tracks, extend/raise lower the boom, curl the bucket. Keep checking the swing. Sometimes after I start up cold, I can slightly swing left, but not right. It quickly becomes unresponsive.
What position is the swing lock switch in?
It could be a problem with the joystick/swing valve. I agree you have to take some responsibility for continuing to run it after you heard a grinding noise. Whenever you hear an unusual noise or all of a sudden a function acts up you shut the machine off immediately to investigate.
If there's a swing lock not working could certainly be the problem.
Does it sound like the motor is loading up trying to swing or does it not change pitch from idle to full swing
Swing lock is NOT engaged. No change in motor sound. It's as if I were not touching the controls! Literally NOTHING happens. BTW, I did shut machine down within SECONDS of that noise last June. And that noise was only associated with the bucket curl function.
OK the next step is seeing if fluid is flowing to the swing motor. If not the problem is in the valve/linkage or the joystick.
I need the mechanic with the appropriate gauges and tools to do that. I'm limited on physical ability since my second heart attack last year. I just wish I could get a mechanic out here. I booked this latest guy in December. He did the one jobs of replacing those main hydraulic lines, but now it seems he's busy and I don't want to wait another four months as I need to plant and make a space for chicken coops and a grazing area this spring. I checked machine rental prices last year and it was absurd!
I don't think you need gauges to check for flow. Loosen a fitting and see if more oil comes out when you activate the swing. Could probably take a hose(s) off and stick in a bucket to check for flow. Would want to have a good helper. You could put a tee with a valve on the line too. Have you asked the mechanic when he can come back or you're assuming it will be 4 month's? The other question is how did you treat the mechanic when he was there? What I mean is were you asking a lot questions or complaining about the other mechanic or how much everything costs, or you're on a limited budget, etc.? I don't mean any offence but sometimes people trying to help can get turned off by something which makes them a little hesitant about wanting to come back. I've done landscaping and welding for people and all they want to do is complain how much it costs or how long it took.
Isn't the swing motor down inside the rotex? I can't access that, not with a bad back anyway. I can barely climb into the machine (very carefully) due to severe back pain (had to stop all back exercises last year due to hernias). I was encouraging and friendly with him and his other mechanic that came and put in the new hoses. I had complimented him on the fact that the other mechanic said he's have to pull the swing gear to get at the hoses, yet the new guy did it in 40 mins with out disassembling the upper half of the machine. Thing is, I wrote him 3 emails this week with suggestions about purging air. He responded to one of them (I quoted earlier) and that was all. I've been replying with a desire to move forward (I paid his invoice right away) and that I need to get planting and clear an area for chicken coops. Yet, no response in 2 days. I know he's in demand, but I had hoped that once he started my job, he would see it through to completion.
The swing motor runs the swing gear and isn't in the rotary manifold (not sure if that's what you mean by the rotex?). The rotary manifold is just for the track drive motors and the blade if it has one. Any mechanic doesn't really care that you need to get planting and clear an area for chicken coops. Everybody wants to get their machines back working ASAP. Three e-mails in a week suggesting he might not know how to purge air might be a little much. I'd try asking him if he might be able to come over in the next couple of weeks to try and figure out what's wrong with the swing.
I was careful not to imply that he didn't know how to purge air. I only suggested it one time that maybe the system is air bound, but he seemed not to think that was the problem. That he's not responding to emails after I paid his invoice is a little disappointing. I asked him when he could come and finish the project to get the machine fully operational and have yet to receive a reply.
Hopefully you hear from him soon.
I sent another email asking if he's even receiving my mail (could be spam filter is blocking me). So far, nothing. I want to get this machine working, get my food supply secured and sell it before I die.
There's got to be a Wal-Mart within 30 minutes drive, they should have a food supply . . .
Not when the truckers aren't moving. I'm preparing for the day when the food shelves are empty. Self sufficiency is essential!
Well, I guess hobbies have their benefits . . .
They aren't now so you could stock up but it's not likely the shelves will be bare anytime soon. Have you been watching too many doomsday movies? You just got a new car so should be able to afford food if you can afford gas.
The wife bought the new car (her old car was deemed unrepairable) after shopping for used cars for many months and finding that used cars were not much less expensive than buying new with a warranty. I bought the excavator as an investment, seeing that that cash I'd been saving in the dresser draw since about 1960 was losing value rapidly. I wanted to buy gold, but no dealer would do it off the books (worried about confiscation as like they did in 1933). Then my wife had the idea, watching me struggle all summer with a wheelbarrow and shovel moving hundreds of yards of fill around the property, "why don't you buy a machine?" so I gave it some thought, figured a used machine would hold value better than fiat paper currency, and started shopping. I wanted a mini, but couldn't touch one for under $45K at the time. Had just about $30K saved up over 6 decades of putting a few dollars every paycheck aside. So when I found the PC60-7 (guy was asking $30K and I talked him down to $27.5K). Day 4 of ownership, a pilot line lets go.. and the rest is history.. fixed that myself (took 4 days). We did start to stock up in 2020, but our house is tiny and we have little storage other than kitchen cabinets. If I had a larger place, we could have a walk in pantry. That would have been nice. But I'm not a fan of commercially produced "food". I grew up with chickens back in '49 when we moved to Stamford and built the chicken shed in the back yard. So all through the '50s we had plenty of eggs and sold them to the neighbors as well. My wife wants to get us self sufficient. We're off grid with our electric, well and septic, but food is still something we depend on a working economy for. When no one pays the truckers, the food won't get to the stores.
You've said all this before. You seem to be all doom and gloom and the world is coming to the end. Who's not paying the truckers? I don't think the stores are going to run out of food anytime soon.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I see the culling of millions of chickens. The sun is going crazy with flares (grid could go down), the country has unsustainable debt and WWIII is likely to engulf America. At least I have reliable electricity and water supply. The food supply, I would like to have control over, too. But in the meantime, I need to get the machine working, and ready for sale. Have $182K in medical bills from the two heart attacks last year.
Good Grief! Perhaps your doomsday theories contributed to your 2 heart attacks. Look after your health and listen to your Dr's. They aren't out to get you nor is anyone else. There is no shortage of good healthy food. I really wonder if the mechanics that have worked on your excavator have been turned off by your bleak view of the world. It's certainly depressing. You were given 2 second chances, make the most out of the time you have and stop thinking the world is about to self implode. You're not likely to get a 3rd chance the way you're going.
Dave, those Doomsday Prepper’s are not worth your time. Let it go. Think some Xanax is in order.
Dam i must be evil. If i thought anarchy was around the corner screw the medical bills. I would run all my credit cards to max. Wait one of them is there now with this 963 under carraige. Cash is going to be worthless, so a working excavator has more value than the funds. At least you can dig graves or tank traps or look for gold... I would be ok with it swinging only in one direction as long as it swings. I just got an email that all metal building components are going up 12% on may 02. Things you own are getting more expensive. Tires are up already. Another wave of stupidity is headed our way. The question is will people have the money to carry on or will this be the straw that breaks the camels back.
About 20 years ago, I was in a Grainger and we were expecting a big storm to come in and even though I don’t like Grainger because of their inflated costs, I was there anyway. There was this guy buying a generator and you can imagine their cost and anyway, this guy was going on and on, about how while everyone else would be out of power, HE was going to be fine because he had just spent a few grand, on a brande new generator. He turned to me and asked if I was getting ready for this big storm. I replied, well yea, I had already got ready, he asked how. I told him I went and bought a few boxes of ammo. He asked how was that getting ready. I explained, if it was that bad and I and my family really needed something, I would just go over to his house, and take it. He didn’t like that at all. You can do everything you want to get ready for Armageddon but if people really need something from you, you better be able to protect it. When I lived in a close neighborhood, back when generators were kinda rare, them things running, were a magnet for thieves.
Ah, no trouble, all the preppers have an AR15, and as we all know, buying an AR15 automatically turns a guy into Seal Team 6, so no worries there . . .
Funny, that my wife was saying the same thing last year "you read too much of that ZeroHedge, stop reading that, it's giving you a heart problem!" Actually, I read that more for entertainment, and some foreknowledge of what to stock up on. My real stress is coming from the tax collector and the building dept in my town. Unbeknown to me, they switched from doing 10 year revaluation cycles, to 5 years and they are using aerial photography to 'inspect' properties I found out. Well, got a call from the building dept about my solar panels. They said they didn't have a permit on file. I told them this is MY property and I don't need their damned permission to do what I need to do to survive. $740 monthly electric bills were heading us to a shut off several years ago. Can't pay that when you're living on $910 social security retirement. So I did the solar, seeing that we were going to be unable to afford electricity soon. Good thing I did. I told the building guy to F off and my wife hung up the phone. But back taxes have been a stress source for me, as well as the damned roof is leaking again, due to those scammy white roof coatings not lasting anywhere near what they claim. 10 year waranty, but leaks after 2 years.. no luck trying to get most of these suppliers to make good on it. Most people my age are in or moving into assisted living facilities. I don't have that sort of money. I've been toughing it out here on the mountain for 59 years, since I acquired the land cheaply. Hoping I can keep going. My neighbor died peacefully in his sleep, but was healthy as an ox all his life. Hope that's how it goes for me. I hate hospitals!
Well hang in there man. Hopefully you get the tractor sorted out, get to use it to do your projects and then sell it. Once you get the bugs sorted out with the lines you will be fine. Every used machine has its issues. Just don't rush into selling it because you are afraid to use it. If the motor runs good and the hydraulic power is good use it. A smart old fella told me something that I always remember when everything seems to be going wrong especially with the government. Don't worry they can't eat you....
My impression is that nearly ALL of the rubber is rotted, so many lines have to be replaced. That's really the only major issue. Engine runs great. The rest is fine too. Just these hydraulic issues have to be sorted. Only minor issue is the battery disconnect relay gets stuck sometimes. I need to take that apart and see if I can clean the contacts. The government might not eat you, but they can sure kill you. (Remembering the Branch Davidians and Ruby Ridge atrocities). To think we pay taxes to fund that sort of thing makes my blood boil. I mostly ignore the government and just live my life. Went to the follow-up with my cardiologist today. They couldn't use contrast on the last echocardiogram, so he's not sure if the clot is still there, but he said it's been a year now and it seems stable. He wants me to take the clopidogrel and metoprolol in addition to aspirin, at least for another year. Said people live longer if they take those after a heart attack. My ejection factor is 45%, normal is 55%, he told me. No wonder I get out of breath faster than I used to.
The mechanic was over on Saturday. I learned there is a blocked pilot line. He has pressure at joystick but nothing at valve. Will have to lift cab. As for me, I landed in the ER Friday night with internal bleeding. GIST tumor found in my stomach. Surgery planned Thursday. no lifting for 6 to 8 weeks after.
Somebody along the line with all these repairs wasn't careful with hydraulic hygene . . . Sorry to hear about the medical issues, hopefully it is benign.
Hope you heal up soon and listen to your Dr's. As far as your excavator it sounds like the problem has finally been discovered and once fixed you'll have a good machine to do all your projects.
This drama is getting good, no need to see it end. Maybe we could re-name this thread and give Vtech a run for most posts. Seeing as the machine shop certainly has less drama than a construction company run by the 3-Stooges. As the HEF turns, tune in next week for another blown pilot hose or maybe, an actual working excavator. Good luck with the healing, wish you the best. If anyone deserves a break it is you.
I hope he gets it fixed and can do his projects but this a good example of when maybe renting or highering out the work might have been the better option. It will be rewarding when it's fixed though.
I looked into renting but a thousand a day and many spread out needs was no go. I needed an inflation proof investment, too. Tomorrow is surgery. Thanks for all the well wishes.
Best of luck tomorrow!
I am scheduled for noon today. I will be on a ventilator, which indicates the depth of anesthesia I will be under. I was informed that surgery begins around noon today and will take 2 hours.
Hoping everything goes well.
Wow, from a blown hose to life stories outa the hills of Connecticut! Dam they are listening and watching what we do. Im in Ct also and this was the first post I saw! Its like they read my mind ♂️
well the operation went good. and I do have some pain in the belly region. the biggest pain though was when I urinate because they stuck a catheter up there during the operation. boy did that hurt. but otherwise I'm recovering they moved me to a private room and I'm just using my tablet to remote desktop into my computer at home. I think everyone for all the good wishes and I'm looking forward to getting back home and getting back my strength.
I had a horror story after they took a catheter out in the hospital and tried to put one back in. Felt like razor blades and finally got a specialist from urology to put it in but only after I screamed how painful it was. Used a lot of Lidocane to freeze everything. I've had to self catheter for the last 2 1/2+ years and it's no big deal after doing it thousands of times. Sure beats having a bag attached to my leg and having catheter 24/7.
that sounds like a horror story I wouldn't want to wish you on anyone. what a terrible experience especially if you have something like that long-term. as for me I'm feeling a bit better each day and I'm finally able to pee without a lot of pain. I don't want to go through that ever again! they have an ultrasound machine now that can measure how much urine is in the bladder it's quite High tech. anyway hopefully I'll be out of here soon. thanks for the good wishes.
The most urine I had in my bladder that I couldn't empty was 810 ml's. Normally your brain tells you you have to pee with about 300 ml's. The agony of that plus the pain of the idiot trying to get a catheter in was more like being in an extreme torture chamber.
Yeah, I probably wake some nights with that much when I have to get up to pee. Good news: hospital discharged me today! Feeling MUCH better, though my abdomen feels like it took too many punches from George Foreman. They did cut through muscle to get to the stomach. They removed about 10-15% of the stomach wall, which had the cancer. Wasn't caused by acid reflux, as I has thought. They said environmental and genetic causes. 6-8 weeks no heavy lifting! I'm on forced retirement for a while.
Just take it easy and when you do get feeling better take it slow. Maybe the mechanic will be able finish fixing your excavator in the mean time. You're almost there.
Well I'm feeling much better (have another couple of weeks before doc says I can lift heavier stuff), but the mechanic has not answered my last three e-mails. I've been e-mailing about twice a month, asking for a day when he can finish the job. Currently, I have swing to the left, but no right swing capability. The boom down is very sticky, resulting in a violent jerking off the whole machine when it does finally let go. I'm concerned about damaging the swing gear if I use it. It's almost too late to plant now. I'd hoped to have my farming plot ready by April, but now we're in June and the guy's not responding to e-mails. Last time, he said something about being sick and just getting back to work. So I don't know what's going on. The only other diesel mechanics are 60 miles away and charge by the the distance to travel out here to do repairs, which would get real expensive. I just got the bill for last month's hospital stay.. $122K. I have to sell the machine this year to cover some of this and last year's hospital bills, but I need it working properly so I can get my investment back out of it.
I had a hitachi that just swung around in a circle & tried various fixes but gave up at the end & sold it. Like to know what your mechanic does to stop the swing?? Sorry to hear cost for medical as the way inflation is running today it’s gonna get even worse. Cost for a leg of lamb in NZ is now $51?? was $32 & we are short of Doctors as they can make triple in Australia & call out fees for mechanics eg CAT can be up to $500??just to come & look???
Hopefully the mechanic gets back to you in the near future. I'm glad my time in the hospital and cancer institute was fully covered by the gov't. Even the trial drug I'm on is fully covered. Those pills are $400/ea.! Healthcare is one thing that I'm glad I'm in Canada. The US needs to do something to help people that don't have or can't afford Healthcare insurance. Not trying to be political just think it's something that should be given more priority. People shouldn't have to lose their life savings or home because of health issues they have no control over. I also think if people smoke or drink/do drugs and have health issues directly related to their bad habits maybe they should pay some out of pocket expenses or a surcharge. Not a huge amount like losing their life savings though.
The machine doesn't swing on its own. To be clear, I can swing to the left/counterclockwise, but push the stick to the right and nothing happens. But the scary one is the jerking motion on the down boom operations. I don't want to break the swing gear by trying to use that until it's fixed. Medical care is so expensive because of insurance. Insurance decouples the cost and breaks the 'feedback' in the economic model. Same thing happened with student loans. I put myself through college 50 years ago on weekly paychecks. Now, with student loans, tuition has gone up over 1000% because they can get the money. If people paid out of pocket, both healthcare and education would be far cheaper. BTW, I know several Canadians that came to the US to get treatment because they would have died by the time the rationed healthcare waiting list got around to servicing them. Glad you're experience was better than theirs! I'm going to try calling the "new" mechanic. Maybe my e-mails are winding up in his spam folder and he's not getting them. So far: $27,500 for the machine purchase A tad over $11K in repairs, including new tracks, hydraulics, upper rollers, kick glass, seat reupulstered, etc.
Wait times can be long for some things and some people do go the states but just the pills I take would have cost well over $100K so far and I'll likely be taking them or another similar type for the rest of my life. I'd guess my time in hospital beds would be well over $100K too if I had to pay out of pocket. The stem cell transplant and 2 vertebroplasty procedures are fully covered as well. It's not a perfect system but I didn't have to sell everything I own to get the cancer in remission. I probably pay about $30/month for other meds that are 80% covered by my partners benefits from her work. I'm certainly not complaining and have an excellent oncologist.
And to think you probably could have knocked out that cancer by fasting periodically and cutting all sugar/carbs from diet. Maybe Ivermectin and a few of the related drugs that are turning out to be "miracle" cancer drugs. Unfortunately for a lot of us though, we don't find out until we collapse on the kitchen floor unconscious like I did due to internal bleeding. Well, I called the mechanic and got voicemail "the mailbox is full" message, so I could not even reach him that way. I'm trying another mechanic that the local utility guy recommended, but I don't have high hopes that he's going to come out here any time soon either, as I'd contacted him back in March initially.
Yeah, no. I highly doubt I could have done anything to prevent getting cancer. I'm certainly not going to hope changing my diet and taking meds for animals will kill the cancer. If it did I'm positive there would be all kinds of miracles reported. I had stem cell transplant and take Lenalitomide that is known to stop and even kill some cancer cells. I've been in full remission for over 2 years so have nothing but praise for my oncologist. I trust the Dr's. know what they're doing. I get the feeling you don't trust Dr's. and it's just a big conspiracy theory to make money. Perhaps if you had more faith in Dr's. you wouldn't have gone through as much as you have. I really get the feeling that you think everyone is out to get you. If that's the way you come across might be why people like the mechanic are reluctant to deal with you. I could be all doom and gloom but what good would that do. I got cancer and I'm dealing with it the best I can. A positive attitude counts for a lot. I'm looking forward to the future rather than thinking things are just going to get worse. Most of all I don't think anyone is out to get me.
Ivermectin . . . lol . . .
I'm pretty much certain that cancer is a lifestyle problem. Sure, genetics have a play in the probability, but it's been proven that cancer lives on sugars. Fasting puts the body in ketosis and the body can live on ketones, but cancer cells cannot. My wife beat thyroid cancer by going on a special diet in 2011 when she was diagnosed with it and told she had six months to live if she didn't have surgery. Now in 2025, she is fine, no more gigantic lump on her neck. Thanks to Joanna Budwig's protocol diet. Re: Ivermectin, don't knock it til you try it. ;-) The only people that are out to get me are the tax collectors right now. And they've upped their game, using aerial photography to spy on residents properties. Got a call from the building inspector in March about my solar panels. Apparently, I didn't pull a permit for them. LOL. I told him it's MY property and I don't need their permission to go off grid. Later I e-mailed the mayor to tell him how Orwellian their tax revaluation methods are. We had a cordial conversation on the phone. He's a decent guy, but knows who butters his bread, so he's not going to go on a limb for the little old man that lives on the mountain. As for the machine, I've called three different diesel mechanics last week and didn't get a return call from any of them. I guess they all have more work than they can handle. Meanwhile, I've missed the window for planting vegetables now, so the garden isn't going to happen, again, this year.
If that were the case like I said there would thousands of miracles reported. Some people beat cancer but a lot don't no matter what they do. I'd prefer to go with the Dr's. say.
Bolded is a misconception often put forth in bad faith. Ask one of the Dr.s you have faith in if ivermectin is a med for animals. Drugs initially developed for animals are used to treat humans and vice versa. The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Press release - NobelPrize.org www.nobelprize.org Almost all drugs are developed and tested using animal models. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890623822001551 lenalitomide is also used on animals to treat them. does this mean your trusted doctors gave you meds for animals in treating your cancer? Pharmacokinetics of thalidomide in dogs: can feeding affect it? A preliminary study Pierini A, et al. J Vet Sci. 2020 Jul;21(5):e60. https://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2020.21.e60 vetsci.org lenalitomide came from thalidomide which was developed as a sleeping pill. Did your doctors treat you with a sleeping pill for cancer? If a sleeping pill can cure cancer in people and animals, perhaps a livestock wormer could too.
Good Grief! My cancer is in remission is all I care about so my Dr's. must know what they're doing. Next I'll be told taking energy drinks would have repaired the 10 fractured vertebrea in my back caused by the cancer.
What I do know is that ketones feed your body, but starve cancer. I have recently developed a theory as to why I got stomach cancer: when I had my cardiac catheterization last year, I received about 400,000 X-rays as the realtime video X-rays of my heart were being taken for 90 minutes during the procedure. We worry about getting one X-ray, but I received 400,000 times the dosage of ionizing radiation during the procedure. Now I'm also reading that CAT scans produce cancer in 5% of patients, and I had a CAT scan for my stomach cancer. I was unaware that it used ionizing radiation at the time or I would have demanded an alternative like MRI. As for my excavator, I can't get a hold of anyone. I'm hunting for mechanics, but my search has widened to Massachusetts now, which is going to cost a ton of money in travel time. On top of that, when I got out of the hospital, found my '05 Silverado pickup cranks but won't start. Checked for spark, and I have that. Sprayed engine degreaser in the intake and engine wanted to fire on one cylinder, so it looks like the fuel pump probably failed at 160K miles. Could not find a local mobile mechanic willing to look at it, so I'll have to pay a quarter grand to have it towed to my mechanic's garage. I'm just bleeding cash into bankruptcy here.
So if you know all the answers and live the healthiest lifestyle (at least in your opinion) why did you have heart problems and all the other health issues to begin with? There are some serious flaws in your thinking. I guess I should expect more cancer because they had to look at live X-rays to do the two vertebroplasty procedures on my back. Strangely my cancer is in full remission and has been for about 2 years.
I made some bad diet choices 50 years ago. From the 1970s to 90s, I ate at diners a lot. In the 80s, I had two Entennmens chocolate donuts with lunch every day. Plus, I have bad hereditary genetics: no one on my paternal side lived past 44, except my father, who took vitamin E. The three brothers of his all died from heart attacks by mid forties. Mother's side, cancer and dementia. I'm amazed I made it to 80, given the odds!
You should be retired and enjoying an easier life, not playing around with an excavator and trying to get restablished off grid. You're not making things easier for yourself.
I should be living tax-free at my age, too, but I'm being harassed by the town for back taxes, when my retirement savings ran out recently. So I keep working. I've missed a few tax payments since the heart attack sidelined me and tanked my income. I had a plan in 2015 to move to rural Japan and buy one of those abandoned houses for $6K, but I can't find a way to legally remain in Japan. There is no retirement visa. So I'm still stuck here, with no money, a pile of medical debt and tax debt. And all the machinery breaking down in ways I cannot fix myself.
Might have to sell your wife's new car.
Do me a favor, just stay in Connecticut please? Lol Good luck, any day above ground is a good day. Connecticut has a tax deferral program for people that don’t make crap. Do whatever or whom ever you have to, to get on that program! I think any American that could possibly lose their homes to taxes after 65, should be illegal as long as any federal money is going overseas. Not to get political, which this one can! Sign up for the tax deferral!
They only give me $250 off my taxes and I have to reapply every year to qualify. It's not like 30 years ago where you got 80% off your taxes and only had to apply once. Connecticut is safe, geologically, and I chose a mountaintop location to avoid the floods (lost a lot of stuff in the Flood of '55 in Stamford parent's house). The problem is the government would turn its weapons against me over unpaid property taxes. In 2015, I had to spend $27K in legal defense costs to defend against a bogus accusation of a heinous crime. I learned that I could not even sue the state to recoup legal defense costs, even though it was the mistake of an overzealous government official that caused the whole matter. That year, I decided that for my own survival, I needed to move to rural Japan. I've been trying to work out a legal way to obtain permanent residency there, but have not been able to qualify on any of their programs for immigration. All my surviving friends life there. My high school friend has a house in Kawsaki. My wife has childhood friends in Yachio, Chiba. I have an audiophile friend in Ishikawa. I'm really envious of him because he has 3X the house on 2X as much land, and pays 1/20th as much tax as I do. I agree on the criminality of taxation. It IS stealing. Government is nothing more than a mafia that has control of the indoctrination centers, thus has brainwashed everyone into believing we need to pay taxes. In reality, the money is used to harass individuals of low income and to make wars for Israel's Zionists. I personally think that the theft of homes from senior citizens should be punished by torture, followed by execution. But that's just me. Meanwhile, my PC60-7 sits in the yard, over a year now, inoperative and it seems I can't get anyone to work on it and make it ready for sale.
Check which hose has the problem, upload photos, part number, model number, I can help you buy it for very little money, or consult me, the expensive price of the dealer is earned by the supply chain
A mechanic replaced two hoses in March. However, he cannot determine what is causing the swing not to work in a clockwise direction. He told me that he has to get the crane and lift the cab off the machine to get to the lines underneath. Possibility is the prior mechanic pinched a line when he put the cab back on last August.
I asked my neighbor if he knew of anyone (he has several heavy machines) who can do repairs, and I mentioned the guy I was using. My neighbor said that he couldn't reach the guy either, and is having trouble finding service for his machines as well. There's only about 3 guys in our area who do this work and have the equipment. When one goes down, the other two are overloaded. I may have to go out of state to get help, which means paying over half a grand just for travel time to get them here.
Latest update.. got someone from out of the area to come and evaluate. Found no pressure from a valve, but the solenoid clicking when the control is pushed to the right. He thinks is MIGHT be a pinched line. He was here for a little over 2 hours testing, checking and looking at all that he could without pulling cab. Cost me $649 for the inspection so far. I hope he will come back and pull the cab and fix what the first guy screwed up. Otherwise I'm just paying random mechanics a lot of money for no actual work done!
I wonder if a solenoid could click but not actually work?
I've seen such a situation a number of times, so yes, it's possible. The third mechanic thinks it could be a crushed line or the solenoid was crushed, or perhaps a valve. I'm frankly a bit concerned that he isn't following up with a return date or any sort of commitment. He did say to me that most mechanics won't touch a machine that's had other hands in it. I'm hoping he didn't just take my money for this diagnostic with no plans to come back and repair the machine. That is always lingering in my mind, after the 2nd mechanic went AWOL.
He could be busy with other work. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.
Says he needs to find someone with a crane. Told me the crane guy charges $1800 a day. I spoke with my neighbor, who runs a marina and has all sorts of heavy equipment. He has a couple machines, one a JCB lift, that can probably do the job. So now I'm trying to set it up. Leaving messages and waiting for call back. Man, what a money pit.
$1800 a day sounds like an excuse to try and get out of the job unless it's a lot of money or it's a long ways away.
Surely you must have trucks with hiab cranes on them?? Look for someone who lifts 20ft containers. Here in NZ theyre a dime a dozen & have good reach & lifting power & will do a job for $200 max. We have no qualms if other mechanics have been on the job & never been asked?? thats stupidity?? I try to solve all problems myself & just bought a cheap PC40 used Komatsu without even seeing it to do small tracks etc & runs well with new oil, filters, new tracks already on it. I also have a Komatsu WA30-3 that had leaks in the radiator & all hoses on this girl are original --not one has been replaced. Instead of paying $1100 for a new radiator I used Steel epoxy to seal the leaks & works a treat.Cost me $12? Ive also sealed a frost plug that was hard to get at with Steel epoxy....Back in the 70s I had a McCullouch chainsaw throw a rod & had a hole in the bore. The Chainsaw company used Devcon to seal the hole in the bore then rebored it out & you couldnt see where the epoxy lines were. Devcon was actually banned for some years as someone thought it would take business away from welders? yet one can still buy it today & can save heaps of $$$ for quick fixes.
Yeah, my mind tends to jump to conclusions that are not positive. It's been all day and the mechanic did not return my call. 'Am I out another $650 for no repair done,' I'm thinking. I'm just bleeding money. Meanwhile, I have to wait for my next SS payment to arrive and start all over. I'll be 81 in a few months. I'd like to get it fixed before I die. A few years ago, that was to be my Japan escape money--sell the excavator, buy a cheap house in rural Japan, and live in peace. If mechanic #3 decides to bail, then I have to look even further out, even out of state, for a mechanic. It's absurd. Last ditch effort would be to ask my neighbor to help remove the cab. I just have to figure out what to unbolt, disconnect, etc, and have him lift the cab with his machine. Then I would have to lift the floor of the machine to get to the hydraulic lines and look for anything that might be crushed. But I'm not a mechanic and I don't know what I'm doing, so that might be a bad idea.
For 1800$ u could build a A frame and lift it off yourself. Get creative, sure sounds like u shouldn't be wasting money on this money pit if u have no Positive idea what's is wrong. I mean c'mon, I get it, its worth nothing sitting there broken, but on the other hand if u don't t pay your taxes your going to be living in a broken mini excavator lol Cmon
On aprill 22 a mechanic said pinched pilot hose. Is the latest guy saying the same thing? Do these guys give a written report and diagnosis?
Totally agree Dave. Any work done should have a print out on the work carried out before signing off. He should have showed Mark where the fault was also on the job. My Komatsu & CAT agent are always informative giving me free advice on anything that goes wrong & I try to do most repairs myself. Plus I have workshop manuals for all my machines & have even asked on this forum for advise which is great.
He could only speculate. Said he needs to pull the cab off to actually SEE what is going on. He's noted a relay or solenoid clicking when the swing control is moved to the right. He wrote on receipt that "there were multiple bolts loose/missing, need to backtrack pull cab see what previous person did wrong or crushed. Machine calling for pressure/not getting any." I've had a chat with my neighbor, who happens to own the largest marina on the east coast, and has a lot of heavy equipment. He's willing to help with a JCB lift. I relayed this to the mechanic last week, but he's stopped returning my calls and has not responded to e-mail. It's always the same pattern. It's like a nightmare. If I hire someone again, I'm stating up front that I'm not paying for no work done. I want results if I'm going to spend a month's social security on a mechanic. I don't want estimates for the better part of a grand. If a mechanic visits from out of area, I expect him to have the tools and equipment to do the job right then and there.
If I took a call from a guy who "wasn't going to pay without results" and who "wasn't going to pay $1000", and who wanted me to come diag a problem three other guys had been messing with, and fix it on the spot (Finger snap . . . KA ZAM, parts!!) . . . I for sure would end the conversation as politely as possible and make a mental note not to take any further calls from that number . . .
I'm curious just what was said as well. If someone was complaining about other mechanics and/or how much everything costs is a big red flag. There has to be a reason 3 mechanics are no longer responding. You have to pay for the mechanic to come out and diagnose what's wrong. That's not always easy. Suggesting you don't want to pay $1000 and not have it fixed is really putting the mechanic on the spot. They could be worried they won't get paid if the bill is over $1000.
The problem, from my perspective, is I paid a guy all this money, but he could only guess about the problem because he didn't have a way to lift the cab off the machine and diagnose the problem. So I'm out a bunch of money, for no results. And if the guy never shows up again, he's made a nice chunk of coin without any real effort. Sounds like a profitable racket. That's how it tends to look from my perspective. I'll remind everyone that the first mechanic royally screwed up the machine, was probably too embarrassed to come back and fix it. The second mechanic fixed two major problems, but then dropped off the face of the earth. My neighbor can't get a call back from him either, so it's not just me. This third one is not local. He had to drive across the state to come here. In hindsight, I should have asked up front if he had the machinery to do a proper diagnosis--the ability to lift the cab off the machine. I had assumed he did, since the other two mechanics had the truck with the crane. Ultimately, if I can't get it serviced this fall, I'm going to need to figure out how to remove the cab myself (with neighbor's help using his machine) and figure a means of lifting the floor of the cab to get at the hydraulic lines. Not something I can do with severe back pain. (I spent a bit of time trying to fix a fuel sender problem on my MEP-803A, and just crouching down for 30 minutes while working on the fuel tank put my back in a world of hurt, leaving me unable to move for the next two days.) I'll push on to do what has to be done, even if it kills me.
It’s very possible, this excavator will be the death of you.
No, he gave you a day of his time, and you paid him for that.
Yes, I realize that, but if he really had no intention of actually doing the repair work and just making money off "diagnostics", that's a rip-off from my perspective. I would have expected him to complete the repairs within a couple of weeks, but it's been a month and he hasn't contacted me. I've left multiple voice mails and e-mails and he's not responding. Sorry, but I can't help but to feel I've been taken for a ride, financially. At least the first two mechanics actually WORKED on the machine and did some tangible repairs.
I do feel for your situation. you have not been treated fairly i would agree. many times those of us who fix stuff for a living are working from a fairly full plate... that is we have far more work/opportunities than we can reach too. so if a mechanic gets the sense it is a high risk job... he is likely to forget it and move on to a more secure job. i for one have several larger customers who are pretty much all i do. then as time allows i slip others in alongside their work. even a good mechanic is now going to need a bit of time to diagnose what is the problem now and it could get expensive till he finds and repairs all the issues. So i guess i am saying you need them. be as workable as possible and get it fixed. best of wishes!!
"Diagnostics" is repair work. If the guy came to the job, saw the situation, listened to what the customer had to say, and saw what was going on with the machine, he may very well have decided then and there he wasn't getting any more involved than he was that day. There are plenty of customers that I get a bad "feel" about and don't actually end up taking the work.
So this is a standard procedure for mechanics? Charge the customer a ton of money for a diagnosis, secretly decide it's not a job he wants to take, and then ghost the customer? Sounds like a profitable racket. Heck, I don't even need a crane truck. Just hang out my sign "diesel mechanic" and go to all the jobs others won't take on, charge them a ton of money for a diagnosis and blow town. I'm convinced the problem is a pinched line or something broke when the first mechanic put the cab back on. It can't be THAT bad. Winter is moving in and I'm running out of time. I missed planting season two years in a row because this machine is not working.
I’m beginning to see why nobody wants your work, you sound like an *******.
You must be a youngun'. Back in my day, people did an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. You kids think that anyone who expects a fair return on their investment is a "******".
No, machines today are 100 times more complex than they were 40 or more years ago and require a lot more knowledge to fix them. It's pretty common for mechanics to not want to try and fix another mechanics mess or try to figure out what all a previous mechanic did. Maybe you need to tell a prospective mechanic you will have a lift available if the cab has to come off. It's also possible the problem could be electronic or something not common and the mechanic(s) don't know exactly how to fix it or don't want to open a can of worms. We have no idea on the forum what you said or how you came across to the mechanics. If you kept going on about how much everything costs and/or figured it was taking too long or was watching over the mechanic like a hawk asking a zillion questions would turn a lot of mechanics off.
For a little bit, I was contemplating going down to Connecticut to help you out but with your attitude and bad mouthing, forget it. You sir, were the one that bought an older excavator, with shallow pockets. You are unfortunately in a bad position, where you can’t do the work yourself and can’t afford to get a machine fixed. You are also bad mouthing mechanics that are probably on this site. You have done nothing but burn bridges and while I completely understand your impatience, it is very possible that some of the mechanics you have had look at the machine, either don’t have the skill or are busy making money, from people that appreciate their work and don’t bug the crap out of them. Yes, I agree that you have had a bad run of luck and you probably got screwed by a mechanic or two but the sympathy only goes so far. Good luck and hopefully it works out for you.
It is very frustrating but a mechanic doesn't want or need to hear how frustrating it is. If the machine will move enough to load it on a trailer hauling it to a dealer or repair shop might be the best option. Will cost more for trucking but everything required to fix it will be right at hand.
Just for interest, how much did he charge you to come look at the machine?
$648.
You said earlier the guy came from "out of the area" and spent two hours on your machine. Sounds like he probably billed you for 4-5 hours of time at 130 - 160 an hour. What exactly do you suppose a "honest days pay" ought to be?
I have no problem with a mechanic making an honest days' pay, but if you're going to make the decision to diagnose a problem, and charge the customer, it would be decent of you to commit to finishing the job. Otherwise the customer has to find another mechanic, who may or may not show up, but charge him money for no work done. This seems to be the new ethic. Not at all like things were in the 1950s. If you can't understand my perspective, then there's no point to this conversation.
Sometimes a mechanic doesn't want to do a job, especially if it's trying to figure out what a previous mechanic did. It could also be too big of a job for them or they're worried about getting paid. The job could turn out to be a lot bigger than they originally thought.
If a mechanic doesn't want to take a job, he should be honest up front on the phone, rather than take my money and promise to come back as soon as he can find a crane. That seems disingenuous to me. But then, I come from a different era where a man's word was as good as gold.
Mr Weiss You have obviously never hired a tow company !!!!!! I had one of my guys roll a truck 150/200 feet down a mountain . So I have to call a tow truck . They show up and charge large you have to pay first . They get the truck out and didn't make the truck any worse . Got it to the road and dudes started rolling up . I told them where to take it to . They told me they don't tow vehicles just recover them . Ok then take it to the highway . Sir you need to call a tow truck. They leave so I call a tow truck . Super cool dude shows up . You have to pay first . Truck is on the way home after thousands of dollars . We get to the highway and dude starts dropping the truck . No dude take it to my house . Sorry sir we don't transport only tow and you need to transport it home . Can't you do it ? no sir call a hot shot broker and he gave me a number to call . So I hook up with a transport company that does just this moves vehicles. More thousands of dollars and you have to pay first . They show up with a really awesome truck and trailer . So the guy gets in the wrecked truck and tries to start it . Bro it rolled over like 20 time it doesn't run . Well how do I get on the flat bed sir ? Don't you have a winch to pull it on ? No sir we only transport running vehicles . Alright buddy now what the ***** do we do here ? Sir you need to call a tow truck!!!! So I call a tow truck . You have to pay first . More thousands of dollars . So these dudes show up in a 70 ton rotator for and f-350 utility body Formans truck it s not more than 10,000 pounds loaded but they are here and I already paid so lets just go home now . Every call was to the same tow company . I told them where is was and where it needed to go from the get go. If they told me the overall price I would have said no cause I can't afford that . so they broke it into bits so I would keep paying cause it has to get done but I still couldn't afford it . Was there word gold ? Did they make an honest days pay ? Did I fire the guy that rolled the truck ? Would I hire that tow company again ? In all of this I smiled because I know what I charge When I find somebody in this type of circumstance and it aint CHEAP!!!
Like was previously mentioned your attitude could have a lot to do with it. A mechanic isn't automatically obliged to do a job just because he took a look at it and did some diagnostics. Could have thought it was a can of worms or worried about getting paid if it's more involved than they originally thought.
Well here it is mid-November and the machine is still un repaired. To make matters worse, I got a revaluation letter from the assessor's office. My property revaluation more than DOUBLED. I already scheduled a hearing, but I know from experience that they are pretty rigid. I'm under more pressure now to get the machine sale-ready. But I have no help. I was planning to use that money to buy a cheap house in rural Japan and relocate there so I can retire unmolested by tax collectors. I'm not in a good mood either way. Lots of lower back pain, and for the past month, I can't use my right hand due to severe joint pain--literally feels like a bone fracture. Age and health and economic situation looks bleak. It makes me short-tempered.
It's hard to be in a good mood when you're in pain. I got mis-diagnosed 3 times as a muscle issue when I had compression fractures in my back. Ended up with 10 compression fractures. My back was repaired with bone cement but still aches pretty good at times. As far as the excavator about all you can do is try to get ahold of the mechanic.
There's a possibility I may have Lyme Disease. I've been bitten at least three times by ticks since 1992. Now that my immune system is failing, latent viruses may be taking over. It's about a month now that my right index finger became inflamed. Coupled with my back pain, it's becoming quite uncomfortable just being alive and conscious all day. Simple tasks, such as holding a toothbrush, are difficult now. I can barely hold a screwdriver. As for the mechanic, I think I wasted my money. I wish he had told me ahead of time that he had no means to remove the cab. Could have saved myself $648.
Sorry to hear of all your health issues. I think you're probably trying to bite off way more than you can chew. Your health is more important than anything else. I thought your neighbor could help remove the cab?
My neighbor said his JCB threw a fan blade into the radiator. He offered a man lift, but the mechanic said a man lift won't be adequate or safe and he rejected the offer. So I am in limbo. I've got another emergency taking up my time, an absurd property tax revaluation--the town upped the appraisal on my land by 200% and my house/building by over 500%. I have a telephone hearing on Wednesday. Haven't had a good night's sleep since I got the original revaluation letter in the mail last week. The prospect of becoming homeless has taken a toll on my mental health.
Those Komatsu’s are good solid machines, hopefully you can somehow get it fixed & sold soon….
When it rains it pours. Would be much better if could deal with little problems over time rather than big problems all at once.
What's another year, in the grand scheme of things, right? But my wife will have to deal with it after I'm gone. And I'm living on borrowed time. All I can do is keep calling mechanics, but this time ask if they have the equipment to do the job before I pay anything.
I just got my property tax revaluation in the mail last month. They raised the assessment on my structure by about 5X what it was in 2024. They nearly doubled the land assessment. I'm fighting it, of course, but this puts more pressure on me to sell the machine. I was going to use the $30-40K from the machine sale to fund my Japan business manager visa, but the new PM Takaichi raised the minimum investment by 6X, again putting me out of the race entirely. Instead of $38K, I now need to raise about $200K for that, so it looks like I'm stuck here in CT. Had echocardiogram 2 weeks ago. The left side of my heart weakened. I'm down to 35% EF and there's a clot in the apex of left ventricle. Doc wants me on Warfarin now. The only potentially good news, is I found another local mechanic with a crane truck, who's coming today to look at machine. We texted a few times and he agreed that the previous guy charging $648 for no work done seemed unethical. Will report back on what he finds. I started the machine last night and found I have no swing in either direction now. Started it this morning and let it warm up for ten minutes. Then tried again, still no swing. I can hear change in engine sound when I push the stick to the left, but no change when I push to the right. Then I figured I'd back the machine up and try to use the blade to plow some of the snow to make it easier for the mechanic to access the machine. I made it back about 3' and the right track started slipping in the snow. The left track seems to have little to no power. With all the mouse activity while the machine sat idle for a year, I guess I should not be surprised.
The mechanic was here today (a new guy) and he's different from the other three. Conscientious, good communicator, and willing to take on a tough challenge. He said the easy jobs are boring. He spent two hours taking things apart, measuring pressure with gauges and carefully tracing lines. What he found was that he had pressure at a manifold near the engine, but nothing at the other end of that line. Said line was the only one that would not move when he pulled on it. We both agreed the line is pinched from when the first guy put the cab back on. Rather than the cost of pulling the cab, he's ordering a new line and will snake it through and bypass the pinched line. He was here more than 2 hours but only charged me for 2 and the cost of the new line. He plans to return next week or on Saturday, depending on how soon the line gets built. For the first time, I feel some hope. The guy knows his stuff and took the time to do real troubleshooting and in this bitter cold weather.
The mechanic installed the bypass hydraulic line around the one that is pinched and the swing motor is now working correctly. The boom piston is leaking a lot of fluid, so I'm going to have him rebuild it soon. But once that's fixed, this machine will be in better working shape than when I got it. He also tightened the tracks and greased the swing gear. He's going to come back Saturday and see what's causing the jerky down boom movement, but it's likely due to the piston. I like this guy. He's prompt, communicates well, thinks outside the box and finds economical workarounds to save time and money. I wish I had found him last year instead of wasted thousands on incompetent mechanics. And he only charged $300 for today's work.
Great! Sounds like you found a really good honest mechanic. You finally have a good working excavator!
If only his name had come up when I asked around for mechanics online in my local community, I could have saved thousands on incompetent mechanics. My new mechanic said there's no excuse to be pretending to work on excavators if you don't have the crane truck, citing that 90% of the jobs he's worked on required it. He thought the last guy was unethical and soaked me for an easy $648 for no work done. He's got a good attitude, keeps his charges reasonable, doesn't 'pad' his hours to inflate the bill. The nagging thought in my mind is a strong desire to get the prior guy to refund some of my money, since he came unprepared to do any work.
Unfortunately I think trying to get any money back is just going to cause you more stress and not likely to have favorable results. Keep your sanity and be glad your excavator is working properly.
Yeah, besides, I don't need any more 'bad blood' between me and others. As it is, I'll have to put this up for sale this year, as property taxes are seeing a 500% increase for me due to rising property valuations in my neighborhood. I'm on a fixed income of $912 a month SS retirement and am already off grid solar because I cannot afford Eversource's rates. I've done everything to make the property self-sufficient, grow my own food, am in the process of putting in chicken run and coops (delayed by lack of a working machine), but now this huge tax increase comes along. I just can't win. Can't get ahead. Can't even maintain a base existence. Been battling it out with the tax assessor and board of assessment appeals, but they refuse to budge.
Hi Mark. Been reading your escapades here. Don't know your age or your wife's age but if your local tax authority is hell bent on raising your taxes you may want to either consider selling (if the property truly is worth what they are assessing) or consider a reverse mortgage that can leave you and your wife in the home until it isn't required any longer. I've gone through this with my mother under similar circumstances and it put a considerable amount of money in her pocket. May be something to consider before they tax you out of it. Our governor is working on eliminating property taxes, albeit for all the wrong reasons, but at least he is doing it. It is the one thing that makes owning property a fallacy. As long as government can pull your house out from under you, you truly never 'own' it. People need to rise and vote the idiots out of office for one that truly is for the people. There are several states currently that are eliminating property tax so it is not a far fetched notion.
Sounds like a great outcome for the machine but unfortunately the drama has me rolling my eyes! You sir need some happiness in your life and always being down about it, is only making it worse. Go dig a hole, crush up a 55 gallon barrel, have some fun before you’re not able too. i always feel better roughing something up or causing some chaos! Live like today is a gift and if you get up tomorrow, more the better.
A 500% increase in taxes almost sounds criminal. Are they trying to force you out of the neighborhood because of how you're set up to be self sufficient? There should be a tax assessor you can talk to to find out how they arrived at a 500% increase. You should be able to dispute it. A 500% increase does seem illegal.
When I built the house, starting in 1966, I got used barn lumber for free. The windows cost me $2000, bought new. I put in my own septic, had a guy dig a percussion well. The ground water is fantastic, or at least it was until the late 1980s when the area surrounding started building up. Anyway, the house is a non conforming structure, built without permits and doesn't have a C of O. I'm thinking of bringing up an environmental issue that would be a problem at sale time (which is one of the reasons I can't sell nor get financing (tried three banks in 1995 to get me out of an impending tax foreclosure back then). Appraiser looked at the house and said something about "land value minus demolition cost". All three turned it down. A friend bailed me out to the tune of $29,600. In 1974, due to the inaccessibility of the property in winter, I knew I needed to store a year's worth of heating oil, so I bought and installed a 2000 gallon in ground tank. Now in CT, you can't sell a property with such a tank. I also used to have a shed in the back yard, first structure I built on the land, and I stored a lot of electronics in there, plus chemicals I brought home from work. Old capacitors with PCBs in the oil coolant, trichloroethylene, acetone and other chemicals in glass bottles. When the shed rotted decades later and collapsed into the ground, a lot of that stuff probably contaminated the soil. So there's that too. Plus other issues. Property abuts a wetland/swamp. I actually had to fill in some of the swamp to put in my septic fields. I've been bouncing it off of Grok AI and Grok came back with some options: Cite CGS § 12-63 and Redding Life Care v. Redding in which they were able to prove an environmental hazard and were able to get the valuation offset by a few hundred thousand dollars. The first option was to hire a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment** Cost: $2,200 – $3,200. Obviously I can't afford that, so a sworn statement and photographs of the filler pipe would be the next best option. Grok states the idea idea is to assess the property as a Superfund-level environmental disaster that would have negative value. I feel this option is extremely risky, but if it looks like I'm going to head into another delinquency/liens/foreclosure situation, it may be the 'nuclear' option. A reverse mortgage still requires the bank to evaluate the property--they may determine it's not worth enough, or may deem it too risky, like the other banks. Besides, I have a disabled adult daughter living with us. I don't want her becoming street homeless after we pass. I did a lot of research. Even the tax assessor sent me photos of a house that is assessed at $178K--completely gutted to the studs and looks like ready for demolition! Grok researched the tax increase and apparently my area is seeing 350-600% valuation increases since 2020. I had a bad feeling about the Covid exodus from NYC back then, and this out of cycle revaluation came as a bit of a shock, but I see the reason now. I'm trying to get a Facebook group going to start a class action suit against Vision Appraisal, who are behind these 'revaluations' but it's not getting much traction. People earning 6-7 figures don't have a problem paying $25K a year in taxes. As far as my health, it's taken a nosedive since the bad news hit in November. Can't sleep at night, mind is reeling with scenarios, many too dark to share. I had good blood pressure in October (114-68) but the last two doctor visits I'm over 144/80 now. I'm tense, worried, depressed. My home means everything to me. It's my survival, my shelter, and refuge. Today, I went to the hernia doctor to discuss upcoming surgery, but he wants to wait until the results of my CT scan come back, just in case the other doctor has to operate on me again. On top of that, I need eye muscle surgery to fix my cyclotropia (double vision with one eye rotated vs the other). Have floaters, cataracts, etc, too. And my escape plan to rural Japan to join the rest of my still living friends, has moved goal posts. The new prime minister Sanae Takaichi, though I love her dearly and I think she's doing the right thing for Japan, just changed the goal posts for a Business Manager Visa. The minimum cash investment went from Y5M to Y30M, plus I would have to hire a full time Japanese employee, plus get my N5 Japanese skills up to N2 which is good enough to fill out business papers and do taxes. So the evaporation of that escape plan put me in the doldrums. All this cortisol production and the impending hopelessness has left me feeling deflated. Sorry to vent.
Seems like there should be laws that taxes can't increase by insane amounts like that. I don't know if I'd bring up contamination. They might make you have to pay to clean it up. Can your house be grandfathered in? Did it meet or need to meet any codes when it was built? Sorry about your situation but know what your best option would be.
Yeah, the whole idea that my labor belongs to the government just rubs me the wrong way. Home ownership is a lie. Real estate industry should be in jail for that lie. I'm hesitant to mention the environmental issues. But in brainstorming, I decided to look into the wetlands laws. Apparently, in my town, construction is prohibited within 150' of a wetland. So my argument is that the house is not rehabable due to it's extensive rot, mold, etc. And a builder would not be able to to easily get a permit to do new construction in a wetland. All of my home's footprint falls within that 150' buffer zone, so the entire lot is not buildable under the new wetlands laws. I have swamp water as close as 15' from the east foundation wall in spring. There's 4-6" of water out there when the snow melts. It's overflow from a stream that 's about 30' from the house. So I countered the assessor's e-mail showing me the gutted $178K house and told him it's probably not sitting on a wetland and I had Grok find the law and print it out for me, which I then sent to the assessor this morning. The house is non conforming and has been here about 60 years, so I guess it's grandfathered in. I built it without any permits back then. So now I wait for a response from the assessor, before going the "nuclear" option of revealing the underground stuff..
I wouldn't think a property close to or having wetlands would be valued as much as a good high ground. I know that gov't. will raise taxes to try and force people out if they want the land for something. Also if they figure a property is basically derelict compared to nearby properties. A lot of new housing developments nowadays have architectural guidelines you have to follow. You have to have a certain type of tree a minimum size in the front yard, etc. It's kind of stupid in some cases. I can see landscaping required but making you have to have a tree in the front yard is dumb. As far as your house, if it doesn't meet code or code when it was built they had 60 years to tell you to get it to whatever standard they wanted. They can't claim ignorance for their lack of enforcement over such a long period.
I suggest you appeal to the town and in the meantime file a tax abatement before time runs out. If you are polite and go to the town hall and explain your situation to the tax collector, they may provide you with information for lowering your taxes through senior discounts or hardship situations. By trying your “nuclear option “ or whatever else to **** the town off or the tax adjuster, is just going to cause stress and go NOWHERE! Because of property values, almost everyone’s taxes went up and are going up dramatically. Connecticut has had high property taxes forever and because your state is a whore to NYC, you kinda get what you get. You strike me as a man with an axe to grind, with the majority of people you deal with. Ever read that saying about an ********? Check yourself.
I've already put in a Homestead Exemption application. I'm applying for senior discount when it becomes available in Feb. The issue is, no builder is going to want the property since it's in a wetland and no part of the parcel is outside the 150' wetlands buffer. That's that argument I gave the assessor yesterday. I'm awaiting his response. The only axe to grind is with governments thinking they own everything I paid for. The town has been a thorn in my side since the beginning of the 1970s. The area is getting built up fast. We finally got high speed internet recently so dialup is history finally, but we were the last to get upgraded. CT used to be cheap until about the mid 1970s. We had a 300 million dollar surplus when Thomas Meskill was governor. In the 1950s, CT ran ads in the paper bragging about how the state is run efficiently like a business. And it was pretty small government-based when I came here. Then the rest of the NYers came in the 80s and demanded all the stuff that taxed them out of NY. Real smart of them..
Curious why you stayed there if there were problems all the way back to the early 70's? Building your house without permits or to any codes back in the day was just setting yourself up for problems later on. I'm not sure if you felt like you could do whatever you wanted because it's your property or feel like you're entitled now but everytime you provide more info on your situation it sounds like you set yourself up for the problems you have now. Still think a 500% increase in taxes is insane and they might be trying to force you out.
It was either that or back to sleeping in my car. I was in pure survival mode. And yes, I paid in full for my property, so I have a reasonable expectation to use it. I'm not sure what to make of the 500%. Grok research shows property values in my immediate area went up 350-600% this reval period. But the appraisal company said the average in my town went up 53%. Go figure. And the assessor e-mailed me photos of a completely gutted out that went for $178K. It's insane. The only thing I can think of is the fiat currency system is imploding in realtime and inflation is going hyperbolic.
Unfortunately you can't always do whatever you want on your property especially put up structures that don't meet code. I have a 1/4 section of land and have to pay over $20K to get it rezoned so I can have people come and ride dirt bikes. If I just have riders show up I don't want face big fines.
I'm not great at English so I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "inflation going hyperbolic"... Did you perhaps mean "hypergolic" /s Regardless, there seems to be a fair bit of hyperbole here.
I think he meant it's going ridiculously high.
The 1970's was over 50 years ago . . .
Well guys, the boom down stickiness was found to be a bad pilot valve. Mechanic believes that when first mechanic took all the lines out and left it for several months, dirt got in and ruined the value, which explains why the problem occurred after the initial repair. Anyway, a new, genuine pilot valve is $1000. He said there's cheaper ones on ebay, and I found one for $128 on Friday Parts website. Just wonder what the reliability of the after market cheaper parts is like? I'm tempted to just go with the $128 part, and his labor (2 hours) to replace it.
I have had great luck with Friday Parts and their services, if anything goes wrong, is top notch.
My buddy also gives good reports on Friday Parts; he has purchased several parts for his Cat 311.
Hopefully the part will be of good quality and will last. I placed the order. Thanks for the votes of confidence on Friday Parts!
The nice thing is it's a relatively low cost part if it doesn't work. You wouldn't be out thousands if you had to replace it. You have a good mechanic now too.
Had my hands full this month, but wanted to mention that the mechanic was finally able to get a break in the arctic weather and come out and install the new valve. The boom functions are smooth as silk with fine control now. I gave Fridayparts a nice review and they replied with a thank you message. I'm planning to have the main boom hydraulic piston rebuilt this spring. He thinks he can do the work on-site, which is great. Piston leaks pretty bad and has gotten worse over the past few years. I also know his associate who supplies high quality hoses, so I will use them from now on, and they're right in town. The mechanic works for a materials company and can get me good prices on fill, which I need this spring to start my chicken run/coops setup. Fencing the whole thing in to protect from bears and foxes will be a challenge, but I figure 10x30 grazing area for 6 chickens and 1 rooster ought to be adequate.
That's great news Mark. Foxes are fairly easy to protect against... bears may be another issue. Having gown up with them I've come to understand their brute force and persistence. Just make certain you have a coop that the chickens can huddle up inside in at night.
Back in the 1950s, we had a large number of chickens in Stamford, CT and we had a two story chicken house, heated by one big kerosene heater. That was the back yard in winter. The small cottage at left was the chicken coop. The "maze" at right was the grazing area where we kept them segregated. Now I'm going to do a much smaller scale this time with a small coop, an area lined with straw that they can huddle and an outside chicken run where they can eat grass, bugs, worms, etc. to produce good healthy eggs. I think when it gets extreme cold, I may just bring them in the house like some folks do.
Have you considered building a mobile chicken coop so they have different areas to peck around in assuming you have a fairly large area with decent terrain
Gave it a brief thought and realized it won't work on hillside terrain that is rocky. I have 1/2 acre of land here. Much of it taken up with solar panels.
Sunday was a good day on the excavator. Our private road, after this brutal freeze, was a continuous array of deep potholes. The road is a dirt road with packed millings for the surface. Things reached a point where driving over the puddle-filled potholes at more than 1MPH was endangering the suspension of the vehicle. Seeing as my neighbor had 4-5 truckloads of millings delivered to the side of the road last summer, I decided to take it upon myself to fix this godawful road. Naturally, I was nervous about driving the machine 1/4 mile from home, in case something else fails, but the weather was decent and I was feeling "damn the torpedos" so I warmed up the PC60-7, moved the daughter's car to the other driveway and proceeded to drive the machine out to the road, up the hill and onto the level where the potholes take up about 500' of road. I noticed when driving on hard surfaces, there is a lot of vibration from the tracks through the car and house when using the high speed mode (the button on the floor). Everything inside was shaking and rattling! But I got to my first material pile and grabbed a scoop. It was still frozen inside, but I was able to break through. Filled up the bucket and drove to the first really bad pothole. Some of these were so deep that the entire 1/3 yard went to one hole! I made countless trips back and forth until I got to the end of the road where it meets a town road and *traffic*. I had to be careful to look out for traffic before extending my boom/stick into the road as I pushed millings down into a deep hole where the pavement's edge meets our private road. Lots of back and forth, and the final touch was to use the blade and very slowly backdrag the materials to make a smooth grade while not digging up any of the existing packed material. That took care and patience, but I got it done. One neighbor passed by and gave me a thumbs up and a smile. When I got done, my wife and I walked the length of the road and rakes a few spots to smooth any areas I missed. Today, we all took a walk in the neighborhood (68 degrees and blue skies) and another neighbor slowed down, rolled down his window an thanked us for fixing the road. He asked if he could pay us something and I said no need. We needed to fix the road anyway. I'd been maintaining this road on and off for the past 60 years. Anyway, we got to drive on it yesterday and it was 9000% better than the day before, when you had to just crawl over the potholes. I got the job done and the machine didn't break. Yahoo!
Go slow if you have to. Don't want to lose a track or break something if it's rattling and vibrating. Glad you found a good mechanic and can finally use your excavator!
Awesome . Now, you’re not going to get rid of it!
I took it easy for the most part. On softer ground I can go faster without as much vibration. But 2-3 MPH is pretty slow. It took a LONG time to get to the end of the road. 3 hours passed by like it was nothing. Thing is about selling is that I'm upside down now on the investment vs what it would sell for. I'm thinking of asking my mechanic to install a thumb on it this spring, maybe that will improve the resale value. There's a few more pilot lines that I can see are in need of replacing, too.
I don't think you'd get your money back if you installed a thumb. As far as traveling I have a track loader that will go about 6 mph in top gear but I never use the top gear even if I have to drive 1/4 mile or even half a mile. The undercarriage is too expensive to wear it out prematurely driving at top speed.
I've passed the $10K mark on repairs in five years of ownership. Not likely I'll see a return on investment. Oh well. Was planning to sell and use the money to buy an Akiya (cheap house) in rural Japan and get a business investment visa. Alas, the new PM raised the visa requirements for deposits 6X, placing me out of the market entirely. Yeah, when things shake too much, I slow down.
I think you need to slow down overall and look after yourself.
I wish I could, but the tax man won't let me! I need income! Or a cheaper country that speaks the two languages I understand, Japanese and English. Right now, I think I need to find a certified appraiser to do an appraisal on my house that I can take with me to the April meeting with the Board of Assessment Appeals. These guys want quite a bit of money!
Your health is the most important! You could talk with realtors to get an idea what your place is worth and it won't cost anything. Talk to at least 3. Tell them you're considering selling. Should give a pretty close ballpark what they'd list it for.
This is a self-built home. I built it in an unconventional way, with used barn lumber (old growth wood) in 1966. About 30 years ago, I applied for a bank loan to pay off $29600 in back taxes and interest to the town, but was turned down by multiple banks. The appraiser said the house was a demolition case, given all the leaks, rot, mold, etc. and cited uninsurability as the reason the loan would likely be denied. I eventually got a close friend to bail me out that time. So why not sell for the land value? Well, it's sitting on what became officially a wetland in 1976. No building within 150' of a stream, body of water, etc. I have a stream just 30' away, a pond directly behind the house and most of the land is swampy and under water in the wet season. Besides, even if I could get $50K for the land, it would cover little more than moving costs. There is no cheap land in the West anymore. I had hoped I could buy an Akiya (cheap house in rural Japan --annual property tax = $150US annually), but Japan's high bar to entry (education, large financial investment, job, financial sponsor/garantor, and now N2 level language requirement) put that option off the table. Besides, moving at my age and precarious health would kill me for sure. I'm looking for an appraiser who can accept installment payments because I don't have $350 just sitting around. I'm hoping a professional appraisal would prove to the Board of Assessment Appeals that the house isn't worth anything, much less the ridiculous amount they have increased the structure valuation in excess of the land. I have a meeting with them in the beginning of April.
This is one strange tale of woe. Joe H
Maybe you are being charged high taxes to force you to move. They can't just kick you out unless they need the property for a new highway or something similar so they tax you to the hilt to try and force you out. Have seen that happen here when someone didn't accept the offer by the city to buy their property. It sounds like all the issues with your non compliant home may have been contributing factors to your medical issues. A realtor wouldn't likely put a value on the house but would still have an idea what the property is worth. Even then it's only worth what someone is willing to pay. Realtors don't just sell homes. I hate to say it but you kind of set yourself up for your own problems.
Basically, unless he gets an extreme hardship discount, filling an abatement probably won’t do much. Real Estate appraisals don’t really affect the tax amount from the town. It’s not like the town saying it’s 500k and realistically it’s only worth 200k. I have been through this before in Wolcott Connecticut. They value the land separately and then the building value. For my new house, I had to file an abatement for my first tax bill, as I had cleared less than originally proposed because I had to pay by the sq ft for disturbed land, to the DES, because the house and shop is within 150’ of a state river. I don’t even want to post what the bill was for that and the Current Use penalty we paid. We have people in town, trying whatever they can, to lower their tax bill. Our town, is the largest land owner in the town. From tax liens and contracts with older homeowners, that couldn’t afford the taxes and the town gets their house after they pass. Occasionally, they have a contract set up, so a sibling or relative can stay for X amount of time. Make no mistake though, the town will get their money or the property, they will file a tax liens if they have to. Our tax bill, just broke 8k this year and we are not very happy. Right now, there is a bill in this state, trying to get some relief for older people that have no kids in school, helping them keep their homes. Just the school impact fee, for me to get our occupancy permit was 6800 bucks. Good luck. I have 22 acres labeled as Current Use, to lower my taxe.
There's no highway coming through a mountain top here. So I'm sure there's no eminent domain thing going on. But it is still strange that the assessor (and now the mayor) have ceased communications when I press them on the question of WHY the dwelling went up 500% when it's in such poor condition, while the land just about doubled in assessment. They just take properties when the taxes are delinquent. One can go a few years typically, before the four day advance notice of foreclosure gets sent. It's really a shame that in America, a nation that boasts about how 'free' its people are, you can't truly own a home. Meanwhile a nice little Akiya home in Japan came across my feed, boasting $150 annual property taxes... if only I had Japanese blood in me.
Here taxes are decided by an independent third party and you can talk to them or file an appeal if you disagree with their assessment. I lowered my taxes $500 with just a phone call. If yours went up 500% you should be able to appeal it. It does sound like they are trying hard to force you to leave.
Yes, that independent third party is to take the heat off the local assessor.. for us it is Vision Appraisal, out of Boston. I got nowhere with the kid who answered my call. The conversation got heated and in the end, he hung up on me and filed a police report. Got a call from a local detective the following day. Same thing happened with the Board of Assessment Appeals. Got nowhere, got angry, and the woman called the police. This is now four times in 26 years that I've had to deal with the police over a tax issue. If I didn't have a daughter who could inherit the place, I really wouldn't care at my age.
Somebody should be able to easily explain why your taxes are what they are and/or why they increased 500%.
They should, but for some reason when I press them on that point, they stop communicating with me. Something doesn't smell right. But then again, there's nothing desirable about this property that someone would want it.
Sure sounds like they're trying to force you out.
If the police have been called on you a few times, because of your attitude on the phone, start a Go Fund Me, because you belong in Japan and I would probably donate, to help you relocate, a lot further from me! LOL
I've lived here peacefully for 60 years, why would they want to force me out? This isn't lakefront property. It's literally sitting on swampland and with the wetlands laws, it would be extremely difficult and costly to build here, if a permit could even be obtained. I have been in communication with the New England division of the EPA and was told that a builder would have to go through the Army Corps of Engineers as well as local and state regulatory agencies to obtain clearance to build in such a lot. I'm in a lot of pain, so I've gotten to have a short temper. When it became clear that they weren't going to lower the assessment to something congruent with neighboring increases, I lost my temper. I've had to deal with cops four times in the past 25 years. In 2001, when they quadrupled my taxes, in 2010, and twice this year after a heated argument with Vision and again with the Board of Assessment Appeals. A GoFundMe isn't going to make the Japanese government change the rules on immigration. Still need Y30M for a Business Manager Visa, plus living expenses, plus salaries for two full time Japanese employees, and N2 level Japanese language skills (enough to understand legal documents). Most people that go to Japan are in their 20s, have a Masters Degree and a sponsor/job lined up. I've not been able to find a single case of an 80+ year old obtaining residency in Japan.
Sir, with all due respect, getting so mad at the people that can’t actually help you, is an effort in futility. As for delibitating pain, trust me, I know exactly where you’re coming from. The Japanese move was my bad attempt at humor, I apologize! You know where you live, I don’t but seeing as single wides on their own property are going for 250k+, the only recourse, is a hardship discount and to lower the assessment by way of abatement. The way to do that is to get comps for lower property assessments, in your area, if you can. I would be as open and honest as you can, or lie your poor ass off, if you can and any and all documentation and doctors assessments as well. Then try and find someone with a Ticktock or YouTube account that will help document your situation and the towns lack of help, or lie convincingly enough, that they feel uncomfortable enough, they may listen to you. I have moved 3 times in my life, because the taxes were higher than I was willing to pay. What I have learned was, almost everyone pays, one way or another, whether it be school impact fees, sales tax, state income tax. Doesn’t really matter, everyone pays one way or another. I live down the road, from a guy that intentionally makes his house look like a squatters, pickers, junk house that’s crookeder than some politicians. It’s a palace inside but his family pays for the shame of living in a dump. My current state has whored itself out for decades for Massachusetts and the income made there. These people, want every comfort of their own state and don’t mind if they or I or anyone else pays for it. I swore 20 years ago, I wouldn’t pay 600 a month, for a paid off house, just for taxes. Now, I’m back and would be grateful for paying that 600 because now it’s a cool grand. Just don’t break and become a Carl Draga, that was a sad situation, all around. Guess this explains why some people want to live underground! Good day and good luck. Just remember, this is the US and not Canada, things are different here. Where some think we have more freedoms, there are trade offs for that.
Understood, you were trying to cheer me up. I've been in the doldrums ever since that letter came in November. The assessor is trying to find equivalent property, according to the mayor, who finally called me today, probably after I had my state rep phone him directly about this matter, and that's probably because my house isn't a cookie cutter construction, but built from used barn lumber using weekly paychecks to fund it. My property apparently looked bad enough 30 years ago that a neighbor who doesn't even live on this road wrote a complaint letter to the town, saying the house should be demolished. I was unable to get that letter removed, even though I suspect it's written by a certain neighbor whose then 10 yo son put two rifle rounds through my picture window in March 1992. I called the cops, the kid was found and arrested (he was across the road vandalizing and shooting up an unoccupied cottage) and then I got an irate call from a neighbor 1/4 mile from me on the main road, saying the cops are putting his kid in juvenile court. Hearing it was my neighbor's kid and being a softie, I dropped the charges and the cops let him go. I could have gotten him on attempted murder charges, which is maybe what I should have done. Neighbor was so much more well off than me and seemed to consider me a scourge on 'his' neighborhood. That man is dead now. There's a curse that follows me, and it goes that anyone who gives me problems, dies an early, unexpected death. He developed a rapid cancer in 2006 and was dead just weeks later. Today it would be considered a hate crime, what his kid did and writing that letter. It's funny, but someone on a forum about leaving Connecticut said they moved to Belize and are happy there. So I did some research. House prices START at $150K and go to $2.5M. Uh, nope. That's at least 3X my net worth. I see a lot of documentaries on the rapidly increasing homeless population and how towns and cities are criminalizing homelessness because it's becoming an ever-present problem. Even the Mayor agrees that if I were evicted from my home, I would end up taking up space on someone else's land or public property, causing a law enforcement problem. And then there's my autistic adult daughter (advice, don't have kids if you're over 50) who couldn't finish college and who remains chronically unemployed. I want her to at least be able to inherit this house. She'll have to figure out how to maintain and repair it, but it's better than being homeless the day I die and my reverse mortgage terminates. That's why I don't try to get a reverse mortgage. The other is the $650 appraisal fee and the likelihood that the bank would turn me down anyone once they know the condition of the property. So I have that April 8 meeting with the BoAA and the mayor told me take lots of photos showing the problem areas. He wants to hear from me after that meeting to find out how it turned out. Good guy. I voted for him in the last 3 elections.
They might consider your property an eye sore and that is why they might try to force you out. What did you do for work in your younger days? Still don't understand the logic behind your wife needing a brand new car. There are thousands of good used cars at a fraction of the cost of new. A new car should have been pretty low on your list of essentials. I'd guess your daughter qualifies for some kind of assistance for having a handicap but not sure what is available in the US. Having a short temper will just make things worse. People won't want to deal with you. I feel bad for your situation but maybe you need to look at assisted living or something and sell your property. It's too much for you to deal with.
When I first got the property in '66, there was nothing up here. A forest fire had burned down the few vacation cabins that existed in 1965. That was one of the reasons why I built my house of asbestos, all exterior walls and some interior walls in furnace area and kitchen. In my earlier days, I did everything from work for a bookseller, to typesetter (hot metal type), to running printing presses, to electronic technician. I also worked as an optical physicist specializing in LASERs for a company that built automated inspection systems. At one point, I worked for a company in the publishing dept as a technical writer. That was the early 80s, and I was one of the first to train on using some newfangled device called a "word processor" consisting of 8 molded plastic CRT terminals with keyboards and a CPU and hard drive the size of a washing machine. Then I saw my first Xerox Laser printer and that ignited my interest in typography. Then some tough times hit, I spent a few years battling alcoholism, lost nearly everything. In desperation, took a job at a paper mill in town for 3 years. Learned more than I ever wanted to about feminine napkin manufacture. Learned to drive a forklift at that job. One day, I got bitten by their attendance policy and so I quit and decided to start my own typesetting business. For the next 6 years, I struggled to make a few thousand a year. Got one or two decent clients, and one of them was earning me $6400 a week, until they went bankrupt and left me out to dry. By the mid 90s, revived my old pirate radio hobby and started broadcasting Japanese music on FM. I was on AOL at the time and a local radio disc jockey was a listener and we became friends. He introduced me to a station cluster owner about 25 miles away. That guy had been listening to my station from his home in Wilton and was impressed with the technical performance of the station. We too became friends and he said, after seeing my home built transmitter, air chain, signal processing gear in person, that he knew a few station owners in need of a good engineer. So that started my broadcast engineering career for the next 17 years, in which I would put 80K miles a year on my car just servicing stations throughout New England. In 1976, a development went in east of us. In 1991, someone built a house down the end of our private dirt cow path. In 2007, an elderly lady on the main road with 4 acres adjacent to me was tax foreclosed and the land sold to a developer for $50K in back taxes. He proceeded to bypass 2 acre zoning by making two of the five homes he was building "affordable" housing per state law. Those "affordable" homes were priced at $395K in 2008 when completed. Then some kids set the cottage across the road from me on fire. Eventually, the developer wanted that land too. He ended up buying that lot and building 3 more McMansions. Ugly things, very unsightly. The first people that bought the house across from me were trust fund babies, son of a CEO of a major big pharma company in Stamford. Kid had no visible means of support, didn't seem to ever go out/leave the house, drove a Tesla model Y when he did go out shopping. Figured the parents bought them the house to get them out of their hair. My wife and I spent two years looking for another good deal on a used Mazda, like the one we got for my daughter 5 years ago for $5300. Have not been able to find anything like that since. Then the transmission went out on her 20 year old Explorer. The underside was rusted badly, and the mechanic told us it would be over $3K to fix the transmission, not worth it because too much other stuff about to fail on the vehicle. At that point, she was in a panic to find another car, so we spent two weeks shopping for a reliable used car. Apparently Cash for Clunkers got rid of the good used cars. All that was available were used cars with price tags north of $30K. We looked at some Acuras (requirement of AWD and room for our family of 7 (inlaws plus us). All of the used cars we looked at didn't seem right. We shopped in two states and went to numerous dealerships, and also private owners. Looked at Hyundais and Kias as well. Nothing felt right. We were exhausted, sitting in the lot of a Hyundai dealer, and next to a Mazda dealer, when the wife said, "lets test drive a CX90" and so we did. And it was the first car we'd driven in 2 weeks of test driving countless cars that just felt right. Also, it was new, with a warranty, which meant she's not likely to get stranded on the side of the road and end up with towing and huge unplanned repair bills. I can't tell you how many times I got a call from her either on the way or coming home from work, "dear, my car stopped" and I drive out there to find out the timing belt broke, or the transmission won't go into gear, etc. Plus, at her age, I wanted her to have something nice for once. I remember 50 years ago, my mother lamenting to my father about driving around in old broken down cars all her life, and her mental health failing because she realized that things weren't going to get any better. I didn't want my wife going through that loss of hope. A nice car was the one thing she could enjoy in life. And with use not spending $7K a year on electricity, due to my DiY solar power generating system, we figured she could manage the payments as long as her job holds up. Then I continued to have medical issues and new hospitalizations. Then this revaluation came along, and, well, you know the rest. I'm the sort that would go out of my mind if I were in an assisted living facility. In my mind, I'm still 16, if you know what I mean, I have the desire to build big subwoofers, shake the ground, play loud music, especially if it's pipe organ with 32' stops, and I like to create music and multimedia stuff. In 2009, I converted my listening room to a home theater. These things are close to my heart and are the things that keep me going, giving me reason to live. Besides, assisted living is for well off people with a lot of savings. Mine were drained over the last 26 years by the tax collector.
You need to look at other options. Things seem to just be getting worse with your current situation.
Not many good options. I've lived a pretty long life. Just wish my daughter could inherit my estate. Started clearing an area for my chicken coops today. Then the track fell off. Seemed like it hadn't happened since having the upper rollers replaced 2 years ago, but it caught me by surprise. These new tracks I put on 5 years ago always seemed to come off when I drive over rough terrain. The original tracks didn't come off until they literally broke in half. I'm in a muddy patch here, so putting blocks under the car so I can stretch chains in opposite directions would be near impossible. Plus there isn't a tree nearby that I can attach a come along to and pull from one side while I use the bucket to pull the other end back over the sprocket. If it's not one thing, it's another...
That sucks. Was the track a little loose? At least you got your road fixed. Maybe your neighbour can help you get the track back on.
No, track was tight. I was working on raw earth, with rocks in it. Seems to happen a lot with the new tracks which are more elastic than the original rubber tracks. The good news is, 2 hours, 3 chains and I finally got the track back on the excavator. I had to think in terms of physics and vectors and creatively use my chains and the bucket. Wish I had a timelapse video of the process!
Glad you got it back on.
Well, sounds like you’re not dead yet. Forge on!
Got two loads of fill this morning for a very good price (the mechanic hooked me up with his associate. I'd been paying way too much for fill from a different supplier in years past. Great rate from the new guys. Started spreading it out today. I sped up the boring parts.
Mark. I dont know where you live. But here is an idea to help with funding. You need to make your property income producing. You could clear out a few places for traveling people to set up tents. Over night camp spots 15.00 per night. A website you could explore advertising on is. https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US Make your place somewhere someone wants to come back to. Peaceful, privacy and quiet. You could also set up a place for a travel trailer to use. Maybe for hunters. I use places like that when working out of town. Paid up to 30.00 per night for safe truck parking. Don't like staying in the city.
I have only 1/2 acre lot. My vegetable gardens and solar farm take up every foot of space that's not occupied by house or driveway. Also, neighbors would complain to Zoning right away if I did have the room.
Japan pipe dreams notwithstanding, there are a lot of places in the US that are a whole lot cheaper and more free to live than Connecticut, or anywhere else on the East Coast, especially Mid Atlantic area. A crummy house on a small lot in rural Wisconsin would be less than $1,000 a year in property taxes. If you pick your townships right you won't have zoning either. I grew on the East Coast, I know all about CT and NY and big government . . .
While price may be cheaper, it comes with other serious problems like flood, tornadoes, meth addicts, crazy cops, and hot, humid weather that's unbearable. At my age and health, I need to be near quality healthcare, which I have at my current location. Besides, I couldn't survive a move. I'd need to get a mortgage to buy another place, then I'm inheriting other people's problems. Wisconsin is one of the last places on earth I'd ever want to find myself in, based on the news lately. Their government is insane and the people are living in some sort of political fantasy. At least in CT, the cops won't shoot you dead when they pull you over for a taillight. Will see what April 8 meeting with BoAA holds. I have to take lots of photos of the rot. Already took aerials of the wetland's proximity to the house. There is no place in the US that is safe. If I were to move, it would be out of US jurisdiction. I have a dim view of the US gov and how it's become over the past 34 years.
I'm assuming since you're posting this on an internet forum you're open to comments. I going to go out on a limb here and say that Japan or anywhere else you move to will look great until you actually get there. I believe it was Abraham Lincoln that said "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be". YMMV Best of luck to you on your meeting and your future.
I'd actually been to Japan and studied the language since 1987. All of my remaining (still living) friends are in Japan. My wife's childhood friend is in Yachio, Chiba, Japan. My high school friend is in Kawasaki. I have an audiophile friend who lived in Ishikawa, out on the Noto Peninsula. He just moved to Kobe because of the earthquake damage at his old house. Japan has many cheap houses, and the property taxes are about $150 a year. That's the main motivation for moving. The other is I can't stand my country of birth. It's like the old Soviet Union now. That's how it hit me, returning from Japan to JFK Airport terminal. Reminded me of 1950s Soviet era. I'm so used to the culture there, I feel more comfortable among Japanese than I do Americans. I love everything about Japan, except maybe the sarlaryman culture of working to death. The only problem is that I haven't found a way to circumvent the immigration requirements. They raised the Business Manager Visa cash deposit from Y5M to Y30M last fall. Now I must afford to pay two full time Japanese employees from the start. The language level was just raised to N2, which is sufficient to read and understand legal documents and contracts. I will have to study more. But the real barrier is money for that visa. Meanwhile, I'm building a chicken coop:
I think you're just bringing yourself down. No matter what anyone suggests you always find doom and gloom. You can't spend all your time worrying about things beyond your control. The only way it could be more apparent is if you lived in a concrete bunker with 4' thick walls! You need to have some happy thoughts instead of always being negative.
Actually, I DO live in a concrete bunker with 3' thick walls.. I built the house during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the lower floor is a fallout/bomb shelter. Part of the reason it took me nearly forty years to build it.
So to recap... You built the house with used barn lumber and 3' thick concrete walls in a swamp over a 40 year time period in 1966 during the 13 day Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Did I get that all correct? No judgement here but I think I'm starting to understand the feelings of the neighbors and the township... I think you can still buy a cold war missile silo in the Midwest if you're really serious about security.
Things like nuclear annihilation scare made me a prepper. The property was cheap, on a mountaintop (didn't want to experience the flood of '55 again) and my parents had just lost the roof of their home to a tornado the year prior. I was determined to build a secure home. Building without permits didn't help my relationship with the occupying government down on Main St. but compliance with laws would have limited my ability to construct on my weekly paychecks. Beaurocracy adds so much to the cost of construction. Only the wealthy are buying cold war missile silos. I can maybe scrape together $3K nowadays to buy a cheap house in Japan.
Sounds like you've had a doomsday phobia for over 50 years and your priorities are mixed up. There are things you have no control over. Perhaps you should have been talking to professionals a long time ago to deal with your issues.
I'm just aware that the world is not as safe as it was in the 1950s. How much longer can an unsustainable economy last? If you're not living off grid in a remote location, there's a real possibility of serious danger when **** happens. And the way things are going this year, **** is looking imminent. I only hope I feel well enough to build this chicken coop that I'm designing. Plan to live off my gardens and chickens.
Good luck on the coop. May your basket be filled to the brim with eggs, as it seems as if your basket has been a few eggs shy of a full omlet, as of late! Lol
What kind of a door do you have on that concrete room? Also whats the ceiling made of?