im looking at purchasing a link belt 80 excavator. the 2 im looking at are: 1. 2007 spin ace 80 1350 hours body in decent shape minor scrapes and dents. Has a thumb but no quick tach steel tracks with rubber pads in 75 % comes with 2 foot bucket and 60 in ditch cleaning bucket. which is kinda usless to us. so i priced in a new 36" GP bucket. didnt see any wear in the pins or slack in the boom or terex.he priced me out at 70,350 tax included. 2. 2011 same machine but with 2300 hours body in a little rougher shape. this machine doesnt have a thumb but has the quick tach option (which i was quoted $6,800 to put on the other machine) This machine pretty much just needs a hug. comes with 24" and 36" bucketsminor fixing of small stuff..light etc...so slack or play in the boom or terex.asking $62,000 i dont know enough about excavators since this would be our first purchase of an . . we have rented the #2 machine many times before and he wants to upgrade. Now the #1 machine would be purchased from a dealer as #2 would be from a private party. what is my better deal, newer machine more hours or older machine less hours. whats more important hours or model year for resale etc... "
I prefer less hours but condition is important. Take a trusted mechanic to go over each and pick the best one. If you want more informed opinions you could post pictures of each. I have a Link Belt 330, not a good dealer network around me so parts are mail order only which is not the most optimal method, should have bought a Cat I guess.
Looking for service manuals is there somewhere to download them online or is ebay the way to go