Hi everyone I am an owner operator of a small building and engineering construction company. We do new construction of homes and all the excavation that can be involved in these projects. I own a 03 deere 35zts and a 02 thomas skid steer, which can handle all the day to day work and I rent large equipment when I need it. This summer I'll be developing a small subdivision and will be doing the grading and all the infrastructure for the road. I decided for the amount of time I would have in rentals it would make more sense to buy a larger excavator for all the excavation and numerous stumps to remove. I would be interested in pursuing more excavation jobs because I enjoy the work and they have always been profitable for me, so this would be a machine I would continue to use in the future, not just to re sell. So local dealers i have are komatsu, cat and deere, machines I am looking at are a 96 komatsu pc200lc-6, 99 link belt 2650q with 10000 hrs, to much? and a 93 samsung se130 with 6900 hrs and pretty rough looking. So what do you think I dont mind wrenching on equipment but I need a reliable machine. I would consider any other brand also if it came along, any suggestions? Thanks.
Equipment purchase ? As owner, consider , a lease purchase agreement offered by Caterpillar. Dunno about others. Forget about wrenching, you have more important business to attend too. making money, not repair work . You need a maintenance free machine. Just like your company pickup.
Uh-huh. If you can afford it that's the way to do it. see if you can get in touch with the finance guy running around here. he can most likely help on the financial end. Find a piece that'll best serve your needs, personally i get around equipment i'm worse than a kid in a candy shop, my wife hates it another thing is parts and stuff like that the machine won't pay for itself if you can't get parts and support. :my2c
Stay away from the higher hour machines. Check with local dealers about machines in the rental fleets. They like to turn them over with low hours as well with warranties
Just do a rental purchase with the local cat dealer. You can rent the machine for a few months and they will apply most of the rent towards the purchase. This way you can kind of make a down payment without actually making one. As your first machine I would look at a 315 size machine. This is a good size to install utilitys with and also still fit into someones backyard. I would look at getting a thumb with it for stump work. Fixing machines is not profitable. You only make money when they are working.
Equipment I have owned 3 Komastu excavators, I had a 96 PC200L, it had 10,000 hrs, but the dealer I bought it from did a bunch of work on it. I highly recommend this size machine, for your type of work, anything smaller may give you problems with those big stumps. Make sure you get a thumb with it. You dont need a hydraulic thumb, even though they are nice (but costly) Make sure whatever you buy, you can get it serviced locally, it will break down, but the Komastu are tough machines. Get someone to check it out, that knows what they are looking for, try to get a warranty (at less 30 days) You pay mostly for a machine according to hours, so make sure if you buy a machine with high hours, you are getting the lower end price. Plenty of places to check prices, try google. I wouldnt recommend buying a new machine, unless your bank account and work load can make those big payments. I think I paid $38,000 for my PC200L about 2 1/2 years ago, someone offered me $50,000 and I took it. Thats the only reason, I still dont have it. The 200 class excavator are the best machines for my work, clearing, demolition, ponds, etc. They are a good production machine. Friend of mine has had Linkbelt, Samsung and Kobelco and they had to get rid of them. They had too many problems and the parts were outrageous (This was their quote, I have never owned one) Another option, talk to your salesman at your local dealer, they have customers that trad in their machines, every few years and you might can buy their machine directly from them, saving money. I bought a dozer like this and saved $10,000. The dealer did all the maintenance, so I talked to the service manager and got a report about the machine Good Luck and do your homework
Go to www.machinerytrader.com and surf around a while. A 315 size hoe is a nice size machine if you need to move it around, but from your discription of work it looks like the machine will be in one place for a while, so I also recommend a 200/320 size machine. The larger machine will be more productive. There are some very good deals out there on yellow iron right now, take advantage of it if you have the work to support it. I also would recommend going with a Cat, Komatsu or Deere. They have better dealer support and parts availability. In my neck of the woods I can buy Komatsu parts cheaper at the Cat house than the Komatsu dealer.:beatsme Don't know why. My suggestion if you are buying a used machine is go the parts counter at your local dealer for the brand of machine you are looking at and price a few components out. You will find out alot about the pricing and the parts availability this way. Each area of the country is different in this aspect. Good luck!:drinkup
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums dist3! :drinkup
Thanks for all the good advice, I am leaning towards the komatsu brand. Theres a contractor locally that beats the **** out of his machines and all his hoes are older komatsu 200 with a zillion hours on them. Very impressive machines, I've personally run a couple of them and they're still pretty solid. I dont know if I am ready for big payments fo a new or near new machine, my business is just shy of two years old and work is very slow here right now.
Wow, there are a lot of people in this forum making a lot more money than me. Since I refuse to go down and buy / lease new equipment, my suggestions are as follows. Our Komatsu 220LC-5 has 8,200 hours and is still a pretty good old machine. I just wouldn't suggest a machine of that size for the work you have planned. I also own a John Deere 490E with 6,000 hours and it is a great little excavator. Considering the work you are doing, I would suggest a 160 size machine. My next excavator purchase will be the 160 class machine. It's small enough to transport easily and big enough to do a huge variety of work. As far as brand, I really like John Deere excavators. I know there are a lot of excellent machines manufactured by a wide variety of companies, but I simply like the John Deere machines best. So, after all that rambling, my suggestion is a John Deere 160CLC. A nice used machine with 2000-3000 hours on it would be a great purchase.
Peters I have seen some good deals on iron planet on deere 160 machines. I would go for one of those in a heartbeat. The 200lc I often rent is an awesome machine, very smooth and quiet. And I love my 35zts. My subdivision is in crescent city, I'm sure you've been through there plenty.
I have been through Crescent City many times. I would make the trek from Bandon to Willitt's every 4th of July when I was a kid. I had an uncle down there who owned a pretty good sized ready mix outfit and the dragon on my logo came from him.
I read that on your web site, neat story. Are they still around? MCM construction is putting in a new bridge at confusion hill at leggett a ways north of laytonville. $64 million and a ton of concrete. Mercer-Fraser here in Eureka got the concrete contract and set up a portable plant.
No longer around... He died 3 years ago.
Sorry.
I bought a CASE 9020B 1999 model (same as Link Belt) with 8K on it. I got a great deal on it, I put 4K into some repairs (still not into it for 25k) and it just makes money. The great thing is as things slow down I am not having to make a new excavator payment. Very much you decision, but I would not saddle yourself with a new excavator payment. Given that your breaking into a new area in business I would keep your costs down. Buy used and if all goes well you can always update. However if it does not go well you will eat the big depreciation on a new machine and getting out of a near new excavator in this economy maybe tough. Buy used but smart and you may be able to do all your work, flip the machine and it may cost you next to nothing in depreciation.
Thanks KSSS how do you like the case. how many hours on it now? What are the pos and neg in your opinion of the case, sumitomo, link-belt machines.
I agree with KSSS, since it is a newer market for you new may not be wise quite yet. Case and Deere make great machines, I'm a tad partial to Deere excavators but that's just me. I agree with a previous poster that a 160 size excavator is a better choice. 200's are nice, and run great, but so do the 160's and 120's. Machines are made very well these days, regardless of who you go with. A guy I did some temp work with had a 120, 160, and 200, we used the 160 90% of the time. It's not huge like the 200 but not too small like the 120. If you get a long stick (I think they do that for 160 size, maybe not) it's great for reaching over foundations for backfilling and grading inside foundations. We had a Hitatchi Zaxis 160LC which is the same as the Deere 160C LC, just orange. Great smooth machine. A 200 may be great for the clearing and developing of the subdivision but when you start to grab more jobs you may find the 160 a more desirable machine unless you keep the jobs specific to a 200 size excavator.
I have to agree for productivity and parts availibity the komatsus are a great choice.I have put several thousand hours on both a 89-300 and a 94-300 and no major problems before 10,000 hours.Just my 2 cents
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums qkoop! :drinkup
On thursdays Iron planet auction I got my machine, a 98 deere 120 with a jrb q-attach and a hoe pac. It has around 7500 hours and looks to be in pretty decent shape from the report. I paid $22,500 for it and it is 660 miles away in boise. I already have alot of work for it so im excited to get it down here and find some buckets for it as it has only the hoe pac that I will probably sell. you can see it under auction results for july 24 on ironplanet.com. Does anybody know if those jrb pin grabbers hold only one diamater of pin or is there a range it will go. Thanks pictures will follow.
That should be a nice little machine for you the 120 should work fine. I would hang on to the hoe pac they can be very handy for different things. One guy I know built a small screening plant vibrated by his hoe pac fed by his skidsteer. We use ours more then our bomags.
I was thinking about a setup like that because I have a ton of topsoil to screen. A picture would be awesome
Here she is. I added a cd player and got the rigid thumb at RB's Dunnigan auction, it just needs to be welded on. Turned out it came with a real nice CF 2' bucket also. :drinkup
Very nice!
Did you get an operator on the deal too?? Looks nice The Excavator i mean
Wondering what your opinion would be on buying a used 75 size machine. I looked at a 2000 Hitachi 75 with 4300 hours, thumb, 2 buckets, swing boom and blade for $32,000. Would you say that smaller size machines would have a shorter lifespan? 4300 hours a lot for a 75? I am looking to buy a machine to do some work on my property and on a 158 acre farm that has many small15 year old stumps from old logging. I have graduated from equipment school and need some hours in the seat so I plan on buying my own to get experience. Would a 75 work for me?
Yes the larger machines do last longer. 4300 hours on that machine if taken care of will still give you plenty of hours of work. The benefits of a smaller machine are easier to move easier to fit in urban settings and lower purchase price and operating cost. With a 75 size your bordering needing something large to move it and it is still large to fit in tight areas. For working on 158 acres you might consider a larger machine. I have seen full size ex's at auction with similar life left go for what you want to spend. With that said if your set on a 75 I think a hitachi would be a good choice.
I got a PC150 Komatsu 97 year and it works very well the 315 Cat are good is a good one too
Looking For Final Drive For A Pc150lc3...prefer Used...any Help Out There?
Looking For Final Drive For A Pc150lc3...prefer Used...any Help Out There?
Check Out Final Drives On Used Excavators....IF They Are Shot It Is Big Bucks To Repair Them If You Can Get Parts.
Just bought a Hitachi EX270 LC After looking for a while, I just bought a 1995 Hitachi EX270 LC. My short list included Cat, Deere, and Hitachi. It had a lot work a few years ago, including a rebuilt HINO engine, rad recore, two new pumps, new rollers, etc. Hoping it will put out quite a few hours without needing major work. I'm wondering where all the manuals from excavators go. There must be a black hole somewhere filled with manuals. Anyway, if anyone has operators, service, or parts manuals that they would like to sell, please contact me. [email protected]
I'd also like to hear any tips on operating and maintaining the Hitachi 270. What does one need to watch for on these machines? My main experience is on older crawler loaders and backhoes. I had a pair of CAT 955 traxcavators, and I used to own a Case 580D. So I have a lot to learn about these bigger track hoes.