Been looking for a 12-20 ton machine for clearing tree lines on my farm. Will be using it for some small trenching and maybe other earthmoving, likely about 150 or 200 hours a year. stuff with 12-14000 hours is around my price range, just wondering if there is anything I should be staying away from? Brands, poor models, ect.
I'd stay away from Komatsu. Put a thumb on a 160 or 200 and the azz end will be REALLY light. Cat 215 would be a good choice, Case 9030B/Link Belt 2800, Deere 690D would all be good choices. They are all going to have some issues with that many hours. The Cat is the only brand I would risk going back into '80s models though.
I don't think that the Cat 215 will ever be a bad choice as long as it will start,those machines have a lot going for them.The Case and Linkbelt are built by Sumitomo and every machine I have ever run built by Sumitomo has been a great machine including the above.I have nothing but good to say about John Deere so the advice you have gotten was good in my opinion.Ron G
I'm looking at stuff around the year 2000, my personal choice would be a hitachi or a Deere, but I'm mostly concerned about parts availability. I've used some smaller hitachi machines and they work very nice so I assume the larger ones work well also.
If you have a Sumitomo produced machine that increases your parts availability somewhat as I am sure you have figured out.I am sure that Sumitomo has built other machines too.Ron G
If you are going for around 2000, as others said Link Belt and Case are amazing machines. Deere and Hitachi are very good as well. The B series Cats are decent.
A slightly older machine with lower hours would be my pick. Computer controls many times need dealer assistance which adds up fast. Find a simple machine that you or a local mechanic can work on. It sounds like an occasional use machine so distance to a dealer isn't such a big deal. With the internet or a phone call, parts will only be a day or two out. My closest construction dealer of any brand is a 6hr round trip so I get all of my stuff shipped. Call it in before 5pm and I usually have the parts at my shop by 11am the next day. If you can find an excavator that it already set-up with what you want, it saves a lot of time and money doing those things yourself. Adding a new thumb, ditching bucket, quick-tach, etc. gets expensive and time consuming. Try to find one ready to go. Good luck.
What model Hitachi would be a good choice for the type of work the OP describes? I am in similar situation.
RonG, what did you mean by "as long as it will start"? I have always heard nothing but good things when it comes to the 3304 engine, I have a 1968 Cat D4D that has that engine with god knows how many hours on it "no hour meter" and it fires up on the coldest of days. I just bought a 1983 Cat 225 Lc with the same engine with 10,360 hours hopefully I have the same luck with this machine
I like the Hitachi with the Isuzu 4 cylinder. The older EX150's are cheaper and more common around here but the 160 dash 5's are nice if you can find a good one. The power is impressive for a 4 cylinder and they're easy on fuel. The Deere is pretty much the same machine but without the Isuzu - Cummins, I think - still a good motor, I love the one in my hoe, but I read a post here years ago by some factory or dealership service guy who knew his stuff who said they figured a 6000 hour lifespan for the Cummins and 10,000+ hours for the Isuzu. Both will last longer if treated right but that was the numbers he was talking before a rebuild.
I meant that as long as the engine was good the rest of the machine would probably be worth fixing.He could fine a machine with everything else good but a bad engine but it is not likely.I think the 3304 is a good engine too.I meant nothing derogatory about the Cat engine,I have a lot of hours in Cat equipment over the years,they build superior equipment in my book.Ron G