I've been looking for a skid steer to use around my property clearing brush and small trees and doing some dirt work...missed a smoking deal on a tracked Cat..."DANG". Anyhow, just talked to a guy about a bobcat 863 2000 model with 1050 hours, it's a one owner and is supposed to be clean as a whistle. Any thoughts? This model has std controls and does not have the "Boss" electronics which someone says to stay away from.
check the back of the block for wet oil or where you can see its coated in oil. That is a good sign it needs a head gasket put on. Being that old also it needs a timing belt put on it. If you do buy it that is the first thing to invest in if it has not already been done in the past 3 years more than likely not. pop the cab and check for oil standing in the belly pan good sign of a leak. Look at the hydrostat and see if it has a washed area but the steering controls. If so it needs pintle shaft seals or servo resealed in it. Check to see if when you drive it if it drifts to one side or the other steering adj. after driving stop let it neutral at full throttle let off the steering controls on flat ground and see if it tries to drive forward or backward left right. If so it needs a steering adj. Take a look at the control valve and see if it looks wet or drips when you start the machine out of the front or rear caps. Axle seals behind the wheels just look at the axle at the wheel and see if it is wet or if it has attracted dirt from oil being there. you are due for a 1000 hr service which is all fluids, filters including the chain case oil. look at the bobtach and see if it has been welded on or how loose the pins and bushings are their, that is where the most wear will be. Motor mounts and gear pump mount bolt make sure they are all in there and not broken. If they are not there then you need to get them their shortly after you buy it. Those machines where known for breaking and loosing up and falling out then the motor drops down not enough to hurt it running but the vibration will cause a rub in the oil pan causing a engine oil leak. Drive belt also should probably be done being 10 years old. the fan drive belt should have tension on it not laid back against the bell housing. It should also move free back and forth. look at the pulleys to see if they are groved out meaning the belt sits below the top of the pulley. It will be the plastic one on the tensioner arm and the fan drive pulley that is steal. They are known for grooving out on all bobcats. alt belt tight brackets not broken or loose. The throttle cable on those at the engine by the crankshaft pulley make sure the bolts are in there and are tight known for being loose or gone throttle feels funny. other than that the basics cracks in frame arms wheels. broken holding bolts in pins from lack of grease mufflers rotted out or broken at the pipe.
Check it out like Bobcatmanchenic said. Should be a good machine for what you are going to do with it. I have a 2002 242 Cat with 2800 hours on it. It runs good, so the 1050 hours on that machine is low hours for the year. Check out machinerytrader.com to see if the machine is priced right. Below is a bobcat website with the specs for that machine. Good luck with it if you purchase it. http://www.bobcat.com/historical_specs/skid_steer/863_1999
Thanks guys, I will be going to check it out tomorrow...the pictures look good. If it turns out I'll post some pictures and later some video of it in action. Again thank you. P.S. I love this site!!!