Hey there, Looking for general information on an old Champion D-720 Blade. An older gentleman has it, was previously a township blade. 3xxx hours. Says the turbo and head have about 200 hours on it, its had about 200 hours put on it since 1994. Supposed to be in usable shape. Can anybody tell me anything about these? This is older than what I've been looking at but if the hours are low and the price is right it and it seems like it runs out fine it might do what I need it to do. Looking at it mainly for township and forestry roads. The guy says it has an allis (chalmers?) 150 hp turbo diesel and a clark power shift trans. I'm used to running older machines so that doesnt scare me, but I know nothing about these machines so just looking for info on what a guy should look for. Who covers champion parts and how is availabilty? Is this model equivalent to anything? I cant seem to find anything on them when I search. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
We have a 740 with a Detroit and the clark trans, Volvo handles the parts now and I have had no trouble getting the few items I have needed. Keeping the brakes working has been a challenge, but anything old with hyd brakes seems to be. Ours has a gear box on the back of the machine that drives 2 hyd pumps, that had been the biggest problem. The parts book shows not all machines had that, some just have a shaft coming off front of motor driving a single pump. I'm not a grader pro at all, but I have always had good luck with it. Hyd controls and power steering with the powershift trans makes it very user friendly.
Agree with quackattak, I have had a few problems with the pumps on my old 715. but mine has the dual pump setup. a 720 will be about the same size as the 1970-80's cat 140g and the deere 770a's. around 30,000 +- lbs. Volvo is the parts house for the champion parts so check with your local dealer. Over on the western side of the state i use Swanston Equipment out of Fargo,ND.
There was one of the original family that started Champion on the forum but I don't remember his name. I believe he said that Champion was independent again. In any case Titan in Minot Minnesota is listed as the Champion dealer in your area. Weather they handle parts for old machines or Volvo, I have no idea. http://www.championmotorgraders.us/Distributors/minnesota.php#contact
Komatsu.....Think you are talking about Bryan Abernathy (aka Motorgrader). He is VP at the now Champion, however I think (I know, its dangerous) that he is manufacturing the smaller machines and that the older champions are still serviced through the Volvo dealers. I'm sure he will be here soon and correct me if I am wrong.
Depends how old it is. Personally never saw a Champion with anything but cummins or Detroit diesel.... 720 is new enough it should have one or the other, probably an 8.3 cummins, maybe the 5.9 if it's older? They were bad for head gasket leaks, so it makes sense. They made their own transmissions as far as I know, at least in any one I ever saw. I run a series 3 (1992) that I've been in and out of since 1993. 8.3 cummins (180 horse) and 8 speed powershift champion trans. Good machine..... Champion started the "7" series in the 70's, I know the township here had a '76 740 with a 6V71 dd before the series 3 720. Early 70's was still 562's and 600's, so it's at least that era. Serial number tells when the machine was built. We had an '86 710 with the same trans and a 5.9 cummins, as well as a '96 740 with an L10 cummins and the same trans..... our 720 has about 14000 hours, the 740 has 16000. BTW, I'm about 2 hours from the factory that built that grader, so you can just imagine how many champions are around here. Probably 90 % of the municipal machines in the area, and a lot of the contractors too.
they are pretty tough grader and easy to work on except for the hyd pump!!! just put one in about two weeks ago.