This little machine came up for sale near my farm, worth the money, seems too cheap for a excavator, parts available? http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=8933113 I am in the market with Honey Locust trees to remove and the track loader I have is too slow, too unwieldy for the jobs. This machine OK for hillside work?
That machine is not too cheap. It is a dash 3 series machine, so it is fairly old. I would say late 80s or early 90s? It does not show an hour meter reading, other than ran 650 hours last year. This wont be the fastest, highest production machine, but thats not what you are looking for. This machine should be alright for hillside as long as the undercarriage is in decent shape.
Dash 3 machines use and open center load sensing hydraulic system which works real well when the machine is new. That pump and valve set are going to be real well worn and you will get lots of operating issues out of the thing. The servo pistons in the pump will be worn and leaking internally which usually means the pumps won't balance real easy and they won't always unload when they are supposed to. I don't know if you can even get a rebuilt one from a dealer anymore. The final drives are differential units that are OK for the most part but if one breaks, you will have a heck of a time finding another and may not even be able to get parts for the broken one. Unit has a small computer mounted behind the cab which uses a red and a green diode for troubleshooting. If you look at it and the lights aren't working you will have wiring harness problems. That is a pain. If you try the machine out make sure it walks straight for a hundred feet or more. If it veers out of straight more than a couple of feet you would be better to let it go. If it walks dead straight and you can lift the boom, with the arm stretched straight out, from the ground to the top of the stroke in about 4 seconds, you have a pretty decent machine. The Dash 5 machines came out in 1990 so you are looking at a real granddad machine. Good Luck!
I don't know squat about that machine, but just a quick glance at the photos it looks like there are some asymetrical patches on the stick just below where it meets the boom with the right side patch being larger than the left side patch. You would think if they were factory braces they would be symetrical. Might be a bit more wear and tear history there. Looking at where the stick is tucked up near the boom, look at the bottom weld on the right side patch, it's a few inches below the boom in the picture, but the left side patch doesn't extend down past the boom. That's the way it looks to me anyway...
Good catch Shenandoah. I guess at that price you can look at scrap prices and if you think you might be able to work the difference out of it it may not be a bad gamble.
what town in missouri DMiller, I have some relatives down near springfield, agnes(miller) her son Kermet Lonning(pronounced lawn-ing), probably not related but just curious.small world sometimes
We are at Hermann, home in Warrenton and relatives from Alton IL. Thanks guys for the info, will look harder in person at this one now that I know where to look.