Looking at purchasing a smaller P&H excavator. It is about 40K lbs with a DD 4-53. Not finding much info on P&H small stuff. Anybody have any experience with these?? Is a 4-53 enough HP to dig in a heavy rock area?? The machine appears to be in good shape and well cared for. What is the Achillie's heel on these machines. Where do I get parts??
you're gonna have to work within it's capabilities..NO it won't dig with speed like a Cat 330> excavator. The smaller 40Klb P+H had the 4-53,gotta keep em wound up to make any power..its bigger brother the 418 had the 6v53..expect repairs to be made slowly on your own accord,Ive never seen too many of these P+H's left,so you'd be making most parts yourself.Keep oil in the detroit youll never kill it,pumps are old open center,low stress.Hoses can be made,valves are old lateral controlled spool valves,and can be replaced with other brands.As long as the turntable is OK and the U/C working..go for it
So another words- just like the rest of my equipment!! Slow and steady wins the race. I do a lot of my own maintenance and stuff that is out of my league goes to a retired mechanic. Just got brakes on my 955H, took the guy a year but cheaper than taking it to Cat. Never ran a 330 - or any excavator for that matter, so I have nothing to compare it to. After I win the lottery, maybe I'll repower this one with a 6-53.
I believe P&H used a tractor style bottom (but with flat shoes) , so undercarriage parts shouldn't be that hard to find. It should be Cat, A-C or International track parts.
Sounds like an H312. Knew a guy that 5 H418's and 1 newer 1250. It used Vickers pumps and he said they used to leak hyd oil all the time. The drive is more like used on shovels and has a chain drive to the sprocket and the sprockets were built up with weld when they got worn too much. Very noisy and he said the 6-53 would require a rebuild every 3000 hours digging pipeline. They were popular in the day but I think it would have to be a pretty good price to consider one today. Used 2 foot pedals and 2 hand levers for digging.
Yep, uses 2 foot pedals and a stick for digging, another stick for swing. 2 sticks for travel. I've only had it a month and paid $6K for it. Of course the DD leaks, but the pumps look mostly dry. Not sure about the chain drive. It has smooth shoes. It should see 3000 hours in the next 20 years or so. Weighs about 40-42K lbs. Other than adding a thumb, I'll clean it it and run it. With the kind of rocks around here - a thumb will be real handy.