Saw this excavator on a dealer salvage auction and wondered what you all thought about it? They say it does run and drive. Obviously needs a new cab and wondered what you guys think all else could maybe have gotten tweeked?
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Firstly, inspect all the pivot points in the boom/linkage for cracks or signs of stress. This could be something as minimal as cracking paint which is the first sign that something has been knocked out of whack. Boom foot area on both boom and carbody, both ends boom cylinder mounts, and nose end of boom where stick pivots are good points to start. Do they have any price estimate of what they think it might fetch..? Look at what machines with similar age/hours are selling for, take the difference of the 2 prices and see if you can get a cab, the stick cylinder, and anything else you can see that it needs to put it back into action for less than that amount. If your calculation comes out positive it could be worth a punt. Remember to factor in your labour. It seems to me as there is no damage anywhere else that the machine has gone over on the left side. Of course with the cab not being ROPS the damage gets magnified because the weight of the machine just crushes it. That could likely mean that what your photos show is actually the sum total of the damage to it.
2011 ???? ……I wonder why they are righting it off ???? and not fixing it ……. as Nige said no ROPS so the cab will take a big hit. The stick cyl is probably OK, just a new ram needed ….. the pics are hard to give an accurate opinion, but from what I see, it's not one of those big structural issues …. I somersaulted my 312 backwards on a down-hill slope (quite a few yrs ago) … it was winter, ground frozen covered by snow …… BUT I have ROPS/FOPS cab guarding ….. we Slammed hard upside down and the worst thing was the stick ram was bent bad, looked almost the same as the 320 you show, appears that the boom and stick were straight up and when it went over the contact point was the RAM, which will kinda absorb most of the impact ….. it prob rolled on its side crushing the Cab ….. Looks more like Pirates went thru the cab and took most of the stuff out (by appearance only) …… if they say it runs when was it run ??? …. cause with all the stuff missing in the cab I doubt there's enough to start it now ????? ……. as in my case, my engine was shut off immediately, but because it laid on its side over night the engine hydraulic'd ….. when we barred the engine over I must of bent a push tube partially, I held the exhaust valve open manually, barred it over and pushed the crank-case oil out of the cyl ….. put in a new push tube and it fired right up ……. Even re-ramming the stick cly was not cheap, but WAY cheaper than a complete cylinder …….. I still don't get it ????…. that's a 2011 and was it not insured ??? …. up here cabs would be a dime -a- dozen with all of the converted machines into Forestry Cab Conversions ….. Let us know if you wind up with it ….. cheers
I don't know why you're talking about british politics in this post??? and it seems "punt" means something else to non Americans, here it means to give up, or pass it by-off-on. The web suggests you mean "it might be worth a gamble". It wouldn't take much work with some straight edges, bungee cords, string lines, and tape measures to "eyeball" (survey?) the booms to see just how parallel they are. Take a good look at the top of that dipper cylinder to see if it was dented, and whether the whole cylinder will be replaced or just the rod. I assumed it was the insurance company that wrote it off, that's usually how they end up at salvage auctions.
We speak English, you speak American. That's the way the world works..........:tong
It looks good and I think windowbarn is right, it needs a new cab to make a good works and jobs.
I think you meant pass the sugar please. I love the attitudes on here. Glad to see i'm not the only one of my kind. Caterpillar paint is really good for tattletales. It will show stretch and bend marks. Take a level with you and kind of eye ball it. Looks good for the right price. We sold some 320c's for $75,000 four years ago. These were running machines though.
If it was just the cab that took the major damage I would look closer at it, however the boom hit something hard enough to snap the top boom/stick cylinder, which means it didn't just roll over on the left side. What do they want for it?
Thanks for all the helpful replies. Not sure what it will go for. Its on a no reserve auction going off tomorrow in Tifton, GA. We are from IA so can't really go look at it. I wouldn't want too give much for it with all the unknowns. I did email the auction to see if they have any additional info on the unit.
I could have pointed out that we have 2000 years of practice speaking English compared to you guys 250-ish so I suppose it would be fair to say you still have time yet to get it right. Only a C+ for effort so far .......... First thing I would look for would be cracked paint. This site shows me about $160-165k for a 2011 320D in what I assume would be good condition. There's your starting point, subtract from that the cost of repairing it (add on 15K for all those little things that you didn't plan for but that always come back and bite you in the ***) and the number you're left with should be the absolute maximum that you would pay for it at auction - IMHO. http://www.rockanddirt.com/search?l0=equipment-mfg&l1=CAT&l2=320D
Would you have any contact info for a cab? Wonder what they would cost up there. Cat wants $18k for a new one here
I would contact Finning Tractor in Edmonton Alta. ….. Finning (from what i'm told) is now the largest franchised Cat dealer in the world …. they in Edmonton, are pretty much the head parts distribution point for Western Canada New and used Parts …… Other than that contacting Finning in Vancouver, B.C. ….. Alot of the Forestry cab conversions happen there (not sure if you know what we mean when we speak of the conversion ??? …. they pull off the OEM cabs and put custom built Raised cabs c/w the Rops/Fops built into the structure, Cab windows are ALL Lexan or Marguard, basically bullet proof windows, the cabs are also tilt-able forward for transport purposes) ….. that would be where i'd start, Google them and you can go online to check out used parts, as well as the origin of the parts location …. Also giving you the TF #'s to phone …… hope this helps if you wind up getting the 320 …… cheers & good-luck bidding !!!
Since when have they put boom foot mounts on the carboy? And how the heck does that work?....LOL
Sorry Nige !!! …….. But ….."NOW THAT's FUNNY" ………. LMFAO !!!!
The damage sure is strange. That stick cylinder took one hell of a hit to break like that, but no damage to the side of the boom. Maybe something fell onto it, sure doesn't look like a roll over to me. Let us know what it brings at auction.
After looking at the pics again, I bet they had the boom up, hit a bridge, then maybe fell from the trailer. Takes a lot to break a ram like that.
curious to see what it went for and if you got it or not?! that cylinder sure is strange. bent down like it was compressed or something landed on top of the machine maybe? and a clean sheer snap. never seen that before. id say something fell on the cab and top of the boom. doesn't look like rollover damage to me.
So windowbarn ???? …… Did you Buy it ???? ….. we are all waiting for the big up-date !!! …. LOL
Sorry folks....I actually missed the first online auction but they have it back up again on a minimum bid. They are wanting $60k for it. I imagine they would take alittle less for it. They took some new pictures now and it looks like they have all the interior pieces in a big box beside it. The cab though is a hard one to find used and it seems new is about the only way too go maybe. Still trying to decide if its worth trying it.
Ouch! I still don't think I'd pay that much for it. I might look at about $40, but think that's where I'd draw the line. My experience has been that a machine like that will have issues for the rest of it's life, no matter how much you do to it now.
My thoughts as well.
I live here in Tifton Georgia and went to look at this machine this morning. Has anyone ever tried to flip a machine like this to a salvage yard? If this thing sells for 35k or under, I believe there are plenty of parts to make 10k or more? What do you all think? I took plenty of pictures. PM me if you want to see something in particular. Thanks Jon
Were you able to start it and move it? How many hours? Not sure if I know what you mean about flipping to a salvage yard?
It wouldn't start. It has 1,447 hours on it. I meant buy it and resell it to a machine junk yard.
There's close on $100k worth of components on that machine if it were broken down and sold, and that's just the major ones ......... As per my previous post various machines of that age with more hours than 1400 were up for sale on the net around the $165k mark. I still think my previous logic applies. Take something around the $160k it would fetch if undamaged, subtract from that what it would cost in parts (cab, cylinder +etc) and labour to put it right. The number you end up with is the maximum you should think of paying for it at auction.
Ok I see what you mean. Maybe batteries are dead from sitting to long. Does it look like it rolled? Could you see any hidden visual damage? Other than cylinder, cab, and that side panel.
Here is a link to all 45 photos I took. https://www.dropbox.com/sc/t0qotnteq9via1h/dgz2t6xlFJ
Thanks for the pictures Ga_Boy! It looks to me as if either it hit an overpass and then went of and slid on its left side, or went off the trailer with a bit of speed and slid on its left side and the stick ram was damaged by hitting something while slidding. It appears to have been a Cat Rental Store machine.
Nige, because of your wealth of information and experience it is not often that we simple minded colonialists get the chance to poke fun at you, but... 2000 years of experience produced this? "they don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring Sir" Just teasing Sir, I think it is fair to say that the forum members have the utmost respect for you!:notworthy
You have obviously never been exposed to the English sense of humour that produced the comedy series Dad's Army and the leader of the Walmington-on-Sea platoon of the Home Guard - Captain Arthur Mainwaring ...(see photo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjK5YWFjG-s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Guard_(United_Kingdom)
I just talked to the dealer. This machine hit a bridge, slid off the trailer and skidded across the highway. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Had a feeling that would come back to bite me. Better than Benny Hill!
Nige, my local Pub (Bar) was built in 1605, the seats and all the trappings are from the same period even the meat pies, not wanting to Labour a point but the LDV (look duck and vanish) team also called the Home Guard were a fine body of Fighting Men, everyone in the U.K. loves them, I can trace my Family back to 1080 without to much trouble, if I was not as thick as I am I could possibly do better on the date,as for spelling well I stink, but my son won the Latin Cup at his Boading School and is brilliant at English Grammar, but he goes to work in a fancy whistle, nothing like me in rags. Loving it tctractors p.s. most of the Forum Members cannot understand my use of verbs but at least I can spell "Plough"
Don,t tell them your name Pike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V3SqxUomwk