Just got back from trying out this machine: http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=8042273&GUID= The good: Seems as though someone has taken good care of it. Overall it's a pretty clean machine. No big leaks, no big damage. I can afford it. Undercarriage seems to be in pretty good shape (to be honest everything seems a bit nicer in person than in the pictures). Everything runs smooth and it seems to have enough power to do what I want to do. It's ready for a manual thumb, which I'd like to add. The interior is exceptionally clean, all glass is in good shape, and it doesn't stink like cigarettes. The bad: There's a minor leak from one of the boom cylinders. Not a huge deal but I'll have to address it at some point. The engine was a bit smokey for the first two or three minutes of warm up. Yeah- I know I'm being picky but it's worth mentioning. The real concern is that the hour meter is broken on it. It shows 16xx. They offered me what I think is a good deal on the machine including delivery to my site but didn't seem at all pushy about it. Pretty much told me to try every machine on the lot for as long as I wanted and not to buy anything that I wasn't comfortable with. They said they'd be more than happy to let an independent tech look at it and pull an oil sample. I operate machines for my job, but I'm lucky enough to run newer stuff and don't have to take care of them other than checking fluids and greasing. I do know how to run them with care and how to stay out of trouble. Just hoping for a little advice on this one- anyone have significant experience with a similar machine? Pitfalls? I appreciate it! -adam
Looks like a good deal to me. In my experience leaky cylinders usually blow out pretty quickly so I would factor that into the price. I wouldn't worry about the engine smoking. My hoe smokes on startup but runs like a champion once its warmed up.
If you are serious about buying it ask them if you could try it on your job site for a day or two. Of course if you don't like it you would have to pay the rental fee and the moving cost. However, that would be cheaper then reselling it. What have you got to lose? All they can do is say no.
Do you find it curious the machine is maintained, with the exception of the hour meter. I say this with regard to the hours being solely an indicator of the condition.
Yeah- that's my major concern. I'm curious as to how many hours the machine actually has on it. I also wonder how I'd address the hour meter situation if I end up buying it. My intentions are to use it for my house build, possibly on the neighboring lot in the near future, and then selling it. The seller's attitude leads me to believe they're not trying to hide anything. They literally gave me the key and told me to play with the machine as long as I wanted. They didn't even come out and watch me. There wasn't any "so what's it gonna take for you to take this machine home today" talk... I'm going to get in touch with the local Deere dealer to see how much they'd charge to go check it out... Thanks for the replies- any other info will be appreciated!
Second to a Pc-150-5 those 590s have always been one of my favorites.That one looks to be in fine shape for the price.You can tell just by the pics it has been taken care of.Have fluid sampels run.Those deep buckets can be a real pain if you are going to be digging in sticky ground,if not they are sweet.That one looks like a pipe digger,if so the UC should be in good shape for its age.Good luck!
The best you can do is to fix or replace the meter and tell the new buyer how many hours were on the meter when you bought it. Maybe Deere dealers will have service records that could give you an idea of how long the meter has been broken or possibly replaced if you see higher hours.
Like Old&worn said take the serial number (should start P00590dx****** or FF590dx******) 13 digits, to deere and let them run it. the only bad thing is that they can only tell you what deere has done to it. Thats if the dealer put it in the system. For that price the hours should be between 5-7K. Doesn't look all that bad thoe.. I've got 2 friends that has or had one. Both of them love the machine. One friend actually likes it better then his 160lc. Just keep it clean. The guy that has the 160 lost his 590 to a fire due to a hose breaking and catching all the leaves and stuff built up on the mainframe. And she will smoke to some extent when you first crank it up.
As with any excavator be sure to pull dipstick on the swing tranny & look in grease tub for hyd oil. good luck
I went thru the hour meter guessing game when I bought my 1998 sk130 this year. It shows 5500 hours but has a reman 4BT in it. shipped Nov, 2008 according to SRC. Did it go around the horn and actually has 15,500 hours on it - I don`t know. Don`t really think so as the machine is actually in pretty good shape with just a few relatively minor hydraulic problems. Why a reman with so few hours is an interesting question. The cab insides look almost new on yours whereas mine was a disaster and took a lot of work to bring back from purgatory. Still gotta put the seat back in. My machine was so far away it was impractical to go in person to inspect it so I just got bunch of pix taken of it. Still happy with the deal. If the price is right buy it!
I'm impatiently waiting for a phone call from the mechanic... maybe today? I think if he has a good opinion of it that it should hold up for what I want to do with it- I'll go easy on it if I buy it... Thanks again for all the replies! I'll keep you all posted, and if it happens I'll post pictures of the progress...