I was wondering if anyone else is going through this right now.. we mostly only run wheel loaders and are currently running Series II F's for Cats and early 2000's model Komatsu(980s and 500s), and are looking to slowly update our equipment without going all out brand new and spending 350-$500,000. I figured it would be easy to find some mid 2000's with under 10,000 hours, boy was I wrong. They are out there, but everything is so far away it would cost $5,000-$10,000 in trucking and even at that they are few and far between. Is it just me or is it hard to find decent equipment for sale now, is everyone running there machines longer or are they just being bought up that fast? We had a good lead on a loader today and were prepared to write a check, until they told us someone walked in the yard and bought it
The next series of cat machines you are looking at moving into, the G series, seem reliable, and easy to maintain. I ran a 980G for a demolition contractor. When I got it it had 17-18,000 hours on it, and everything was original. It had a rough life before me, it spent a lot of its day on 2 wheels due to the loads being drug around site. Last I talked to the guys still at the company, that loader was still running around, and this was 4 years ago. Send out a request to dealers in your area. Let them know what you are looking for, machine, hours, and condition wise. Let them know you are willing to spend the cash, as long as it checks out alright. This should prevent the man off the street situation.
Will have to try our dealer and see what they can find, I know I looked at inventory and they have nothing in the yard but maybe they can find one. I would like to find it with under 10,000 hours as we roughly put on 6,000-7,000 hours a year since we run 24/7 and the hours add up quick over the years. Has anyone had success with loader brands like Deere, Volvo, or Kawasaki?
The coming of Tier 4 Final and the very real possibility of non Tier and Tier 1 engines being prevented from being used on any construction projects seems to be one of several reasons people are keeping their Tier 2 and 3 equipment around for much longer than they would originally. Plenty of these pieces are being rebuilt now because of long lead times for new and huge increases in purchase prices. I've seen a 15% to 18% increase in prices of top quality used iron year sold at auction in 2011. What you might think about is finding a high hour used machine and purchase it with a drive train rebuild. That way you could capitalize the rebuild into the purchase. If you find a good medium hour machine, you had better send a trailer for it quick. Good Luck!
After the 2008 financial debacle, the used market was flooded with iron. Dealers i spoke with said it almost all left the continent. He spoke of a RB auction in vegas where 95% was purchased offshore! So now there is nothing left.
Thats the problem everything is leaving the country, we have a heavily used 966F Series II that we were hoping we could get $35,000 out of it, but now with the overseas market we are looking at selling it for $60,000 plus. We brought an old 988B and a genset to a local RB auction 2 years ago and both of them sold over seas as well.
The hot ticket overseas is no electronic controls. A F series Cat loader might be a bit of a hard sell over there because of the electronic dash panels. Anything less than around seven years old usually stays here and is also worn out when offered for trade on new. I have seen some of the early Komatsu and Hitachi machines go back across the pond but so far no Cats.
Well they would love my 980C then!
Could any of you guys explain to me what these baffles are under the exhaust, I have never seen these on a machine... Wouldn't let me load the picture straight to the post.
Check out Fastline.com tractorhouse.com or machinefinder.com Parts, resellers, dealers. Hopefully get some good deals here
I'd like to see your photos but there is no way I'm going to do anything through G mail. Sorry
Sorry about that I will try to get it to let me upload the picture into this thread..
There we go, finally got it.. What is that baffle at the rear?
It directs the air flow from the fan away. Generally to me it only gets in the way when you want to lift the hood. It does seem to keep the machine a little cleaner over time. It might have been and option as I only see it on a few machines.
Does it keep the machine cooler in warm temps I wonder. Its the first time I have seen them on a machine.
When I think about it the machines that I have seen had auto reversing fans. Maybe check and see if yours does also.
I've never seen it on any 980G's down here and it gets pretty hot most of the year
Yeah it's a first for me seeing it, but if it's got any benefits I'm not against it