I am digging a pond and need a loader for about two months. I can rent one for $3,500 a month. I came across this http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=10737407 which is fairly close to me and I thought what if I bought this, used it tell I was done, and then sold it for roughly what I paid for it? I have skid steers and a backhoe but really don't know much about loaders. I figure if I bought it for around 19k, used it until I was done and sold it for 17k I would come out ahead as long as I didn't have to spend more than 5k on repairs. I imagine if something major went wrong it could cost more to fix than the machine itself cost so I know it is a bit of a risk but I like the idea of not being rushed to finish this project especially if it rains because the pond is already dug enough that it becomes a muddy mess for a week after a rain. Does this machine look like a good deal or should I just bite the bullet and rent one?
$3500 a month for wheel loader rental is cheap! If you are interested in this and your close, go by and take a look. Drive it around but remember the basics. Check your engine blow by, check the transmission. Stab the bucket in the ground and make sure it will spin the tires in 1st and maybe 2nd. Pull the trans dip stick and see if it smells burnt. Leave it run for a few minutes if you can. Normal operating temperature will show problems as well. Look at your center pins, make sure you don't have to much slack in them. Be sure and check your cutting edge and roll the bucket over and look at the bottom side of the bucket for excessive wear. Its a long shot but ask for maintanance records. I don't know of any specific problems with these loaders so good luck.
Many factors in digging a pond, and a wheel loader may not be the machine of choice. You don't give your location, type of soil or the distance your moving your material to. It may be wiser to rent a track hoe first and get your material on high ground and then look at a wheel loader to shift your dirt around or a small dozer. The loader will most likely need a set of teeth, to help your break out depending on your soil. They do not do well in wet material and if you get inside and it gets wet, you will spend more time getting it unstuck. I would think we need more info on size (pond), type of soil, depth, to give you some good answers.
High hours, but it looks good and Komatsu usually builds bullet proof machines. If it was me and I thought it ran and pulled good in all gears, steering and brakes were decent, no major leaks, I would go for it.
I am NO expert, not even close! BUt from all the ponds I ever seen built, a dozer loader was always the tool used SO like someoen said above, I don't think a wheel loader is the tool for making a pond UNLESS you just moving clay like liner material to a pre dug area, then I guess that's the thing to use LOL IF it was me, and I didn;t have a lot of time, I say renting one seems like a better option, as a failure could costs unknown in repair costs and the down time, pending on the rental place, a rental if it goes down, they bring you another one? and job can get done all them hours would scare me !! I have bad luck, so, I see a ticking time bomb, that would blow the day after I got it! HAHA! Good luck
Thanks for the replies. The pond area is just dirt. We have been passing over it with a big farm tractor and a chisel plow and breaking it up about 10" deep then using skid steers to scoop up the loose dirt. A lot of it we have been loading straight into the dump truck and selling it for either fill dirt or topsoil depending on what it is. Other times we just stockpile it off to the side to load in the dump truck and sell at a later time. It works fine and is easy digging but the skid steer may have a 3/4 yard bucket so it is taking forever to dig and to load the dump truck. They tell me the Komatsu has a 3 yard bucket so one load from it equals 4 from the skid steer. We can dig faster and load trucks faster. I have had some interest from others with belly and end dumps to buy dirt from us but they shy away when I tell them what we have to load with. They don't want to sit and wait on 30 skid steer buckets to load their trailer. I am pretty sure a wheel loader is what I need - just not sure if this is the one I need or if I am better off to rent. If I bought it in all honesty I could see keeping it around for 6-12 months to do a variety of projects around here before selling it. The pond it not going to be overly deep maybe 10-12' and it will have real gradual sides so a track hoe doesn't seem to appropriate. A dozer would move the dirt in a hurry but doesn't solve our loading problem. The pond will be about 1 acre and say an average depth of six feet so roughly 10,000 yards of dirt to move.
I think you are on the right track. Sure, it could go wrong, but if you check it carefully it will likely go well for you. I looked a little, and that size machine seems to hold good value, so the resale idea may even work out.
One more thing I would check out is how high it will lift. In my line of work, a high lift loader is a must. But from the way it sounds, your skidsteer will lift high enough, so I'm sure the loader will work.