Just as the title says. Is 7000hrs too many? What are some guidelines ?
WOW. You just asked about the most loaded question possible. 7000 hours could be like new, or ready for the scrapyard. Or literally ANYWHERE in between. My Case 210C has 4200 hours, had it since new. You cannot see/feel any wear in the pins. A neighbor has a machine with 2600 hours, and the pins are shot.
A Case CX210 with 6800hr is the machine in ?
Well, if it was mine 5-6 years from now, I'd say it was just getting broke in. However, a good, close inspection is going to tell the story. Nobody here is going to be able to tell you anything without seeing it. What experience do you have with excavators?
I have less than 100hrs on a new machine several years ago. So nada. That is why the ??? Looking to grub stumps, dig a couple of small ponds, move some creek rock.
You'd be saving a whole lot of heartache and trouble if you got some help looking at this machine, and any other used prospect. I don't have any suggestions in your area, maybe somebody else does.
Our '11 3231DLCR has 7500+ hours on it. Bought it in 2104 with 1500 or so hours on it out of the Cat Rental fleet. It has been a very reliable tractor (knocks on wood). 250 HR, 500 HR and 1000 HR services are performed religiously. P&B's are grease on a daily basis. The bucket pins on this hoe still tight. It's all in how the machine was operated and maintained. Now would I buy a trackhoe with 7,000 hours on it that someone else operated and maintained for all those hours? No way in hades unless it was a hell of a buy.
My cat 215c has 11,000 on it, I've put 7000 of them on it. It burns no oil, and does everything it should. No repairs except for a swing gear caused by my trying to turn a know-it-all into an operator. After that, I got back in the seat and stayed there until I got out of the trackhoe business. It is still used in my business, but only about 300 hrs a year.
My Volvo EC210C has 9,000 hours on it, bought it with 7,500. It was extremely well looked after. All pins and bushings still very tight. Been extremely reliable, and only a small fraction of the price of new. If I took out the cost of the extra attachments I got, I only paid 50k for the machine, compared to like $250k for a new one. No complaints about the machine at all.
If you are looking at just a few projects on your own property have you thought about renting. No worries that way and you are using a near new machine of the proper size.
what happened to the swing gear?
I've seen Japanese machines get 10-12K on pumps, sometimes 14-15K out of the engine before overhaul.... Of course sometimes it's half that. YMMV.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy a machine with 7K hours for what you want. Assuming it hasn't been horribly abused and the price is in line with the hours. I can't afford newer machines, lowest hr machine I ever bought was an EX200 with 5K. Got a JD330CLC with 14k hrs that is tight and runs strong. Also have an old UH083 with lord knows how many hours still running and working ... a little loose though.