S.N. is 720A-187-917-20185-90. I can't seem to find anything to tell me what year or series this is. I did ascertain from the Volvo website, which has an excellent section on Champion graders, that the Series IV which started in about 1996 I think went to closed center hydraulics. Does anyone have any enlightenment on this subject, and opinions on whether to look for a 1996 or later machine due to the improved hydraulics?
Correction, I went back to the Volvo website again and it was 1994 that the Series IV with the improved hydraulics were introduced. The website also says that the Series V introduced in 1997 had only minor changes, but the Series VI in 1999 had some major changes made, most notably to the AWD system, the cab, and a redesigned front frame. So maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong, but any Champion from 1994 on would be a modern type motor grader suitable for production use, not just farm or hobby jobs. (?) (No way can my small company afford or justify the latest and greatest from Cat, Deere, or Volvo, so forget that.)
A lot of the government graders here are a 720a. Most of them would be used hard and put away wet, and while they are gradually being replaced by Volvo's, there are still a lot in service. I tried one once, and my old 1990 730 would run circles around it as far as power goes. And my 730 had a 14 foot mold board.
I believe the 90 at the end of the number indicates the year The series 3 had the sloped sheet metal enclosing the engine and was right around that vintage We owned 20489 which was a series 3 machine.
That's probably accurate, I have a 95-96 year series 4 and its got a s/n of 25554 the 187 breaks down to : (18) 173hp cummins 8.3 the (7) means its got the standard gearco 8400 I think that the 917 means 917 identical machines were built that year, and the 20185 is the number the machine was when it was built. None of mine have the last number in the s/n and I haven't found an owners manual that breaks that part of it down. It would make sense to have the model year in there somewhere though.
Not all of them had that number at the end
I am thinking that based on the 20185 part that is probably is about a 1990 model, as it seems that in the mid-90's they are in the 25000 number range. The sale listing claims it is showing only 4000+ hours, but I would think it doubtful that was the total hours. As I study about what graders are in my price range and performance expectations, it seems to me that a Series IV machine or later might make more sense even though it will cost more. Or for the same money as a IV or V I could get an older Caterpillar. I just don't want to buy a machine that is on the verge of being obsolete and that won't be capable of finish grading in the hands of a good operator. Any thoughts?
I have abandoned the idea of purchasing the late 80's, early 90's Champion, but I have looked at a Series IV that appears clean. However, the air conditioner is not blowing cold but the seller said he would charge it up with Freon. When I mentioned this to a Volvo dealer, he said that might not be the problem and said it might need a retrofit kit. Does anyone know anything about this?
The air conditioning could be a few things. I'd just talk to an air conditioning place. Could be lots of things. High pressure switch, low pressure switch, compressor, filter, leaky hose and on and on. Short notes on Champion models: I ran 3 series 3 Champions. The first 2 were 12 volt and had interference fit wheelbearings. Somewhere in the 94 model year they did a Series III 1/2. It went to slip fit wheelbearings and 24 volt. My boss had 2 machines from when they went to the slip fit wheelbearings and started out doing hubs every 600 hours or so. Gradually they got it figured out. Late in the series IV's maybe although some of those and the series V's did have the assembly COMPLETELY FAIL without the wheel seal really leaking much. Series IV's got completely revamped hydraulics. I guess I distinguish it more as a standby setup. The earlier ones were open centre, the later setup has a load sensing hydraulic hose from the valve body to the pump that signals it to go from the 80psi standby pressure to it's operating pressure (2500? Maybe). They also moved the valves from under the cab and put them in front of the cab under the steering orbital motor. Series V painted the cab black and the bigger ones got an M11 engine for emissions reasons. Also a joystick transmission shifter. I think they found a way to put a few extra grease zerks on there too. With the series VI's, they moved the Air conditioning from the top of the cab and combined it with the heater under the seat. The early ones had some real dust issues too. I think they changed the arches slightly on the circle so moldboard clearance was higher. They managed to add a decal stripe and a few more grease zerks. I think the 750 model was dropped during the early VI's. The 8400 transmission never changed much until it was dropped when the 900's come out. Early series III ones had trouble with frictions (like before 1991) but that is likely a moot point because anything used at all would have been changed up. I know there were several changeups with 6 wheel drives, but I can't help you much there. The best one I ran was the early 94 12 volt machine. But my boss had one of the last series IV's and it was very good. I think the series V's were pretty good. To me the V's and VI's were tweaks of the IV's. Just had to get the bugs out of them. The 8.3's the 730's had was fairly tough. The L10's the bigger ones (740 and up) were good. Some of the M11's were kind of doggy and hard on fuel.
Sorry about the long diatribe. But one thing about the 8.3's- every one I seen needed a head gasket sometime in it's life. Only other thing with them was the occasional water pump.