I going to take a look at a skid steer that was burned up about a year ago. By burned up I mean the operator was pushing a big tree trunk into a bonfire. He panic's then jumps out of the equipment instead of driving out of it! I may get it for free or at least scrap metal cost. Completly destroyed so it will be a complete rebuild. Does this sound like it will be worth the cost or better to buy a good used one between $18,000 to $20,000. I am a mechanic and have the equipment to rebuild most componets myself. Not sure what brand either J.D., Cat, or Case.:beatsme
what year? you really need to find out what brand/model it is
If you are wanting to spend 18-20k on a machine. I say you would be better off buying a machine. JD Case or Cat all make good machines. To rebuild a burnt machine you would have A LOT of hours of labor involved. I don't know anything about the machine you are looking at. If it is a total burn I would walk away. If you are wanting to rebuild a machine. I would look for a rebuildable core. Sam
The odds are if its burn up it is not worth fixing. Find out what it is and take a pic for us.
my past knowlegde is that "fire " jobs are that ...Did a combine years ago .nothing but trouble..scrap .
A good fire usually takes the strenght out of the steel,its prob soft as butter now. I got a bunch of 3/4 drive sockets and such from a burned shop one time,i twisted all the extensions off in no time,the sockets just split or spread open
I wont touch a burned unit if any of the hydraulic hoses are burned through. I have fixed a few that had light damage (electrical and paint) even they ended up being a nuisance. 18 to 20k will buy a very nice unit; I would stay away from burned if you can afford 20k.
Getting all of the steel hot does not do it any good. If it air cools it does usually affect the steel a lot. If it gets covered up and cools slow it anneals it and makes it soft. Big thing is the engine. If that was in a fire it is junk. Sounds like a good one to stay away from. Did the fire get extinguished with water or just burn out by itself?
Thanks for everyone's input. After seeing I decided to walk away from it. The metal was warped, just a big hunk of rusty, black metal. Sorry no pic's and it was a Gehl. Thanks again.
i picked up a burned cat not long ago and ended up selling it due to not having enough time to fix it, although it wasnt burned beyond repair.
Why not take it{if it is free} just to gain the price for scrap??? There is one, not far from me, that completely burnd the cab{everything}, they say the engine and hydraulics are fine but they're still asking $9500.00. I'd be afraid it would be nothing but a headache to rebuild.
wow that is crazy 9500 for a burn dam
Maddog... when it comes to a deal like that "$9,500.-" for a rolling bar-b-q my thoughts are... "If I had a choice of that or AIDS, I think I take the disease."
A year ago I evaluated buying a New Holland that had a cab and top of motor burn. The cab, seat, controls, glass was completely burned out, along with parts on the top of the motor and the wiring harnesses. The hoses did not get burned, fortunately. The motor seemed ok but I couldn't get it to turn over (probably just from sitting for a few years). Supposedly the SS only had a few hundred hours on it and was only a few years old. It got bounced from owner to owner who thought they were going to fix it up and realized they were over their heads. In fact, I could have probably bought it for around $5k. I priced up all the parts I was confident would be needed, then added about 25% more for the parts I figured I would later discover it would need (ya always run into more than ya think). By the time I added in all the parts cost I could have bought a used unit on the internet, with more hours, of course, for about the same amount ....and that's w/o doing any restoration work at all! A complete burn unit would be absolute junk. To buy EVERY seal, gasket, repack ALL the bearings, rebuild every part ...you'd be WAY ahead in time and parts, buying an older unit used and fix it's shortcomings.
Burn machines are never worth rebuilding. I have at least five customers fixing burnt ones right now and they are all money pits.
I wouldnt say never. Here is one we did. cab was ok, engine, toast.