I have a friend who owns an excavation business and are selling their 2000 Caterpiller 315bl excavator (with mechanical thumb) and they are asking $35K. They recently replaced this unit with a newer one. The Cat 315bl has 9400 hours and has been well maintained. They bought the excavator about 18 years ago when it had about 1800 hours on it and have owned it since. The owner indicates they use it around 500 hours per year and have maintained it according to the hour recommendations in the owners manuals.
About 1500 machine hours ago, they replaced the undercarriage to include sprockets, final drives, track. About 500 machine hours ago, they serviced the swivel motor. They also recently rebuilt the bucket and have had several of the hydraulic RAMS professionally rebuilt. Although I haven't looked at them, the owner said they have most of the receipts of previous work done.
Since I'm new to excavators, I have a few questions for the group.
I realize that 9400 hours is lots of hours, but it also appears this unit still has plenty of life left in it. Since I won't be using the excavator in a business, 100% up time isn't required, but I also don't want to sink huge sums of money into it either. My main use of the excavator is to semi clear about 50 acres of land that has been previously select logged and turn it into a Silvopasture/Agroforest. I have 15 Scottish Highland cattle that I plan to locate on this land (Northern Michigan).
Since I'm a newbie, I've spent some time trying to somewhat educate myself on buying a used excavator. I've watched youtube videos and have spent some time perusing this forum. Today, I visited the unit and ran it. While the owner was moving the stick, I inspected all the bucket pins as they owner moved it around. I watched the turntable and didn't see any major play. It appears to be tight and didn't see anything obvious that would indicate major problems. But then again, I'm a newbie so what would I know. I inspected the undercarriage, and from what I know, it appears to be in very good condition. I stood on the tracks and they were very solid and didn't move at all. I weigh 250 lbs, so that was a good sign.
In a worst case scenario;if the engine needed to be rebuilt or perhaps the swivel motor needed an overhaul, can anyone provide a ball park cost estimate on what something like this might be? I understand that ideally, I should have an experienced heavy equipment mechanic inspect the excavator before dropping $35,000 on it, but I don't know who'd I'd talk to. Any suggestions?
About 1500 machine hours ago, they replaced the undercarriage to include sprockets, final drives, track. About 500 machine hours ago, they serviced the swivel motor. They also recently rebuilt the bucket and have had several of the hydraulic RAMS professionally rebuilt. Although I haven't looked at them, the owner said they have most of the receipts of previous work done.
Since I'm new to excavators, I have a few questions for the group.
I realize that 9400 hours is lots of hours, but it also appears this unit still has plenty of life left in it. Since I won't be using the excavator in a business, 100% up time isn't required, but I also don't want to sink huge sums of money into it either. My main use of the excavator is to semi clear about 50 acres of land that has been previously select logged and turn it into a Silvopasture/Agroforest. I have 15 Scottish Highland cattle that I plan to locate on this land (Northern Michigan).
Since I'm a newbie, I've spent some time trying to somewhat educate myself on buying a used excavator. I've watched youtube videos and have spent some time perusing this forum. Today, I visited the unit and ran it. While the owner was moving the stick, I inspected all the bucket pins as they owner moved it around. I watched the turntable and didn't see any major play. It appears to be tight and didn't see anything obvious that would indicate major problems. But then again, I'm a newbie so what would I know. I inspected the undercarriage, and from what I know, it appears to be in very good condition. I stood on the tracks and they were very solid and didn't move at all. I weigh 250 lbs, so that was a good sign.
In a worst case scenario;if the engine needed to be rebuilt or perhaps the swivel motor needed an overhaul, can anyone provide a ball park cost estimate on what something like this might be? I understand that ideally, I should have an experienced heavy equipment mechanic inspect the excavator before dropping $35,000 on it, but I don't know who'd I'd talk to. Any suggestions?
