Hello all, I am about to pull the trigger on a used Takeuchi tb020 . I was surprised to learn it didn't have a title but someone here told me that's nothing to worry about with them. Condition and hours are the most important . I thought that knowing the year of production would help to figure out a baseline for price . But the owner doesn't know how old it is (estate auction). Pic to follow this post, runs and operates 100% and has 2700 hours . What's it worth?
Hmm...around here, 9k would be very reasonable, if in good shape (thumb is important around here). Agree with others about checking with police, dealer for history, age and theft.
A lot of older machines have slop...raise bucket off ground and shake front by hand to see how bad. Push bucket into ground, raising machine, and see how much slop at pivot. Raise tracks off ground, and check rollers and idler for side to side play. I'm pushing 4k hrs in my machine, and the Kubota engine is going strong. Really depends on maintenance history. Of course, lowballing on an estate sale seems like the prudent thing to do since you cannot get a history on the machine (that is, talk to the person who operated it). I always buy things like this with an eye on resell. If I didn't like it, or I found it wanting, what could I reasonably expect to sell it for?
Forgot to mention that I asked for signed sales agreement attesting that the seller had no liens, encumbrances etc., on the machine. Can usually find a form letter specific to your area that would cover some bases...I was a tad leery when I bought mine, as I never saw the owner (he was terminally ill), and his friend was selling it on his behalf. Lots of red flags went up for me..lol
His friends ID came out, as did a notarized statement authorizing him to sell machine, and a trip to a bank to consummate deal.
