# Skid Steers- How many hours is TOO MANY hours??



## merrimacmill

I'm always seeing skid steers for sale around with 2500-3500 hours and It always surprises me that they're still running "excellent" or "just like brand new" as the adds state. It just got me thinking, at about how many hours does it just become a repair bill and not worth keeping anymore? I know it depends on its maintenance history, and type of use. But I'm just talking "in general". Just something I was wondering.


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## cat320

I have hear not in those but the mini excavtors that trade in time is around 4K hours ,now my 580 case I think it's around 7-8K hours , but I think long as it has had regular maintence it could have high hours and still be great. guess it all depends on the operator and oil change intervils.


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## Pushin_On

*Trade value.*

I had an 1997 863 with 2200 hrs on it, open cab, had some hard hrs on it, but i service regularly, still ran good at trade in, but i was able to get better dollar value on it with less hrs on it. Glad i did, cab, heat & ac sure make a difference. It is nice to be able to get out of a skidster and still be clean. did not think it was possible.


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## LoneCowboy

Bigger skid steers (like bigger tractors) can go longer hours.
Personally I wouldn't buy one with over 2500 hours on it
I'm sure the motor is fine, but it's all the little stuff (hoses, connections, joints, etc) that just starts eating you alive.

why do you think they are selling all those? They all run fine.
NOW
but they are on the downhill side of their life.


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## JD Dave

You can generally tell how well a machine is maintained by how tight the loader pins are. Have some one get in the SS and then try all loader functions and then you can watch from the outside to see how much play the pins have. Tight pins at 2000 hours is a well maintained machine and generally someone that greases stuff frequently also does regular maintenance on the rest of the machine. Unless your really handy I'd stay away from the high houred machines, no matter the shape. JMO


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## MIDTOWNPC

It also could be that at that amount of hours they have run out of depreciation from a corporate trade in level. Or they still have payments left on them and the trade in value cancels out the leftover payments, so they trade it in rip up the deal and start on a new one. I have one with 1100 hours and no problems yet. S300 bobcat


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## cornerstone

I sold a New Holland LX 985 last year with 4300 hrs. on it. Ran great, usally ran it at half throttle for my needs. The motors don't work so hard on the big ones because the larger motors make more torque and you don't need them wide open to push into a dirt pile etc. Only sold it for tax purposes. My 280 Deere 2-speed has 2100 hrs., considering selling it but only to move to a track machine. I use the larger skidsteers for ballast to handle heavy pallets instead of using them for a bull dozer. I think the history is more important than the hrs.


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## magnatrac

I have looked at alot of used machines and always end up buy a new one. I know If I have a machine from day one with high hours it will still be good. Now if I had a bunch of careless employees running the machine it will be ready for the bone yard. I traded my last machine in this past summer and the dealer couldn't beleive how nice it was . They said it was the only 5 yr. old machine to come in with the original tires !!! ( I run tracks so they never see pavement) There are alot of machines that look like hell and they only have 1000+ hrs. Watch out for the " just painted" specials if it is only a few yrs. old. I would say that 2500 hrs. is as much as I would want on a clean machine. Skid loaders by nature have a hard life. High rpm's,fast moving, easy to abuse. They can do so many things it can really depend on what kind of work they have done in the past. Just my $.02 !!! Good Luck !!!


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## itsgottobegreen

I have ran a few bobcats that had 1000 hours on them and look like they had 5000 hours on them. Any machine thats had a hammer on it I would walk away from. Then again I have seen a couple of bobcats that had 5000 hours that looked like they came off the dealer show room.


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## bike5200

I don't mind a machine with a lot of hours on it. I don't use my skid all the time, so it is hard to justify a new one. I don't like payments. If you knew where I get my company trucks from, you would understand. Look at the wear in the pins and bushings. If you are looking at a used machine, get an oil sample and get it tested, it will tell if anything is wearing and if there are any leaks. My mini-excavator has about 3500 hrs on it, there is play in the pins and bushings, this summer I am planning to replace most of the pins and bushings in the arm. Oh, I am most forget to mention this ,I have a friend that was a Diesel Mechanic for a Komastu dealer, if I get in a bind he helps me and never charges me anything. He just borrows my skid or mini-excavator every now and then.


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## powerjoke

it really depends on the machine.

maybe if you find a machine you could come back an post the pictures and hours etc. 

i am sure you know how to pick a machine out 

you was probably just curious what everyone elses opion was on hours 

so to answer that q' i would not touch anything over 2k


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## merrimacmill

Well just seeing the low prices of these machines got me thinking about it considering the tractor we already have doesn't see to much use in comparison to average use by most. We bought our JD brand new in feb 2005 and here we are 3 years later and I JUST turned over 140 hours in it. 

As most of you know from my post on the Kubota a little while back, we're kicking around the idea of another tractor or skid since the 2210 just doesn't have enough power. And 8000 comparted to 48,000 sounds pretty good considering we will only put 140 hours on it in the next 3 years. (thats just based on the use our tractor has seen. Which is probibly more than the skid will see since we mow with the tractor in the summer) I'm just having a real hard time justifying the cost of a brand new machine with the minimal use that we give our stuff. Trucks on the other hand, we use everyday and our next one of those will be brand new without a doubt. 

The one I came across that grabbed my attention in particular was a 2002 Bobcat 763 with a cab and heat, aux hydraulics, 85% tread on the tires, and 3000 hours. I haven't seen it in person yet, but the guy says it runs and operates excellent and is asking $8000 for it. It looks like its been used but definitally does not look like its been used for 3000 hours. Looks more like a 500-1000 hour machine. What I'm trying to say is that its not so perfect that I think its been painted recently, but not so beat up that it worries me. The stickers are slightly faded as well so that leads me to believe that it hasn't been painted recently. Keep in mind we won't be doing any wall mart sized parking lots, or putting any huge pushers on it. Just mainly loading salt, stacking snow in our own lot, and clearing the snow bank off our sidewalk in front of our building and some odd jobs with pallet forks in the summer. Opinions?


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## plowman4life

all our skidsteers get traded in for a new one every 4k hrs. ours are check every day though. anytime they are used they get greased. just regular maintence will keep them running for a long time. ours get hammered though. thats why we trade them in instead of sell them. we would rather not meet the person buying it b/c we dont want to sell them something that could have problems.

our bigger machines though. those get run forever. the only things we regularly trade in are pickups,dump trucks, skidsteers.

everything else goes untill it dies.


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