Favorite 7-8 ton excavator?

[BC Placer gold]

What I have seen around in our area, you would need to replace the whole blade before the cutting edge would wear out. Everyone uses the blade to wedge big rocks against and end up bending the crap out of them.

Yes have seen that here as well. When looking to purchase, I just have to ignore machines with that type of damage as begs the question: how was rest of machine treated/maintained….

 

[CM1995]

What I have seen around in our area, you would need to replace the whole blade before the cutting edge would wear out. Everyone uses the blade to wedge big rocks against and end up bending the crap out of them.

To much chert and abrasive soils here so the replaceable cutting edge is a nice option.

We have to beef up our buckets with old cutting edges on the sides and bottom. CTL's, excavators and our 953. Once had a chert mountain we were taking the top off for a residential development and wore out a set of pads on a brand new D6N in 500 hours. No ****.

Got tired of wearing skid buckets out between the teeth so took a factory Cat smooth lip bucket with removable edge and welded backhoe/mini shanks on. Take a lot of time to build but worth it. Built 3 over the years and 2 are still in service. Otherwise we'd be replacing a bucket every 2 years.

 

[BC Placer gold]

To much chert and abrasive soils here so the replaceable cutting edge is a nice option.

We have to beef up our buckets with old cutting edges on the sides and bottom. CTL's, excavators and our 953. Once had a chert mountain we were taking the top off for a residential development and wore out a set of pads on a brand new D6N in 500 hours. No ****.

Got tired of wearing skid buckets out between the teeth so took a factory Cat smooth lip bucket with removable edge and welded backhoe/mini shanks on. Take a lot of time to build but worth it. Built 3 over the years and 2 are still in service. Otherwise we'd be replacing a bucket every 2 years.

Great idea re: skid bucket build.

Yes chert is nasty alright. Would occasionally have to push through chert with the diamond drills; if fractured (like in a mineralized shear zone) could easily bind up or even ‘stick’ the drill string.

 

[CM1995]

Our chert is variable qualities of quartz from super hard to very fractured mixed in with sand and clay.

Great material to work with. Did a project in the mid 2000's (the one mentioned above where we wore the D6N pads out) that was some of the heaviest material I've moved at 128 PCF. You could dump the material out, spread it in 8-12" lifts with a 953C track loader and it would test at 95% on the nuke gauge without a roller.

Full of dinosaur eggs some the size of VW's with an occasional geode every now and then full of crystals inside. Found a stream of the whitest beach sand in the same area about 20' deep. Strange as hell. Looked like AL's beaches down on the Gulf of America.

There was an old county chert pit adjacent to my grandparents house in the country where I grew up. You could find sea shells and other fossils in the chert seams.

 

[Willie B]

We get salt water sea shells at 2000' above sea level in Vermont. We live on an ever changing planet, must have been under water at some time.

 

[HarleyHappy]

I continuously find deposits of sea shells on my property and add them to my hard scaping and no they are not the steamer shells my father used to dump out back, for the coons. lol

 

[materthegreater]

This one seems priced a little low for it's age and hours, but not low enough to be a scam. Does anyone see something wrong with it that I'm missing?

Pardon Our Interruption

 

[CM1995]

Why is the engine not painted Cat yellow? That would be the first question I ask them.

Also what's the "Air Dryer" button next to the joystick?

 

[TXRweather]

This one seems priced a little low for it's age and hours, but not low enough to be a scam. Does anyone see something wrong with it that I'm missing?

Pardon Our Interruption

Looks like it has had new sprockets put on. New paint and shiny new stickers can hide a multitude of sins. Need to start and run it. Check for blow by. Check all the pins and bushings. Check the swing bearings. Check the service records.

 

[hvy 1ton]

This one seems priced a little low for it's age and hours, but not low enough to be a scam. Does anyone see something wrong with it that I'm missing?

Somebody mentioned a while ago many of the cheaper 307-309s on the east coast being imported from Europe and may or may not have new computers with inaccurate hours. All of them are built in China. One of my friends bought a 308 brand new in 22 and it took a month to sort out various loose hydraulic fittings.

 

[MG84]

The 307.5 Cat is one of the models made in China. That alone would cross it off my list.

 

[CM1995]

Somebody mentioned a while ago many of the cheaper 307-309s on the east coast being imported from Europe and may or may not have new computers with inaccurate hours. All of them are built in China. One of my friends bought a 308 brand new in 22 and it took a month to sort out various loose hydraulic fittings.

The 308's and 309's intended for the US market are made in the US.

EDIT - the newer models. The older models were made in Japan.

 

[materthegreater]

Why is the engine not painted Cat yellow? That would be the first question I ask them.

Also what's the "Air Dryer" button next to the joystick?

Good question. I don't know much about Cats so I didn't know it should be yellow. And I have no idea about the dryer button either.

45 HP seems anemic for a machine that size.

 

[materthegreater]

This one has a goofy bucket and thumb but otherwise looks ok, though a few more hours than I'd like.

Pardon Our Interruption

 

[MG84]

This one has a goofy bucket and thumb but otherwise looks ok, though a few more hours than I'd like.

Pardon Our Interruption

Maybe some of the Cat guys can chime in, but is that a grey market machine? 99% of the 308E2 CR machines I see have the swing boom, can't even find any literature or specs on the non swing boom models.

 

[Willie B]

Good question. I don't know much about Cats so I didn't know it should be yellow. And I have no idea about the dryer button either.

45 HP seems anemic for a machine that size.

My backhoe weighs that much, has a 95 HP engine. Seems logical that it powers the hydraulics, twice the horsepower.

 

[KSSS]

https://www.rbauction.com/pdp/2022-cat-307.5-tracked-excavator/13764504

This is coming up for auction, set up nice, low hours, second and third set of aux. Pro link thumb. Tracks pads are in tough shape but thats simple enough to replace.

A few dents and it says made in China with domestic and foreign components. I don't think its considered grey market, its made for North America but made in China.

 

[HarleyHappy]

2018 Bobcat E50 Excavator, Thumb - heavy equipment - by owner - sale - craigslist

2018 bobcat E50 excavator around 11,000 pounds Cab with heat /AC, Hydraulic thumb 2490 hours 24 inch digging bucket. Just serviced delivery and financing available . $42900 Call Patrick.

nh.craigslist.org

This is nice

2015 TAKEUCHI TB290 EXCAVATOR - heavy equipment - by dealer - sale - craigslist

THUMB COUPLER ,DUAL AUXILLARY HYFRAULICS !!!!! NEW TRACKS RECENT SERVICE AC STEREO 19000 LBS TIGHT DRY WORK READY

nh.craigslist.org

This is bigger. Lol

 

[CM1995]

Maybe some of the Cat guys can chime in, but is that a grey market machine? 99% of the 308E2 CR machines I see have the swing boom, can't even find any literature or specs on the non swing boom models.

IIRC there was an option on the 308's. The swing boom is more popular for all sorts of reasons on a machine that size.

Current models offer either boom -

https://www.cat.com/en_GB/products/new/equipment/excavators/mini-excavators.html?page=2

 

[CM1995]

Good question. I don't know much about Cats so I didn't know it should be yellow. And I have no idea about the dryer button either.

45 HP seems anemic for a machine that size.

Every Cat I've bought and still own the engine is Cat yellow. That machine should be the same.