High Hours?

[cbcon1]

I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on high hours for a CASE 70XT skid steer with a Cummins diesel engine in it. The machine has 6500 hours on it, but is in awesome shape. I opened up the ROPS and looked at the engine and hydraulic components and everything appears to be very clean and leak free. No smoke, and the engine appears to sound very strong. I also operated the machine and didn't notice any issues with it. It is very obvious that this machine has been well taken care of. The machine has had regular maintence done, with the records to prove it. My question is this: Assuming I can buy this machine for a few thousand less then machines with 2k - 3k hours, would you be scared about this purchase? And, what problems have you had with the CASE XT series loaders and at what hours? Thanks for your input!

 

[Tazza]

Ensure the drive motors are not leaking, i remember there was an issue with motor leaks a few years ago.
Those are high hours on the engine, but if it has a new engine or has been replaced at some point, i wouldn't worry. The hydraulics/hydrostatics will easily do 2+ times those hours.
If the engine starts easily and does not smoke, it sounds to be in really good shape. If it has good power and no excessive smoke when under load, it sounds like it may be a bargain.
I know kubota engines do about 6,000 hours before getting lazy, not sure on cummins motors though.

 

[goose]

The engine is bullet proof if taken care of. That engine will go 10-12 thousand hours easy if taken care of. The rest of the machine is pretty fool proof and if taken care of and greased. Now for the weak parts on a 70XT. The early hydraulic pumps had premature bearing failures. There is a new pump on the later machines and as replacement part that has been giving us pretty good life. The drive motors on the older machines will also cause problems. The motor seals will start leaking hydraulic oil into the chain boxes. The problem is not the seals but the shaft bearings in the motor that have lost their preload and are letting the shaft move to much. With 6500 hrs on the machine I would guess the hydraulic pump and motors would have already been replaced if it is an older machine. See if there are record to confirm this or you could be getting into and expensive nightmare.

 

[cbcon1]

The engine is bullet proof if taken care of. That engine will go 10-12 thousand hours easy if taken care of. The rest of the machine is pretty fool proof and if taken care of and greased. Now for the weak parts on a 70XT. The early hydraulic pumps had premature bearing failures. There is a new pump on the later machines and as replacement part that has been giving us pretty good life. The drive motors on the older machines will also cause problems. The motor seals will start leaking hydraulic oil into the chain boxes. The problem is not the seals but the shaft bearings in the motor that have lost their preload and are letting the shaft move to much. With 6500 hrs on the machine I would guess the hydraulic pump and motors would have already been replaced if it is an older machine. See if there are record to confirm this or you could be getting into and expensive nightmare.

Thanks for the reply. The machine is a 2004 so I am assuming that pump and drive motors are the newer versions. Correct???

 

[goose]

Thanks for the reply. The machine is a 2004 so I am assuming that pump and drive motors are the newer versions. Correct???

All I can remember is if the serial number does not have a zero right after the JAF it will have the newest motors and pump such as JAF123456. If it has the zero such as JAF0123456 it may not have the newest pump and motors.