It's burning some oil but seems to have some power, I've never operated a skid steer before so I don't have anything to compare it to however. My biggest concern is that when I ship it to AK to use with my commercial fishing business, I need it to be reliable! I'd rather dump some $$$ into a rebuild or replacement next winter here in CA before shipping it up for the 2011 season. Checking around, I believe I'd be into a rebuild to the tune of 2500-3000.00 Is the blower/fan just for engine cooling or does it cool the hyd components also? If so, has anyone every done any modifications such as adding 12v fans to supliment the cooling? I'm thinking of a VW turbo diesel that my dad's buddy has sitting in his garage, a connection to the ujoint assembly shouldn't be too bad but fabbing the cooling system could be an issue I suppose. How about an Isuzu, what model would be a bolt in? Seems like those engines/parts may be easier to get ahold of. Lance