Good deal or Not

[Tpratt]

Hi guys. I'm new to this site, and I'm new to skid steers. I run a small hay operation in north eastern Indiana. I'm looking at buying a skid steer to primarily move hay and do snow removal in the winter time. I found a 1845c at a local used equipment dealer. It has 1896 hrs on it and looks to be in good condition. Besides some faded paint and some scratches in places you would normally expect scratches, it appears to be in good shape. The dealer told me the 1845c is one of the best skid steers case ever made. And he used the term "bulletproof". He is asking $10,000 for it. Can you guys give me some advise on this machine? Is it a good skid steer? Is the price right? Anything to look out for? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm a small farmer and $10,000 is a lot of money for me. Thanks!!!

 

[SkidRoe]

I do not have any past experience to draw from on Case skidsteers, but it is definitely a popular model and you see a lot of them around, which is usually a good sign.
Does the dealer have any service history on this machine or does he know anything about its prior use?
One thing that seems to be common to most skidsteers is wheel bearing endplay and chain slop. In order to check this, the machine needs to be lifted off of its wheels. Try pulling in and out on the wheels, and turn them back and forth to check how much freeplay you have in the chain.
Here is another post worth reading:
http://www.skidsteerforum.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=54&frmView=ShowPost&PostID=64398
And a couple more from different forums:
http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=345148&DisplayType=nested&setCookie=1
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=42939.0
Sounds like water in the chaincase is a common problem. If the paint is faded on this one, good chance it spent a lot of time outside, and checking the chaincase oil is likely advisable.
HTH - SR