Looking at buying a 99 Bobcat 963

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Team Craig

Active member
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Messages
25
Ok I thought I would also post my ?'s in this area. I also posted in under the Service section. Hello all! My first post here (now 2nd) and this looks like a perfect site for my qestions. I am looking at a 99 963 Bobcat for 4500.00 with about 3500 hrs. on it. They used it for demolition and I am not sure it that would be a hard life on a bobcat or not? The guy I am talking with said it has been serviced every 250 hours. He also said they have changed the attachment set and in order to get it back to original this guy is saying it will cost about 2 grand? I have tried to find the attachment part (not sure of the proper name) online used with no luck. Does anyone know who could make this part or where I could find one used. Also does the 963 use the same quick attachment set up that the smaller skid steers use? What problem areas should I be looking at? How do you check the pins and bushings? I was orginally looking at 7 series but thought for the money the 963 may be a better option. Is it a better option? I am planning on useing it to maintain motocross tracks and other misc. jobs. Thanks Guys for any help and I look forward to chatting more as this will be my first heavy equipment purchase...
 

Tigerotor77W

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2004
Messages
268
Shoot... I should have posted my replies here, as this section is more fitting for the topic... anyhow, I replied in the other thread. I'll paste it here:

Team Craig -- welcome to the forums!
My first thought regarding the purchase is that the 963 is a very powerful skid-steer -- do you need a machine that weighs five tons? Secondly, I'm not sure if a life of demolition and 3,500 hours on the clock will bring you good results in terms of machine reliability. I know the 963 is designed to withstand the harshest environments, but 3,500 hours is quite a sum for any skid steer, even more deadly when considering the firsthand use of the machine. The price tag of only $4,500, less than ten percent of a new 963's value, may indicate that the owners are eager to get rid of it.
Someone will have to check me on this, but I do believe the 963 uses the same attachment plate as the rest of the machines in the 700 and 800 size. You will need to be careful, however, as the 963 will destroy a 709 backhoe. I'll leave the maintenance questions for some of the more technical people here... good luck on your purchase, whether it's for the 963 or not.
 
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