I bought my 731 used, it was nice and cheap. I was lucky, the previous owner just put in a *new* second hand engine into it. I got the old engine with the deal too, i have been lucky enough not to need any major parts for it. It did have a problem with lack of hydrostatic drive when it warmed up, turned out to be the filter in the port block. If you buy secondhand the first thing you should do is change the hydraulic/hydrostatic filters, change the engine oil filter (and of course the oil) and fuel filter. Then you know exactly where you are at with servicing. Maks sure you keep up to date with your servicing.Troy,
Welcome to the forum. I'm sure you'll find others here with better service interval knowledge than me. I like to buy new and usually sell before to many hours or miles are accumulated on any of my vehicles or equipment. When I first started looking at Bobcat skid steers, the smaller ones were powered by the Kubota engines, while the larger ones had the Duetz engines. I was told that I could expect somewhere around 3000-4000 hours on the Kubota before needing much service, whereas the Duetz would get more like 4000-6000 hours. The only downside is that the Duetz rebuild was a lot more expensive. The size machines you are looking at have the Kubota engines, although nowadays, even the larger Bobcat machines now have a Kubota engine also.
The amount of hours before service depends greatly upon the routine maintenance performed. I find that if I follow the recommended service intervals my machines run longer than some with questionable service records. Could be just luck of the draw with the builds, but I usually don't have major mechanical problems.
Since you are buying used, you may not have access to the complete maintenance records of a piece of machinery. Private parties and rental centers MAY not have performed the maintenance as required and are selling the machine before they have any major problems. I know my local Bobcat dealer performs excellent maintenance and repairs on their rental fleet. I would have no qualms buying a used piece of equipment from their fleet. With any piece of rental equipment, you are probably buying a machine that was used very hard or maybe even abused. Some people don't take care of rental equipment like it was their own. Some of the operators may be homeowners who never ran a piece of equipment before and abused it unknowingly. Since rental hours are off the engine hour meter, the engine may have not been idled down to cool engine components and the turbo (if equipped) and may have shortened the life of the machine.
If you find a good enough price on a high hour machine which allows you to allot money toward major repairs, go for it. Who knows, you may get a bargin on a machine and get years of use out of it before sinking any money into it. Then again, you may end up putting in a new engine or hydraulic pump next week
I bought my 753 with 4000 or so hours on it. It came from a Dealer with a fresh 250 hour service and I wanted the hydraulics flow tested to check the main pump. The Kubota 4cyl engine fired up quickly and ran sweet. Could not find any major oil leaks only a slight weep from 1 ram on the 4 in 1 bucket. I judged the condition of the bucket being indicative of the machine's past treatment. The previous owners business sticker was still on the machine, so I called him about the machine. He basically confirmed what I had thought on the condition of the unit. So I bought it, 30 hours later and its performing great as I hoped.I bought my 731 used, it was nice and cheap. I was lucky, the previous owner just put in a *new* second hand engine into it. I got the old engine with the deal too, i have been lucky enough not to need any major parts for it. It did have a problem with lack of hydrostatic drive when it warmed up, turned out to be the filter in the port block. If you buy secondhand the first thing you should do is change the hydraulic/hydrostatic filters, change the engine oil filter (and of course the oil) and fuel filter. Then you know exactly where you are at with servicing. Maks sure you keep up to date with your servicing.
My 93 753 had 3300 hours on it when i sold it, 1200 from me, and its still going, talked to the new owner 1 1/2 years later, though it sounds like not to many more hours. It went its 100 hours between changes without adding oil, started good and burned clean out exhaust in 15 to 20 secs after startup. It was a rental machine when I got it and I rented it out about 400 hs in the 3 years I had it. Aside from tires and battery, I changed the 3 pins that hold the quickattach and some senders on the Boss system, and a hyd hose (bear to get at.) all toll about 1500.00, aside from the repairs I sold it for what I bought it for. I rented it with a brush mower to try it out, (recomended)I bought my 753 with 4000 or so hours on it. It came from a Dealer with a fresh 250 hour service and I wanted the hydraulics flow tested to check the main pump. The Kubota 4cyl engine fired up quickly and ran sweet. Could not find any major oil leaks only a slight weep from 1 ram on the 4 in 1 bucket. I judged the condition of the bucket being indicative of the machine's past treatment. The previous owners business sticker was still on the machine, so I called him about the machine. He basically confirmed what I had thought on the condition of the unit. So I bought it, 30 hours later and its performing great as I hoped.