Looking at a 953c

So a 953c came up for sell from someone I know offered it to me at 45k with 6700 hours on it. Been well kept his kind of a one man operation so he keeps up with it. Is there anything specific on these I need to look at to check?

The undercarriage! It could cost $20K or more if it needs replaced or will shortly. Price sounds pretty good but like I mentioned depends on the undercarriage. A 953C is a great machine but if anything major needs repaired will be very expensive. Do you have a way to move it? If you do smaller jobs it could get expensive hiring someone to move it from job to job. You seem to be expanding your business pretty fast.

I guess I would check for any fault codes, oils and coolant levels good, does machine track straight all the way thru the v forward and reverse, does the machine start to move close to point of v, does it respond to steering pedals smoothly also check brake pedal for sticking (more of a problem on open rops) and does it seem slow at top speed. Most of the speed and tracking problems can be fixed with a calibration But if every thing seems to be working smooth and straight at normal operating temp you are probably good

See if he has any maintenance records, SOS oil samples info, repair invoices. Could be helpful.

I have a 2004 BBX with just under 6,800 hours that I bought new and owned since. 5 years ago put a new complete UC all Cat for $23K including labor. Dealer was running a special on UC. I would imagine a Berco UC would run that now. It has been a great machine with very few problems. Replaced the alternator, muffler twice, 1 UC and repacked a few cylinders. Other than the normal it's been a very reliable machine. Like others have said get it hot and see how it performs.

Still seems a little odd to have to do more than undercarriage at 6800 hours but I guess it depends on how it's used.

Welder Dave said: The undercarriage! It could cost $20K or more if it needs replaced or will shortly. Price sounds pretty good but like I mentioned depends on the undercarriage. A 953C is a great machine but if anything major needs repaired will be very expensive. Do you have a way to move it? If you do smaller jobs it could get expensive hiring someone to move it from job to job. You seem to be expanding your business pretty fast. Click to expand... Yeah I have a tandem dump truck and trailers that’s how we move the 160 hitachi we got. Yeah my expansion has been slower than you think. I go look at a lot of stuff and run numbers but don’t buy much compared. But I’ll check on the undercarriage because I don’t wanna drop 20k more to repair something.

pittsburgh cat man said: I guess I would check for any fault codes, oils and coolant levels good, does machine track straight all the way thru the v forward and reverse, does the machine start to move close to point of v, does it respond to steering pedals smoothly also check brake pedal for sticking (more of a problem on open rops) and does it seem slow at top speed. Most of the speed and tracking problems can be fixed with a calibration But if every thing seems to be working smooth and straight at normal operating temp you are probably good Click to expand... Yeah that’s what I was gonna do I was just curious if there was anything particular to track loaders that is out of the ordinary to check

CM1995 said: I have a 2004 BBX with just under 6,800 hours that I bought new and owned since. 5 years ago put a new complete UC all Cat for $23K including labor. Dealer was running a special on UC. I would imagine a Berco UC would run that now. It has been a great machine with very few problems. Replaced the alternator, muffler twice, 1 UC and repacked a few cylinders. Other than the normal it's been a very reliable machine. Like others have said get it hot and see how it performs. Click to expand... You think the crawler could replace a dozer realistically? A bit of this even going to look at is seeing if this could just be like a 2nd dozer type machine. Could of like the backhoe where we can send one machine to do jobs and actually be good at vs being okay at it

Welder Dave said: Still seems a little odd to have to do more than undercarriage at 6800 hours but I guess it depends on how it's used. Click to expand... I know he uses it basically as a dozer, loader, etc he pairs it with his 315 cat excavator and that’s his fleet basically

Carolina start up said: You think the crawler could replace a dozer realistically? A bit of this even going to look at is seeing if this could just be like a 2nd dozer type machine. Could of like the backhoe where we can send one machine to do jobs and actually be good at vs being okay at it Click to expand... If I had only 1 machine to make a living with it would be a 953. You can do so much with one and can be towed on a tag behind a tandem. Just think of them as a CTL on steroids. Carolina start up said: I know he uses it basically as a dozer, loader, etc he pairs it with his 315 cat excavator and that’s his fleet basically Click to expand... That is a great combo. I've owned 2 -315's and they are nice sized hoes for all sorts of projects and they can be moved on the same tag behind the same tandem.

Can't really say theirs any Major areas of problems there are some problems with position switches and a hose blowing every once and a while. Check the muffler where the stack goes in for rust and exhaust flex pipe

CM1995 said: If I had only 1 machine to make a living with it would be a 953. You can do so much with one and can be towed on a tag behind a tandem. Just think of them as a CTL on steroids. That is a great combo. I've owned 2 -315's and they are nice sized hoes for all sorts of projects and they can be moved on the same tag behind the same tandem. Click to expand... So the 953 our 160 then are mini and skid and our dump trucks should basically do everything we will ever need. Because I’m renting a d5 a lot recently and I’m tired of paying cat His fleet is 1 single axel dump trucks, 1 quad Mack, 1 semi with lowboy, a 315, that 953 his new 953 he just got, a skid and a mini that’s basically been his operation stand point for 20 years

pittsburgh cat man said: Can't really say theirs any Major areas of problems there are some problems with position switches and a hose blowing every once and a while. Check the muffler where the stack goes in for rust and exhaust flex pipe Click to expand... Shouldn’t be to bad to go over then

One thing we noticed a machine that does a lot of loading with spot turns really accelerates track wear just some thing that might help you get longer life out of your track

pittsburgh cat man said: One thing we noticed a machine that does a lot of loading with spot turns really accelerates track wear just some thing that might help you get longer life out of your track Click to expand... I think if I get it I’ll pair it with the 160 basically use it as the dozer and some truck loading. Basically big brother to the mini and skid combo

Like CM said a 953C is a very versatile machine. I think a loader can be easier to run than a dozer especially if the return to dig is working and set right. Takes the guess work out. A dozer can push a lot of dirt but once you have pile you need something else to move it.

Welder Dave said: Like CM said a 953C is a very versatile machine. I think a loader can be easier to run than a dozer especially if the return to dig is working and set right. Takes the guess work out. A dozer can push a lot of dirt but once you have pile you need something else to move it. Click to expand... Yeah I’m headed to look at it probably Wednesday. My only problem I know I have with it is it’s an open cab machine. And the weather right now is from 75 one week down to 25 the next

Ask the owner if he will let you start it cold. Might give you an idea of battery, injection pump.

James Sorochan said: Ask the owner if he will let you start it cold. Might give you an idea of battery, injection pump. Click to expand... Yeah I know the guy if anything if I ask that he will just tell me to help him finish the job in the form of a demo when it’s just free labor for him