2004 JD 450H turbo diesel 1000 hours 25K?

alaskakubota · Mar 12, 2009

Hey guys and gals, I have the opportunity to buy a used rental machine that has 1000 hours on it for 25 grand. This dozer was used on a military base and it has many hours of idling. I dont know what the U/C percentage is, but I will have the dealer check on that. It took a little wheeling and dealing but that was the lowest the dealer would go. Also would throw in a 3 month warranty for nothing. Also do the first year service at the end of the year. I have run a similar 450 like this and I liked it. I have also run D7's up to D9's in the Army. It has no winch, cab, or ripper. Does this price sound good?

I have my wife sold on the idea as I have a bunch of friends that will pay me to do some work out at their cabins. I also have property that needs clearing and this will make it easier on my kubota 3130.

AKfish · Mar 13, 2009

alaskakubota said:
Hey guys and gals, I have the opportunity to buy a used rental machine that has 1000 hours on it for 25 grand. This dozer was used on a military base and it has many hours of idling. I dont know what the U/C percentage is, but I will have the dealer check on that. It took a little wheeling and dealing but that was the lowest the dealer would go. Also would throw in a 3 month warranty for nothing. Also do the first year service at the end of the year. I have run a similar 450 like this and I liked it. I have also run D7's up to D9's in the Army. It has no winch, cab, or ripper. Does this price sound good?

I have my wife sold on the idea as I have a bunch of friends that will pay me to do some work out at their cabins. I also have property that needs clearing and this will make it easier on my kubota 3130.

Couple of things... I'd get somebody (not just the dealer) to look the U/C over and I'd also "pencil out" the transportation costs for an equivalant machine from the lower 48.

Once you have a better idea on the U/C and the shipping costs - you'll be on firmer ground with the dealer.

Seems a bit high - given the equipment market in the lower 48. And if you're gonna be clearing land - I'd want that cable winch, etc.

Talked with one of the salesman at Craig Taylor the other day in Fred Meyer's... (waiting for the wife to finish up). They're buying up foreclosed machines and auction machines and freighting 'em up to Alaska for resale. They just made a sale on a Komatsu 400PC excavator from California to a local guy. Local guy bought it for $50K less than that what the machine sells for... that's how far down the market is right now. Salesman says that's an "upside down" sale!

Best of luck.

AKfish

JasG · Mar 13, 2009

I would go to machinerytrader.com and look to see what machines are for sale and what price in different areas of the country. You can even look up auction results on this site. You can even search for 450H auction results by date, state, etc. Very handy tool.

As far as sales in the lower 48 states, California is upside down due to CARB rules. I have read in several sources that they have moved up the off-road emissions and they are not grandfathering anything. This is putting people in a position of upgrading at a huge loss due to the only people who want the machines are out of the state. Richie Brothers auctions last year had record sales due to this. Imagine machines 4-5 years old and you can't run them because they won't pass, or you have to sink a ton of money into them to add filters and EGR systems. Add to that a surpluss of houses so builders are slowing down. This is affecting values in the western states.

For now in my area smaller machines still seem to be holding value, but that could change NY is one of the states thinking of going with this. Also I know as the slow down continues more stuff will come to the auction block.

alaskakubota · Mar 15, 2009

I looked at equipment trader and the whole internet and the best deal I could find was a 2003 450 H with 9000 hours for 24k. I think I am doing ok in alaska for this machine. Thanks for the help.