Spencer,
Yes, I am single, you must be psychic. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Freight was $1775 from Arizona to New Hampshire by cross country truck and $65 for the tow truck.
The Excavator was $17,500 with the thumb, 13, 16 and 20 inch trenching buckets. I traded the 16 inch bucket and $500 more for a 39 inch grading (no teeth) bucket. So with the final three buckets it was $18,000.
With shipping that makes it $19,840.
I also ordered some extras: a block heater, a set of filters (air, oil, fuel and hydraulic), a manual set (operator, parts, service), and a couple of the weld on X-change plates to make a rock sifting bucket, a grapple and/or a ripper.
This price compared favorably to the prices I saw locally.
The better units I found locally (each with one bucket) were:
Bobcat dealer 1: $26,000 for a 1998 unit with 2700 hours, badly pitted chrome shafts on all hydraulic cylinders (rough - between 36 and 60 sandpaper), No thumb and pin on bucket.
Bobcat dealer 2: $29,000 for a 2000 unit, ( 2000 was a major model change) from dealers own rental fleet, fantastic condition , X-Change bucket , with thumb
Bobcat dealer 3: $26,000 for a 1999 unit, X-change, with 1800 hours with thumb, some pitting on chrome, the dealer offered a WARRANTY with this one
Independent Dealer 1: $16,500 for a 1998 with 1554 hours, closed cab, NO thumb, pitting on chrome shafts, pin on bucket, carries rental stickers for two rental companies one in Colorado and one from Wisconsin, dealer bought the unit at auction (the lot number was still on the windshield, an Internet search supplied the details) for $13,500. When started in the dealer lot it would not start without heating the diesel fuel filter with a propane torch. (summer diesel with no conditioner or something worse?) I could not find out why the unit went through two rental outfits and why the second would sell (unload) it before removing the previous owners decal.
Independent dealer 2: $17,500 for a 1997 unit with 2211 hours, No Thumb, bad tracks, pin on bucket, history unknown, ....
Independent dealer 3: $16,500 for a 1997 unit with 2000 hours, No Thumb, some pitting on chrome, pin on bucket, history unknown,
Independent dealer 4: $13,000 for a 1996 unit with 4000 hours, No Thumb, bad tracks, bad chrome, pin on bucket, RUST
For the projects I have in mind I consider a thumb a requirement, so I planned to add one if it was not already installed. Adding a Bobcat thumb is about $2000. I did not consider the X-Change bucket quick change a requirement, just a nice feature. By the way to fix worn out tracks and sprockets I was told to allow $3000 to $6000.
Bobcat dealer 1 and Independent dealer 4 were quickly rejected.
Using the Internet auction search engines, I saw many auction results from equipment auctions around the country in the $7,500 to $16,000 range. I signed up and watched several equipment auctions online, watched ebay, and attended one local equipment auction. I am not brave enough to bid on one at an auction, somewhere in the country, sight unseen, for a unit consigned to an auctioneer for sale, based on what the auctioneer (who has had no knowledge of the unit) tells me about the condition of the excavator. I want to know something about the history of the machine and the seller. Even the local auctions have a cost to attend, a wasted day and I could not really get an idea of the condition with an inspection (while the auctioneer is talking), so I would need a second lost day and examined the units under power on the inspection day (not that I feel qualified to perform a detailed inspection of the undercarriage).
All remaining units offered by the local independent dealers after adding the thumb were more than the Flagstaff unit with shipping, for units in worse condition.
So locally it came down to Bobcat Dealers 2 and 3. Dealer 2 offered a good deal for a D-Series model but I could not justify that much money, even with a much better resale. Dealer 3 offered a warranty. Nice, but the price difference ($6160 and two buckets) makes it an expensive service contract. If I was going to use it daily for a business I would have given these more consideration, but for use around the house, each of the two local Bobcat dealers were asking more than I was prepared to spend.
