What to ask before you buy used iron

Hours on the meter are the least interesting number on a used machine.

A used excavator, loader or truck is a bundle of decisions someone else made: how it was operated, how often it was serviced and what it was asked to do. The price is the easy part. The history is the work.

Ask the seller for:

• service records, not a promise of them
• fluid analysis for the engine, hydraulics and final drives, if they have it
• the application: rock, sand, clay, forestry or stockpile all wear a machine differently
• the repair history, including anything rebuilt and who did it
• the undercarriage and ground-engaging tool wear, measured rather than described

Then look at the machine, cold, before anyone starts it. Leaks, cracked welds, play in the pins and bushings, and a freshly pressure-washed engine bay all tell you something.

A clean machine proves someone washed it. A thick folder proves someone maintained it.

Price the unknowns in. If the seller cannot answer, assume the answer is the worse one and adjust the offer, or walk.

Finally, know your parts and service support before you sign. Iron that is cheap to buy and slow to fix costs more than iron that is not.