Buying used Takeuchi mini's, and what to look out for.?

[Jim M]

My old man has finally gave in to buying a mini excavator for jobs around the farm and other jobs that might come up. I have driven a lot of Takeuchi's in my time and i rate them like the TB125, 145 and 175.I have thought about a TB125 as this is towable behind a Land cruiser. I want to know what to look out for when buying second hand . When i go looking i will be taking a DTI (Dial test indicator) with me to measure any play in the slew ring to avoid a costly repair later on , So if any of you have a measurement for this it would be gladly received .There are no dealers in Devon but my first visit will be to my local Morris Leslie PH to see if they have anything. Good secondhand dealer contacts would be helpful if anyone has any.

Cheers Jim

[Nick Drew]

Hi Jim,

CBL Ltd are Takeuchi dealers down here in the South West mate ...depot over Saltash I think

Nick

[Desert Driver]

Hi Jim
We have run Takeuchi's for over 15 years now and have about 15 to 18 from 225 to 250, 108,016,125,135,145 to 175s the oldest would be 2007s in all that time I can, apart from operator damage, only remember fitting one alternator and two final drives. The final drives were provided FOC on a 3 year old TB135 with 2000hrs as Takeuchi's said they should not have gone. Our 2007 TB145's have over 4500hr's All Takeuchi's come with play in the king post when new but even at 4500hrs are still not bad enough to replace and I've never come across one with excessive play in the slew ring. We change engine oil at 250hrs and at the same time change the final drive oils instead of the recommended 500. The dipper to boom pin can be adjusted to take up side play and we run everything apart from the 108 with quick hitches so dipper end play is rare but a set of pins and bushes are a cheap repair. Make shaw the cab is straight and no bends in the frame as it's part of the ROPs BTW the cab mounts are a sod to change. Also you probably know except the smaller ones all the cabs tilt to get access to the valve block, slew motor and rear of engine. It surprising how many hose firms we have sent out who have tried to remove floor plates. Radio's never work for long and all glass and track parts can be brought from specialist suppliers as parts are dear from Takeuchi's but having said that you don't need many. Be careful when getting after market tracks as some of them are a little long and the tracks are fully extended when new, then you get side wear in the track frame and you end up building the frame up to keep the idler square.
The only problem we have is getting new ones so the boss has brought half a dozen Kabota's this last year they seem ok so far but are a pig to work on, time will tell.

Regards Keith

[Jim M]

Thank you Keith for your info there mate, Will take it on board and remember it when looking for a used machine at some point in the future. will let you know how i get on with our purchase .

Jim