Deere 120 excavator

[Lucky]

Looking at a 1999 Deere 120 excavator with 12,000 hours on it. Haven't seen it in person but seller sent a video of the main issue it has. The hoe won't swing left or right unless you push the right travel lever forward with your foot just a little. Once you push the travel lever a touch the hoe swings just fine. You don't have to push the travel lever enough to move the machine to make it swing. Any ideas? I'd be buying it sight unseen just going off pics and video.

 

[kenny thomas]

I know nothing about it but i wouldn't buy anything with 12,000 hours sight unseen.

 

[Mrcopier]

Scary

 

[Twisted]

buying it sight unseen just going off pics and video

Are you feeling......Lucky?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Load sense problem. Pushing another function is telling the pump to stroke giving it power to swing. Something is wrong in the load sense on the swing circuit. No load sense pressure = no main pump work pressure.

12k hours on an excavator isn't like 12k hours on a piece of farm equipment.

Having said that unless you are a good hydraulic mechanic, or are good friends with one proceed with caution.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

That would be my first "simple" wild a$$ guess. Could also be one of the controllers (that are hard to get and expensive). Or a number of other things.

Does it only swing when pushing the right travel pedal? Or will it swing when using other functions?

 

[Lucky]

That would be my first "simple" wild a$$ guess. Could also be one of the controllers (that are hard to get and expensive). Or a number of other things.

Does it only swing when pushing the right travel pedal? Or will it swing when using other functions?

He says it will only swing when pushing the right travel stick forward a little. He sent me a video of the problem. At first glance seems simple enough but could be a can of worms too. I only need it for 100 hrs or so. Looks to be in good shape for it's age.

 

[Lucky]

I know nothing about it but i wouldn't buy anything with 12,000 hours sight unseen.

I bought a dozer out of Tennessee with only seeing pics and 1 video. Turned out ok but did need more work than expected. Put 1,000 hrs on it cleaning up the ranch. I really don't mind working on equipment but hate to end up with $30k in a $20k machine. We'll see how this goes.

 

[wbvs58]

Digital workshop manuals are often available for these old machines on line that may give a bit of an insight into any adjustments that may be there to set them up. I have an old 90's Komatsu of similar size and the manual I downloaded has been handy on a couple of occaisions with error codes. My first question would be does it travel in a straight line when both travel sticks are pushed forward the same distance as there may be an adjustment there. It doesn't look like the seller has done much on the machine as clipping that hydraulic line back to the boom you would think would be the first thing to do to make it look a bit tidier.
I am a risk taker, if the price was right I would back myself to get it sorted or get a brick for that pedal.

Ken

 

[SmokinM]

Some good info. so far. That is one of those things it could be a $1,000 fix but is more likely a $10,000 fix. Would it function the 100ish hours you need it, maybe. 12,000 is not unreasonable on that machine otherwise. If I was really serious about it knowing it had an issue I would either check it out in person or spend a few hundred$$$ on a equipment mechanic in the area to check it out. Something as simple as sticking a magnet in the hydraulic tank could save you $20k. IMO

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Then I would lean away from a load sense problem, and more into a controller issue.

Be aware that many of those parts are only available from Deere at whatever price and availability that Hitachi decides. Which is a lot of cases is out of this world. A buddy of mine had to get into the controllers on a deere/hitachi a few years back and he spend something like 12k in parts...

As for putting a brick on the pedal to make it work, how long until it quits all together?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Assuming it is being sold because the owner got a ballpark of the cost to make it work and said no way. And is trying to sell it saying "it's no big deal just needs a $xxx.xx part", when it reality it may need $xxxxx.xx in parts plus labor/diagnostics.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

If you only need a machine for 100 hours why not either hire it done or rent a machine?

A possible major repair like that on top of the machine price would cover a rental, or hiring it done.

 

[Brute 23]

If you only need a machine for 100 hours why not either hire it done or rent a machine?

A possible major repair like that on top of the machine price would cover a rental, or hiring it done.

100 hrs worth of work has "rent it" written all over it. You can get some pretty good rental prices weekly and even better for a month if you can justify it.

 

[Little Joe]

I rented a 308 (10 ton) CAT from a CAT dealer for 48 hours for $3,000 delivered and picked up. That looks to be about the same size machine. That was in 2021 but I wouldn't think it would've went up significantly since. My neighbor tried to talk me into buying one then selling when I got done, you can eat up what the rental cost is in repairs real quick plus the aggrevation.

 

[Lucky]

You just really never know with these deals. The dozer we bought was stuck in high gear when we got it. Most people sdid run away fast it's a transmission issue. Ended up being a stuck switching lever. Took $1 worth of PB Blaster and 2 hours of labor to fix. I'll probably pass on this ho. It's $10,000 cheaper than anything comparable I can find. $10,000 can be eaten up in just a few parts though.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Depending on the parts 10k worth can fit in a shoebox.

It could be something simple. But if it was the owner of the equipment lot it is sitting on would fix it and ask 10k more for it. Knowing just enough about Hitachi excavators and how they work and the price of their parts I would be very very skeptical.