2020 SDLG E6250F Crawler Excavator

Today we test-drove this E6250F HD excavator in a muddy yard outside the city. Its production date is March 18, 2020, so it’s about 6 years old now.Engine is the SD60B type diesel  which started up straight off and idled nicely without smoke from the stack. Ran it through several cycles, boom stick bucket all moves smoothly, no hydraulics sticking or binding which is an indicator of the main valve being still good in the valve and no cylinder droop with the times that the boom is on hold indicating that the seals inside are still good. Undercarriage is at least 60-70% left on the treads, visibly worn but the middle guides on the treads are still visible and functional, no grinding noises while in motion, tracks showing no excessive wear or sloppiness, rollers spin freely as they should.

Scrutineered for leaks as the back-stabbers are always the thing that kills this machine – well, I didn’t find anything dripping, no fresh oil but just lots of old dirt covering everything. Boom cylinders are good, rods are not scored up, stick & bucket cylinders are not scored & all are dry to the touch. Hydraulic lines are neatly collected, some are dirty, but cosmetic only and not leaking at the fittings, pump is not dirty, no pool of oil beneath. When you go on the engine side and you don’t see any oil mist or coolant spray (which you want to see) and you see dust, it means that head gasket hasn’t been blown and oil seals are working properly.  Unfortunately, the operator was not present with the key — and the door was locked — the interior didn’t look to be in disarray, but through the glass, the seats didn’t seem to be ripped, controls didn’t appear to be broken or missing as far as I could tell and gauges didn’t seem broken.  Paint has the normal scratches and dings that one would get from a working machine, (but nothing to the detriment of the machine) and Counterweight is dirty but good. Tracks need cleaning and it runs okay mechanically: hydraulics are tight, no engine smoke upon running, and no leaks anywhere. It’s doing fine for a 6 year old Chinese machine compared with some of this tosh that I see around here. Honest or not perfect iron.