2023 SANY SY135C Crawler Excavator

Today I took this SANY SY135C out for inspection. The sun was blazing down on the earth, and half the road was still covered in mud left by rain. Starting the excavator, it seemed to start working without hesitation, idling smoothly. Basically new, seat still has factory plastic still on it just which is rarely seen and the red floor mat was in the original package still. Hell there’s even curtains on the windows which I have never seen when it comes to work machines but whatever no one beat on it much. Rapidly hydraulics cycles, zero delay trigger when hitting sticks, lots of boom lift and no cavitation/whining from the pump when walked through a complete range of motion with the bucket. The oil in the hydraulic tank appeared normal when checked in the sight glass – no milky colour or metal shavings in the tank.

There are no cracks that I could find in the track frames and the pads are rubber and are good for a little dirty work, the links are tight. Tension seems fine, no surface rust on idler’s (some on the underside but it’s cosmetic) and rollers are spinning freely. Walked under it thinking it’s the usual leaks somewhere around the travel motors or swing bearing, but nothing was wet so I walked around the machine again, thinking maybe it was the oil pump since it’s where all the other components have been found to weep, but no… there was some dust on the valve bank, but no signs of leaks; no oil drips on the frame rails and the seals around the boom and stick cylinders weren’t leaking. There is a little bit of “slop” between the boom’s pins and bushings but not like it would be if they weren’t operating within the normal range – expected wear. Paint is hanging, couple minor snags on the counter weight–someone maliciously threw a rock or something at it, but nothing structural. Inside the engine compartment – everything is neat, hoses aren’t cracked or bulging, fittings are dry and fuel filter housing is new or at least recently changed. Machine digs well. No smoke. Swing is controlled, wobbles/shears do not when turning under load. It looks like it’s been used to pull light loads – likely trenching or site preparation – certainly not in any sort of mining operation with a lot of rocks as the cutting edges are still in fair condition and the bucket teeth still have some profile. Would I buy it? Yeah most likely, depends on the basic service that’s just a solid mid grade unit that would last for another couple of thousands of hours if you maintained.