2024 Caterpillar 345 Large Crawler Excavator

This morning, before dawn, a salesperson from Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (America) Inc. called to inform me that a Caterpillar 345 in excellent condition had arrived. I rushed over and gave the machine a thorough inspection. tracks maybe 15% worn, I have used this cat machine for a few hundred hours, idlers seem to be fine, no wobble, counterweight pins seem to be dry (what you want to see on a cat). Opened up the hood and the valve cover was clean (no caked oil or carbon buildup), the exhaust doesn’t smoke on start, hydral system response is quick – no delays on boom lift or bucket curl – there is no leak in the cylinders – no weeping hoses – the hoses are newer than the rest of the machine which indicates someone’s been keeping up on them, the swing bearing was clean – no grease leakage out, center joint is dry, that was unexpected on a machine laying around in a yard for that long.

Upon arrival at the stage, I found the door open, no beaten up controls, the joysticks feel tight, pedals are not cracked, the glass was not broken, and there doesn’t seem to be any oil bleeding out underneath the frame, and the bolts on the track shoes all seem to be in place so it appears not to have been used on rocky ground to much. Teeth on Bucket not rounded off, but worn, protective sleeves on hydraulic lines have been left intact, no rubber cracks at boom and stick bases, and rear lights are mounted but not tested. Was cold this morning, had to wait a couple of seconds for the diesel to ‘catch’, but settled down into a even idle in the morning with no hunting or weird knocking from the pump. No grinding of the final drives, procket’s aren’t chewed up and tracks are smooth in both directions. Machine digs well. No play. If you’re taking a blind leap then this one is cleaner than the majority of the iron I’ve been seeing come through the yards, just some washing down the road with the possibility of a bucket change but mechanically has no nasty hidden bits.