komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

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dtoots1
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komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by dtoots1 » Sun Mar 29, 2020 2:58 pm

what do any of you folks know about these mini excavators? believe one am looking at is made in the 90s, are parts readily available and not too spendy? is hydraulics. rubber tracks. what do i need to look for on theses? is smaller believe less than 5000lbs so won't really do bis jobs, would think trench fine and maybe tree stumps..ot too large.

thoughts, suggestions?

hydrogeo
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by hydrogeo » Mon Mar 30, 2020 6:24 am

Be very careful if it's a grey market machine. Parts for those can sometimes be tricky to get as you can't get any parts from domestic dealers.

My mini is fantastic for working around the yard, and general small digging jobs. I use it a lot to pick up and move things, and it's amazing how much it will lift. Rubber tracks are great for not tearing up the grass or gravel driveway. They are scary when the ground is frozen though, and forget about snow. They are also not the best in the woods. They need to be treated very gently as they will cut easily on rocks and they tend to stretch and pop off at the worst times. When mine are finally shot in a year or two I hope to replace them with steel.

dtoots1
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by dtoots1 » Mon Mar 30, 2020 9:55 am

seller claims to only have 327 hours on the meter, which makes me very leary of even wanting to go the 5 or 6 hrs away to look at it.
from pics it does look like in fine shape....none of the "sherwin williams" on it. tracks look to be good shape, can see wear traffic on pant, seat appears worn a bit but in solid shape not cracked nor torn. can not see sprockets nor adjusters to judge from that like we can on dozers.

what else to look for on these? and yes i prefer steel tracks as well.

i noticed Hitachis have the steels on em..

dtoots1
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by dtoots1 » Tue Mar 31, 2020 2:27 pm

was hoping for few more comments and suggestions. would like something usable and not too spendy and certainly don't want 30k new and small but enough to do smaller jobs, something reparable if needs

gus
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by gus » Tue Mar 31, 2020 3:32 pm

Rubber tracks, look for weather checking. How easy does it start when fully cold, like early morning cold. Have a thumb? Look at bucket teeth. 18 inch minimum bucket width. Quick attach bucket? How tight are boom/bucket pins.

FWIW, I have a 4000 lb Kubota rubber track (500 hours, second set, factory tracks were crap) had a 6000 lb Yanmar steel track. Rubber tracks turn harder an DO tear up the dirt/grass much more. Better traction pushing.

dtoots1
350 crawler
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by dtoots1 » Tue Mar 31, 2020 5:52 pm

surprisingly i run my jd440ic on my blacktop driveway, wt at almost 9k lbs and practically new grousers...only damages edge of blacktop when drive off, can even turn it around in center and does not tear it up..

prefer steels on mini ex since work of any consequence would obviously be mud and dirt and if street can drive on planks..prefer less than
7k lbs on mini

Gus,
how about getting parts and costs
know they have
kubotas
yanmars
hitachi
komatsu, was mentioned possibly hard to get local
bobcat
jd
and others

gus
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by gus » Tue Mar 31, 2020 6:39 pm

That Yanmar was grey market. VERY hard to impossible. Can't get service or parts manuals.

Kubota, easy, local dealer will get anything. I'm pretty sure US versions of any of the big names should be easy. My new tracks were after market supplied. Same on a lot of non specialty parts that interchange. Many brands use same parts.

dtoots1
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by dtoots1 » Tue Mar 31, 2020 7:55 pm

thanks for the heads up!!!

any others out there intimate with problems of other machines?

gus
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by gus » Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:26 am

If it hasn't been repainted and redecalled, look up the model. Look for manuals for that model. If they are available, good chance it's not grey market. Look at the manufacturer web site for the model.

Don't buy grey market!!

hydrogeo
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by hydrogeo » Wed Apr 01, 2020 1:40 pm

Yes, avoid any grey market machine at all costs. I believe parts are somewhat better for the grey Hitachis vs. Grey market Kubotas and Cats are a nightmare from what I understand. They are often odd colors and have funky split booms as opposed to pivoting booms. My father had a grey market Hitachi EX55. It had about 5,000 hrs, and was a decent machine but it had some very funky features and was used hard. It was a rubber track machine, which was fine, but one of the drive motors was getting weak. He traded it for the US market Kubota that I inherited when he passed. Kubotas are amazing machines, I far prefer it over my friends Cat 305. More power, better ergonomics, and better balance.

When testing machines check for how strong the drive motors are. . It should also track straight and not drift to one side, and they should both stall with about the same effort. Other than that most minis are pretty simple, and just look for typical pin wear, etc. My Kubota is a 9500 lb machine and it's a little big for yard work but it's nice as it can do a little digging. I'd say you want one over 7k. And you absolutely want a hydraulic thumb on a mini. I don't have a grading bucket, but I have a 6' piece of I beam I grab with the thumb and it works great for finish grading.

dtoots1
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Re: komatsu pc10-6 mini excavator

Post by dtoots1 » Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:23 pm

Thanks to bot you folks, that is a help indeed....have a rental sale coming up with Kubata minis so will be checking to see what all they got.

i really don't trust crags..creeps already showed up with mini...if they won't give address ''don't get involved' crazy creeps

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