so i looked at a 10 passenger cat, asking price was WAY too high. track belting is very rough, patched holes, cracks at the back of all the grousers, has been spliced before, sprockets are pretty worn and cracked as well. all the tires are foam filled, but are weather checked too. blade mount is bent pretty bad, and the frame has been cracked, welded, cracked again and patched, the floor on the drivers side up against the frame has a couple of cracks about 2 inches long. passenger side floor up against the frame is also cracked, but a few cracks around 5 or 6 inches long. body otherwise is in good shape with only minor defects, paint is poor. when applying the left brake, the track wont slow down until a good amount of pressure. it actually doesnt really slow down, it grabs suddenly violently. the motor has oil leaks out valve cover and side cover, oil filter has a date of 2004 on it! radiator hoses are somehow still holding water but the wire reinforcement on the lower hose is visible, the belts are totally worn out. antifreeze was hanging on the bottom of the front of the motor. 2 windows are broken, one being the windshield on passenger side, one wiper motor doesnt work for sure, not sure about the other one. the blade is a mystery, there is one for it, but it was not available for inspection, but it is a six way. seats are o.k. overall interior is ok.
my question is, what is the most something like this is worth. they offered it to my for a lot cheaper, and i low balled them. last i checked it was still for sale.
what i know is that it needs new belting, and some grousers welded up, as well as new sprockets. probably new brake bands and left brake drum at a minimum on the rear end. 2 new windows, 1 new wiper motor. full service on motor and trans. several hours of cutting grinding, and welding on the frame and probably the blade. not including my time, i estimated that in filters, fluids, belts and hoses, gaskets, and misc supplies that i would have about $350. new belting from a dealer, $4000 plus shipping and hardware. rear end parts assuming no bad bearings or broken parts, $1200. 2 new pieces of glass $100, new wiper motor $50. labor by the time it is all said and done, i would guess at 80 to 100 hours. all that and it would still need paint, and misc little parts. and at the end the motor and trans would still have almost 3000 hours, and 7 years since the last oil change. oh, and i was told it was used as a plow cat for some time.
what is it really worth? seems like a good machine that just never got any maintenance.
