The Complete Buyer’s Guide to Machinery

How to size an excavator, loader, dozer, telehandler, forklift or tractor to the work, what hours conceal, and why undercarriage and transport are the two line items people forget.

Machinery is bought on price and owned on cost. The gap between the two is where most of the money in this market is made and lost, and almost all of it is visible before you buy if you know where to look.

This guide covers sizing, condition, the cost items that do not appear in an advertisement, and where a dealer-prepared machine is worth more than a cheaper one at auction.

Size to the job, then to the site access

The most common sizing error is buying too big. The second most common is buying to the largest job you have ever quoted rather than the work you do every week. A machine that is oversized for 90 per cent of your jobs costs you on every float movement, every fuel bill and every gate you cannot fit through.

Excavators

Under about 5 tonnes you are usually buying access. Over about 20 tonnes you are buying production rate. Between the two you are buying versatility, which is why the 5 to 14 tonne band holds its value most reliably.

Wheeled or tracked

Tracked machines put less pressure on the ground, climb better, work on soft and uneven surfaces and cost more to keep because the undercarriage wears. Wheeled machines travel on sealed roads, cause less damage to finished surfaces, set up faster and cost far less per hour to run. On a job that moves between sites in a day, wheels win. On a job that stays put in mud, tracks win.

Loaders, dozers, telehandlers, forklifts and tractors

Wheel loaders are sized by bucket capacity and breakout force, and the useful question is what truck you are loading and in how many passes. Dozers are sized by blade and by track gauge, and the real question is whether you need a straight blade for finishing or a semi-U for volume. Telehandlers are sized by lift height and capacity at reach, not capacity at the boom — the derate chart matters more than the headline number. Forklifts split into internal combustion for yards and electric for indoors and food handling, and the mast configuration determines whether it fits the container or the doorway. Tractors are sized by PTO horsepower and by what implements you already own.

Which brands hold the market

Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi and Volvo are the established civil brands, with the deepest parts networks and the most predictable resale. Kubota, Yanmar, Takeuchi and Bobcat dominate the compact end. Sany, XCMG, SDLG, LiuGong and Hyundai have taken real market share on price, and their parts and dealer support in Australia has improved substantially — but check where the nearest parts store actually is before you buy one for remote work.

What hours hide

Hours are the odometer of this industry and they carry the same misplaced confidence. Hours do not tell you what the machine was doing, whether it idled half of them, whether the meter is original, or whether it was serviced on schedule or when something broke.

• Rock breaking, rock hammering and demolition are several times harder on a machine than trenching in clay.
• Idle hours accumulate on the meter without wearing tracks, pins or bushes — which is good for the undercarriage and bad for the engine.
• A machine on a dealer service contract with documented intervals is a different asset to one with a folder of receipts, at the same hours.
• Hour meters can be replaced. Check the reading against the service history, the ECU where the machine has one, and the physical wear you can see.

Our separate guide on reading hours on a used excavator goes into this in more detail. The short version: hours set the asking price more than they should, which is exactly where a well-maintained high-hour machine becomes good buying.

Undercarriage is the biggest single cost item

On a tracked machine the undercarriage — chains, rollers, idlers, sprockets, track shoes — is commonly the largest maintenance expense across the machine’s life, and a full replacement on a 20 tonne excavator runs into tens of thousands of dollars. It is also the item most reliably ignored during inspection because it is dirty and low to the ground.

Measure it or have it measured. Dealers and undercarriage specialists will report remaining percentage on each component. Fifty per cent remaining on a machine priced as though it has 90 per cent is a straightforward price adjustment, and it is one of the few negotiating positions in this market backed by a number.

On wheeled machines, tyres are the equivalent. A set of earthmover tyres on a mid-size wheel loader is a five-figure item.

Attachments are usually not included

An excavator is advertised as an excavator. What arrives may be a machine with one worn general-purpose bucket. Buckets, rippers, augers, grapples, mulchers, hammers and tilt hitches are separate purchases, and the total can be a substantial fraction of the machine price.

Quick hitches matter more than people expect. A manual pin-grab hitch is cheap and slow. A hydraulic quick hitch changes attachments from the cab in under a minute. A tilt hitch adds 40 to 45 degrees of bucket tilt each way and transforms batter work, drainage and finishing. Retrofitting one later costs considerably more than specifying it at purchase.

Get the attachment list in writing on the invoice, with pin sizes and hitch type. "Comes with buckets" is not a specification.

Emissions tiers and grey imports

Machinery emissions standards are staged as Tier or Stage levels. Australia has historically not mandated a tier for non-road diesel machinery the way the United States and Europe have, which is why the local market carries a mix. That creates two practical problems for buyers.

First, some mine sites, government contracts and tier-one head contractors specify a minimum emissions tier for machines on site. A cheap older-tier machine can be uncontractable on the work you want it for.

Second, a low-hour import at an unusually low price is often a machine built for a market with different fuel, different diagnostics and different parts numbers. Ask where it was delivered new, whether the dealer network here supports that serial range, and whether the operator manuals and diagnostic software are available in Australia.

Transport is a real line item

Machines do not drive to site. Anything above about three tonnes needs a tag trailer or a float, and above about 20 tonnes it needs a low loader, a permit and sometimes a pilot. Interstate delivery on a mid-size excavator is a four-figure cost. On a 30 tonne machine with an oversize attachment it is more.

Budget it as part of the purchase, and budget it again as an ongoing cost. If you are moving a machine between sites weekly and you do not own a truck and float, you are buying a machine and renting a logistics service in perpetuity.

Where dealer-prepared beats auction

Auctions are the cheapest way to buy if you know the model, can inspect properly and have funds ready. The hammer price is not the price — add buyer’s premium, GST where it applies, documentation fees and transport, and settle inside 24 to 48 hours or forfeit.

A dealer-prepared machine costs more and gives you three things auctions cannot: a machine that has been serviced and had obvious faults rectified, a warranty of some kind, and a counterparty with a reputation that outlives the transaction. For a first machine, or a machine you cannot afford to have off the road, that premium is usually the cheaper option.

Site compliance

ROPS and FOPS — rollover and falling-object protective structures — are required on most machines on a commercial site, and a cabin that has been repaired after a rollover may no longer be certified. Ask for the ROPS/FOPS plate and check it is intact and legible.

Operator competency in Australia is generally handled by verification of competency rather than a government licence for earthmoving plant. The exceptions matter: forklifts need a high risk work licence, slewing telehandlers need a mobile crane licence, and non-slewing telehandlers over 3 tonnes rated capacity need a licence as well. Confirm what your crew holds before you buy the machine, not after.

The twenty-minute inspection anyone can do

1. Walk the undercarriage or the tyres first, before you look at the paint.
2. Check every pin and bush in the boom, stick and bucket linkage for play. Rock the bucket side to side with the machine running.
3. Look for hydraulic weeping at cylinder rod seals, hose ends and the swing motor. Wet is a problem; damp and dusty is a watch item.
4. Pull the engine oil and hydraulic dipsticks. Milky oil means water. Metallic glitter means stop.
5. Start it cold if you possibly can. Cold starts reveal what warm engines hide.
6. Track a full circle, boom to full reach and lift the machine off one track. Sluggish or uneven movement points at pumps and valves.
7. Photograph the hour meter, serial plate and ROPS plate. You will want them later.

What needs a technician: compression and blow-by testing, hydraulic flow and pressure testing, final drive and swing drive inspection, and a diagnostic scan for stored fault codes. On anything above about 10 tonnes, a pre-purchase inspection by an independent technician is money well spent against the size of the cheque.

Finance and the numbers a lender looks at

Machinery is commonly funded by chattel mortgage or hire purchase, with operating leases and rental structures used where a business wants the asset off its balance sheet or only needs it for a defined project. The tax and cash-flow consequences of each differ, and which one suits a given business is a question for its accountant.

What lenders look at is consistent: the age and type of the asset, whether it is being bought from a dealer or privately, time in business, your industry experience, and whether the machine has an identifiable serial number they can register a security interest against. Older machines and private sales are both harder to fund, which is worth knowing before you find one.

Run a PPSR search by serial number before you pay. It costs about $2. A machine can carry a previous owner’s security interest, and you inherit the problem.