I was able to go look at the little B21 that's going to auction. 1360 hr. had some difficulty with getting the neutral on the hst to start it. Starts right up, runs good, everything works. Has the stop solenoid unplugged and a lawn mower pull cord rigged up to shut it off (LOL). Can't find any leaks but theres some hard/cracked hoses throughout. Hydraulics seem strong it did all the normal exercises. Front wheel drive works, tires are worn about half tread in front, rears are pretty good. Seat is good and flips around like it should.
A couple areas of concern - it looks like the flasher switch is just gone theres a hole there. There is a switch installed on the cluster that runs an electric pusher fan from the front of the radiator. Radiator looked fine and fluids all looked fine but the pusher fan makes me think it runs hot or has had overheating problems.
The loader was tight and they have the 3pt parts with it. The backhoe main masts or arms or whatever were pretty tight.
The bucket pins were loose and had quite a bit of play. I don't know much about backhoes but should those pins also be pretty tight with not much/any slop?
I wasn't able to really to see if there's blow-by since the vent tube on this one feeds back to the intake. I was not able to really spend as much time as I wanted and felt rushed by the auction company dude, so I couldn't really check for leak-down on the hydraulics or put any load on the unit, dig anything or even push up against an immovable force.
I might be able to look at it but I don't think I will be able to run it again and will probably only be able to see whatever they demonstrate right before the sale.
Does the bucket play tend to be pins or the boom arm? If it's not that big of a deal what I have pointed out I will bid on it with a pretty low limit in mind. If it sounds like a bucket of problems, I would like to keep looking and carry on.
I appreciate your opinions or advice on what to look out for/check for on this. Particularly anyone experienced with the B21. My wife saw it and thinks I should get something bigger and in better shape
She loves me.