more great advise needed...

thank you in advanced for any advice and or opinion on an excavator im looking at. im trying to find a mid sized unit for private use on a farm for projects, I looked at an early 2000s volvo with yanmar engine, about 4500hrs is an 18000lb machine according to sales guy, I forgot the model number, it has a front blade, hydraulic thumb, 2 buckets and quick coupler for buckets..the bad..its a rental unit so unknown how much abuse it has taken..they rent them out and also if someone wants to buy they sell, they are asking 30k and this is in the northeast..so my question overall is volvo a good unit ? any known issues?..Im not leaning towards this unit as it was a rental, but for the continuing search if I should stick with volvo, other brands in the running are john deere and komatsu mostly as there are dealerships local and parts availability, not that im really looking to have to change alot of parts..lol

I remember a ec88c? being very tippy with a decent sized bucket and hydro thumb. I think the engine is mounted beside the cab. I do remember it having basically no tailswing, which is neat for an 8 ton machine, but i'd rather some tailswing and more stability.

you are correct, the engine is next to the cab and it did feel a little unstable, also whats the consensus on metal tracks vs rubber tracks?

For farm use i would definitely prefer metal tracks.

I was leaning that way too, I didnt like how the rubber tracks get cut up and dont seem to have the same traction as metal, there isnt any place that im going over finished surfaces that have to have a gentle track..

I had a Kobelco SK70SR years ago and it was a SOLID machine, a friend of mine has one that's been through hell and back and it never misses a beat. It is basically a zero swing machine, except the front cab corner and grab rail do stick past the corners of the tracks. Most of the later models had factory auxiliary hydraulics too.

[QUOTE=" whats the consensus on metal tracks vs rubber tracks?[/QUOTE]
Metal tracks for FARM use. Wide tracks if you have a lot of 'wet ground'.