Check out my hoe,.........please.

I'm new to HE and don't know much about excavators. Bought a Kobelco 909A two years ago and have maybe 40hrs of scraping around with it. Not trying to make a living with it,............just playing around on the farm. For whatever reason, I felt the need to buy this Case and would like to run the pics past you guys who do know what you're looking at to see if I can get you opinions/tips/recommendations.

Late '80's Case 125B(which is actually a Case branded French Poclain)54,000# excavator. Still trying to learn about it, but I only just bought it last week and it may be a month before I get it moved. Won't probably move any dirt with it until next spring.









It does run and operate nice. It's got a six cylinder air-cooled turbo-diesel in it that's going to be different than anything else I've played with. All around condition is solid. It has got an old weld repair to the dipper at the pivot, but supposedly that repair was made sometime before the most recent owner took possession, and that was eight years ago. Hasn't given any trouble since.

Anyone familiar with the old Case/Poclains or the air-cooled Deutz motors?

It looks OK aslong as your not going for quantity ..... or even quality, they are tough machines to pull a grade with !

i have a poclain 160. it has the same deutz engine yours has. Its a tough machine. do a google search for rapid machinery. the guy is in my hometown and is a font of information when it comes to these machines. his name is bernie, and has kept me going for some time. looks like its in good shape too. if you ever need any help pm me and i'll be glad to do what i can.-zach

poking fun. I know what I'm looking at. A machine that gets less use than mine, son you got moss growing on the sprokets. Put that thing in the dirt and show it what for. I just bought a Takeuchi TB135 (8000lb machine)and put 22hrs on it my first weekend just playing. Yes a toy you could bury in 2-3 min. Deutz engines are hard to beat, enjoy.

Yes, it's pretty well mossed up. The previous owner runs a small fleet of 120/140/160 sized machines and hasn't had much work for this larger one. Worked it one job in '08 and not at all this year and has to contract out the transport if/when he does use it,.............that's why I got it so cheap.

I will work it come spring, but it's really just a back-up machine for the Kobelco(unless I decide I like running the Case better). I'm not worried about speed, or doing any fancy finish work. Just digging rough holes and backfilling on some placer ground we own. The gravel plant I'm going to feed can only handle 25-30yd/hr, so the hoe won't have any trouble keeping up, but the ground is rocky and fairly deep so it requires a decent size machine.

And I appreciate the heads-up on Rapid Machinery and the offer of assistance. I've got Rapid saved to my favorites and I've already located a couple of scrapped 125B hulks for a spare parts source. Doesn't seem to be alot of info on the net for this model. I heard from a Case mech a couple of years back when inquiring about a 220 that these took a special hydraulic fluid due to the high pressures they run. Anyone know anything about that? I don't believe it's got anything special in at now.

Don't mean to be nosy, but what kind of ballpark price was the 125B? I ask this, because I have one that looks like it's twin, that a guy is interested in. We bought it practically new in 1990 (it was in our dealers rental fleet). Mine hasn't been used since about 2003, when I put a new turbo on it, and new injectors. I thought it started knocking, but it was just "injector knock". I also have a 170C that we bought new in '90, has less than 2000 hours on it, and it got vandalized badly. So we bought a Komatsu PC300LC-5 to replace it, then after renting smaller hoes for several years, bought a Pc200LC-8 last year to replace the 125.

I bought the high dollar "smurf oil" for years, but just this morning we filled the 125 up with regular hydraulic oil (talked to several local oil distributers, and giving them the info on the Case barrels, they all said the only difference was a blue dye added to the Case brand) and it seems to operate normally.

I will say, I always liked these 2 machines. They're pretty quick, balanced well, and have lots of power. We used to pipeline, and they dug LOTS of rock. The weak spot in the stick at the pivot must be common on the 125's, as I had to take the stick off mine, gouge out and fix some cracks, then fishplated the area. I'll take some pics of the repair and put on here. We also cracked the main boom near where the lift cylinders attach, and did a similar repair there. When pressure washing, DO NOT get water in the electronics box in the lower compartment behind the cab, or in the dash. They will do all kinds of screwy things if you do. Things like still having 2 speed travel, but instead of being slow and fast, being slow and slower. Or operating in heavy lift mode UNLESS you have the boom lights on.

They're good machines, and I'd probably still run the 125 today on jobs IF we had a better dealer network here. They take their own sweet time getting things for these machines (3 days to get a hydraulic hose, which nobody around here can make). But they'll sure sell you a NEW Case or Hitachi excavator.

Personally, I'm sold on the Komatsu hoes now. The 300 in my avatar has over 20,000 hours on it, we've had it 5 yrs, we've replaced about 4 hoses, 2 rpm sensors, and re-packed 3 cylinders. Not bad for an 18 yr old machine that up until lately was used practically everyday...

Here's mine

I'm not sure that what I paid is really representative. I've been watching prices and searching almost daily for the last 4 years and even now know where there are 3 or 4 125B's for sale, and none seem to be better than this one. Prices range from $18k to $30k. This one was advertised for $10k which was too low to pass by.

I was already checking out your hoe as you were loading the pics onto fishingpics site. Even then I thought hmmm somebodys either selling or buying a old case that has seen very little tough duty with little to no time in the rock, heck the grousers on the pads are still square. You did just fine for what you say your needs are enjoy.

"check out my hoe"......Don Imus was fired for less than that.

10g's for that?! You did very well. I hope it's still there when you go to pick it up.:tong

10 grand ? The cops will be there soon. LOL. I thunked I got a good deal.

O what a sweet find, even to have it sitting in the yard just to load buckets ,Nice find.

Looks like a great deal. :drinkup


Deutz air cooled engines have a good reputation for durability in my area. I don't know much about them other than a water pump I own has a 3 cyl one in it. By looking at your engine photo, it looks like the intake and exhaust runners are coming out of the same side of the head. I've never seen that on any engine besides my old 60's toyota gasoline forklift.

it looks like the intake and exhaust runners are coming out of the same side of the head. I've never seen that on any engine besides my old 60's toyota gasoline forklift.

Must be a young whippersnapper,Geee I remember seeing my first cross flow head and it was the talk of the town, course it was a gasoline engine.

Since you mentioned farm use, a little bit of advise. If you notice in my pics, when the windshield is in the raised (open) position, the frame and glass stick out the front of the cab about a foot or so. It doesn't take a very big stick falling out of a tree to bust the glass out, and there will be glass all over the inside of the cab. The 125 window got busted in this way in 1998, we used a shop-vac inside the cab 3 different times, and you can still find little pieces of glass if you look hard enough. the operator (I use that term VERY loosely) that was running it at the time swore up and down that he didn't pull a tree towards the cab, but instead a small branch fell out of the tree while he was PUSHING it over.

Another tip, the fuel filter on these is VERY SMALL. Mine uses a WIX 33358 filter. We always kept a couple of spare filters on the machine, and as soon as it starts losing power, change filters.

Instead of a fuel gauge, there is a light that is supposed to come on when you have approx. 1 hours worth of fuel left... Don't depend on the light to come on.

If you notice any hydraulic leaks where fittings are, it's all metal to metal. No O-rings on the connectors. Just loosen the clamps holding the line on (Metric hex key wrenchs, with a short cheater pipe, or I kept a set of the 1/2" drive hex key sockets and a 2' long snap-on breakover in the truck) wiggle the fitting around a little, then re-tighten.

You can get the funny looking fuses at about any auto-parts store. They're just an European type of auto fuse.

If you have any specific questions, I'll be glad to give you any knowledge I have on them.

Thanks for that. If you've got a list of required filters handy, I could certainly use that. I've got a Case 125B Operators Manual on the way, but so far that's it. I'll probably corral a parts and shop manual before too long. I need to get into my search mode and start laying in the supplies. So far I've found the Oil Filter Wix 51800.

I have a '90 model 170 c and I seem to chase leaks all the time. I also have used the 6 strand 5000 psi hoses when I replace one, and was wondering if this is really needed, as the 4000 psi type, like cat uses is soooo much less expensive. My hoe has about 10,000 hrs on it now.
rick roberts

You guys State side seem to have difficulty in getting hydraulic hoses are kits like this not available over there???


HOSE MANUFACTURE

I have little luck getting the fittings themselves. I have had to cut off the fitting from the damaged hose and have a threaded type welded to the poclain fitting, and then use available hose fittings and hose to that .

Case Poclain windshield

handtpipeline said:

Since you mentioned farm use, a little bit of advise. If you notice in my pics, when the windshield is in the raised (open) position, the frame and glass stick out the front of the cab about a foot or so. It doesn't take a very big stick falling out of a tree to bust the glass out, and there will be glass all over the inside of the cab. The 125 window got busted in this way in 1998, we used a shop-vac inside the cab 3 different times, and you can still find little pieces of glass if you look hard enough. the operator (I use that term VERY loosely) that was running it at the time swore up and down that he didn't pull a tree towards the cab, but instead a small branch fell out of the tree while he was PUSHING it over.

Any chance one of you Case guys could take a few detailed pics of the retractable windshield?
My 160CK's is missing entirely (frame and all), and I would like to reproduce it.

Thanks,
Steve

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