Would you buy an excavator that had been under water??

My son-in-law is looking at a used Doosan 140 excavator. It seems to be in good condition, runs good, and pins, etc are tight. Here is the catch. The seller says his machine slid down a bank and into a pond about 4 or 5 years ago. It was totally under water for about a day, until they got it winched out. At that time they had a dealer do a complete service, replace all fluids, drain fuel tank, and replace computer. Since then, it has been used on a fairly regular basis with no problems.
Would a person be nuts to buy this machine, or, as it has run ok the last few years since the dunking, would it be a safe purchase, so to speak? The asking price is about $30,000. Can not remember the exact hours, but I think it is in the area of 6000hrs.
I have salvaged diesel pumps that have gone under water on many occasions, but an excavator is a lot more complex machine.
What are you thoughts on this deal.
Jeff

It's a lot of money to gamble. He would be better off taking the 30k and putting it towards a machine with lower hours and has not been under water. If he takes the 30 and buys a 50k machine or 40k finance the rest and he's building credit towards future purchases. Electrical gremlins can be very hard to pinpoint and harnesses run in the thousands if they corrode. Just my .02.

I would pass, too many "dry" ones out there to buy.

Eventually the entire electrical system will fall apart. Water and copper are not compatible. That machine is doomed. Ever seen wiring on an old trailer?

yep, We had a 321 that sunk. Cleaned it up and put it back in service. We chased that thing for three years until we sold it off. all of the electrical terminals corroded and made all kinds of problems.

I would question paying $30K for an older Doosan 140 with 6K hours on it even if it wasn't underwater at one time. I would run away from that machine.

IMO too much for that machine, I agree with the others try and find a machine that didn't go scuba diving.

Aside from the price, if the machine has operated troublefree since the "dunking", 4 or 5 years ago, wouldn't that indicate it should not have water related problems in the future? I would think any issues from the soaking would have shown themselves long ago. Just wondering, in case the price drops a bunch.

CM1995 said:

I would question paying $30K for an older Doosan 140 with 6K hours on it even if it wasn't underwater at one time. I would run away from that machine.

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What he said... too many other excavators out there to think about that one. If it was 15k, and you were a good mechanic, maybe

Approximately 10 years ago a friend bought a Deere 50D with around 300 hours on it that had been submerged when a dike in a sewage treatment plant burst. The "water" line on the canopy was 6 inches down from the top and it was waste water, not raw sewage. After along time pressure washing I pulled the injectors to spin it over, changed the oil and started it. The fuel and hydraulic tanks had no water in them. I then replaced the monitor and dash panels and the complete wiring harness. The thing ran like a dream and now 10 years later the only thing he has had to do is replace the starter. We nicknamed it "poo nami". Every once in a while it does work out fine.

Drowned machine.

excavator said:

Approximately 10 years ago a friend bought a Deere 50D with around 300 hours on it that had been submerged when a dike in a sewage treatment plant burst. The "water" line on the canopy was 6 inches down from the top and it was waste water, not raw sewage. After along time pressure washing I pulled the injectors to spin it over, changed the oil and started it. The fuel and hydraulic tanks had no water in them. I then replaced the monitor and dash panels and the complete wiring harness. The thing ran like a dream and now 10 years later the only thing he has had to do is replace the starter. We nicknamed it "poo nami". Every once in a while it does work out fine.

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The difference here is th electrical components were replaced. I have resurected a D8 dozer (twice), C14a Excavator(twice), and a Dodge van. The dozer and excavator would up with no electical circuits that worked. I fixed the starters and jumped the solenoid for starting. The engines, trans, and pumps were not that bad. But I was not intrested in whether the gauge light worked.
Just charged batteries when needed and used them for a couple hundred hours or so.
The van was a bummer and took years to get all elecctrical systems reliable.

With half as many hours I would consider it, but like everyone said a 6000 hour doosan 140 that's been underwater? No thanks.

For that size of Machine ???? ……. Even if it didn't take a swim … that price for the amount of Hrs is WAY TOO High of a Price …. IMHO !!! …..

As others have Posted, if it had Half the amount of hrs on the clock and a lower price maybe …… It's Too risky, and at 6000 hrs that's when you'll begin to starting putting money back into any Machine anyways …..

Well, we went and looked at it yesterday. I also got a lot of additional info I did not have before.
The machine is a 2006 model. The seller had all the receipts from the Doosan/Daewoo dealer, when it was repaired after the sinking. A total of $7000 was spent to rehab the machine. The work included draining and replacing all fluids, complete service, new computer, many new electrical controls/ wiring/etc. The machine actually has 3600hrs on it, according to dealer recent paperwork provided by seller. Machine was on rental from dealership by current owner when it slid into the pond. Current owner did not have a loss/damage waiver, so he had to pay for all the repairs. After spending all this money, he just went ahead and bought the machine for use on his ranch and other properties. Price of $30,000 includes a fairly large hydraulic plate compactor. Machine operated well, undercarriage is great, all pins and bushings well greased and tight. Set up for a hydraulic thumb, but thumb not included.
So, my son-in law bought it on the spot for the asking price. The price might be a little high, but if you search the various internet sales sites for comparable machines, anywhere within 400 miles of the Dallas area, you will find nothing under about $55,000 in price. This area is going nuts with construction, and anything that moves or digs dirt brings top dollar.
So, we will see how this all turns out. Without the dealer paperwork showing all the repairs, I think he would have walked away.
Jeff

I hope he has good luck with it mowingman, if it has been run consistently since the initial repairs then maybe he'll not have too many problems. Given the situation and the brand name (not that they are not good machines, but resale value is not typically very high with those), your son in law will likely have to work the value out of it and not expect much in the way of trade-in value when/if it is time to upgrade.

I agree Oxbow,Doosan machinery over here are not really sought after,although appearing to be a good unit. Best of luck for your son mowing man and you 2 boot.

I think I'd pass on this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8X3SWnyoxg

I think Doosan's are generally under rated. I completely dismissed them as a brand when I first heard of them. But, guys that I've talked to who own and operate Doosan machines have said good things about them: fast, powerful, good on fuel and parts cost less than the yellow brands. Granted, those machines weren't swimmers. The fact that 5 years have gone by since the swimming incident is a definite plus.

joispoi said:

I think I'd pass on this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8X3SWnyoxg

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That sure is wild.

LT-x7 said:

That sure is wild.

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No doubt! What in the world are they doing?