CAT skid steer/track loader 2006 247B?? how good??

[lilred]

Hi, will be looking at a 2006 CAT multi-terrain loader as Cat calls it,(track skid steer) wondering if some one on here has experience with one of these and could tell me what to look for and pro's and con's about them, the unit has about 4000 hrs, apparently the track, boogie wheels and bearing look alright, I have only seen pics of the machine, it's coming in on trade and a friend works at the dealer that is getting it in, it will be my first skid steer, I have a experience with farm tractors, do all my own automotive mechanical, I'm an auto body tech by trade, I need it for snow clearing, soil leveling, moving cars, I live on 2 acres and its for use around our property.
Thanks for any help you can provide me.

Thanks

 

[movindirt]

Ours is a 05' and its been a good machine, it would work fine for what your needing to do with it. That is a lot of hours though on that machine. Do you have any pics of it that you could post?

 

[lilred]

 

[lilred]

 

[movindirt]

Looks like its in pretty good shape from the pictures, not too torn up.

 

[JustForFun]

I have the same machine.
Bought it back in 09 with 2200 hrs for $12,500.
We have been building a cabin in northern MN and use it for everything.

Check out the under carriage really well.
I've had to replace tracks and some rollers. Actually getting ready to replace the rest later this summer.
The inside front and rear idlers seem to be the worst as far as wear goes.
Find out how old the rollers are. I think that once the rubber gets to be a few years old it gets brittle and the rocks tear it up very easily.
If they're bad at all, plan on replacing and factor it into the purchase price.
Tracks are kind of the same way, after a certain age, they look fine but the drive lugs start falling off.

 

[movindirt]

I should have mentioned this sooner, but reading justforfun's post brought it to mind, it really does not matter if the idlers have bits of rubber out of them, does not change how it operates, haven't really seen it effect the tracks either (6,600+/- hours of 247 undercarriages and tracks). The only time we have replaced idlers is when the bearings go bad and they fall off. You do have to watch for the tracks starting to delaminate and ripping the drive lugs off, we average around 1,500 hours before any problems on our tracks.