I sold my car as I won't need one for a few years and bought this. It's a cheap old machine with 3 buckets & plenty of issues. I've got to admit I knew absolutely nothing about driving, owning, buying something like this whatsoever so was thrown right in at the deep end. It was local so had no transport costs and I knocked a fair bit off the screen price with a view to making it right.
We've just bought a run down farmhouse with a bit of land on the Pennines, it needs loads of work, lots for a 3T digger. Foundations, drainage ditches, pulling rocks out etc.
It's been abused, probably by a farmer looking at the amount of straw I found here and there and we know what they're like with machinery. In the last few weeks I've given it a well needed complete service. Engine oil, filters, set tappets, seal rocker covers, slewbox oil, hydraulic oil & filter. Greased all joints, changed track drive motor oil. A hydraulic hose blew off and a new fanbelt will be next as the old one is stretched to the max.
The worst thing I found was the track rollers (all 8 btm and two top) were buggered beyond belief and beyond repair so it's had to have 10 new ones. I found aftermarket ones online for £100 ea, but was pleasantly surprised when Townson Tractors said they could get genuine JCB items for £60 ea.
Anyhow, hopefully it'll do a fair bit of work for me now before needing more work & money. I've dug a drainage ditch at the bottom of this bank to take the water from a spring when it gets lively:
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Turned up loads of stone, some quite interesting:
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We get plenty of rain up here, it wasn't long before my new ditch was tested:
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That was just some stuff so I could learn the machine and divert the water temporarily. Soon i'll dig foundations for gabion baskets there to stop the hillside from slipping.
Then I attacked a piece of stone which was sticking out of the yard. I think others in the past had had a go and given up due to the size of the beast. Instead they'd let it dictate the whole level of the place as it was easier.
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It was the size of a small car
Splitting it:
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Lifting it:
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Ended up with a fair old pile of usable stone:
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" Why do you want to live up here?" They ask. "So I can drive my bloody digger onto the patio to fix it" I said "I bet you can't do that!"
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If you look closely the upper door glass is in many pieces. The last storm we had battered the door until the latch came loose then slammed it back several times.
Add it to the list
Anyhow now it's on it's new rollers, all greased and oiled I can trust it to go down the fields soon, there we will start to sort out the drainage.
So there you go, you did ask
