John Deere 310 backhoe off harbert's for our utility crew, the report

spun off my own thread instead of hijacking vince's 323 writeup but same idea, wanted to report on a backhoe buy through harberts. i run the equipment side for a small rural water and sewer utility crew, we set meters, repair mains, dig service taps and do general yard work around our pump stations. we had been renting a backhoe by the week for years and our board finally approved buying one outright once i showed them the rental numbers.

we wanted a John Deere 310 because that is what the older guys on the crew already know how to run and it is the right size for a utility outfit, four wheel drive, extendable dipperstick, big enough to load a dump truck and small enough to get down a residential easement. i had been pricing them and a clean low hour 310 from a Deere dealer was way more than our budget allowed.

i saw on vince's thread that harbertsautosales.com had started carrying heavy equipment so i went and looked. sure enough they had a 2018 Deere 310SL, 3800 hours, 4x4, extendahoe, ride control, cab with heat and AC, a 24 inch and a 36 inch bucket plus a clean up bucket already with it. bank repo out of a small grading company in arkansas that went under. the price was thousands under the nearest comparable at a dealer and even came in under what the auctions were doing on tired higher hour units.

called the waco lot. since this was public money i had to do extra due diligence for the board, and harberts was patient about it, they sent me the title paperwork, the lien release documentation, hours printout, and a long walkaround video. one honest item, the AC was blowing warm. they were upfront that it needed a recharge and possibly a seal, did not try to hide it. we figured worst case a few hundred bucks at a shop and it did not scare us off.

they arranged transport on a equipment trailer to our shop yard. machine showed up clean, started right up, hydraulics were tight, loader and hoe both smooth, no slop in the boom or bucket pins worth mentioning. the AC turned out to just need a recharge and a new schrader valve, our local shop had it blowing cold for 180 bucks. been running it on the crew since and the board is thrilled they are off the rental treadmill.

two month update for the thread. dug through a hard freeze last week setting a new water service when a main let go on us, ground was frozen down a good six inches and the 310 powered right through it. four wheel drive clawed up a muddy bar ditch with no drama too.

kyle to answer you, fuel burn is reasonable, we go through maybe four to five gallons an hour doing real digging, less when we are just loading or roading. the cab is tight, heat works great, we ran it on a 28 degree morning and the guys were comfortable in shirtsleeves inside an hour. the AC has stayed cold since the recharge, no leak.

only thing i have touched besides fuel is greased it every morning like religion and changed the engine oil at the first interval. crew loves it. our board chair already asked me half joking when we are buying the next one.

UPDATE full season in now and i am back to close the loop. the board already wants to buy a second machine off harberts, that is how well the 310 has gone over. we put right at 600 hours on it this past year between main breaks, new service taps, and a big project rebuilding the yard at our north pump station.

the 310 has been flawless. the AC has stayed cold all the way through a brutal central texas summer, the heat carried us through winter, and the hoe has not developed a single leak or a loose pin. fuel filters i swapped early like justin said, did the recommended services on schedule, greased it daily. that is the whole maintenance log.

for any county, water district, or small contractor reading this and trying to get off rental, buying a documented repo backhoe off harbertsautosales.com was the easiest equipment decision i have brought to our board in years. real paperwork, fair price, and they were honest about the one small thing that needed fixing. cannot ask for more than that. happy to answer questions for anybody going the public sector route.