A workhorse excavator where the money is in the undercarriage, hydraulics, and final drives. Hours mean little next to measured wear.
The Cat 320 is one of the most common excavators on the planet, which means the used market is full of machines with wildly different lives behind the same hour reading. The expensive systems — undercarriage, hydraulics, and final drives — wear on a curve that a walk-around won't show, so we measure rather than eyeball.
Tracks, rollers, idlers, and sprockets are the single largest wear cost on the machine.
CHECK Measure component wear and estimate remaining life as a percentage.
Worn pumps and valves show up as slow cycle times and cylinder drift.
CHECK Time the cycles, test for drift with a load held, and check pressures against spec.
Final-drive wear causes noise, leaks, and tracking problems.
CHECK Listen while tracking, check for case leaks, and sample the final-drive oil.
Swing-bearing play and cracks at boom/stick pivots indicate hard use or repairs.
CHECK Check for swing play and inspect welds and pivots for cracks or re-welding.
Blowby and after-treatment health vary with maintenance.
CHECK Check blowby, sample engine oil, and verify DPF/regen on Tier 4 machines.
Heavy-duty diagnostic laptop with OEM adapters & software · Hydraulic pressure test kit with assorted fittings · Undercarriage wear gauges · Pin & bushing wear measurement tools · Ultrasonic thickness gauge for structural steel & buckets · Infrared thermometer / thermal camera · Oil & fluid sampling kit for lab analysis · Digital borescope …
See the full Heavy Equipment Inspection tool kit →
Pre-tagged for the Caterpillar 320 Excavator (All series).