Roger wrote:

The message
from Bruce contains these words:

There are plenty of JCBs and mini excavators on eBay.

Thanks.

I was aware of that but AFAICT no self propelled mini digger in working
order has gone for as low as £1500 recently and JCBs that cheap are rare
and so far not in range. At £3 or more a mile for JCB transport distance
can turn a cheap machine into an expensive machine.

It seems that the most JCB advertisers are a good way south of here
including the most prolific dealer. At least with mini diggers there is
a regular advertiser in Oldham that is only some 40 miles away.

What I would like is pointers to those who don't advertise on the
Internet. I have drawn a virtual blank with Yellow Pages.

With the building industry allegedly suffering a serious downturn older
machines should be cheap and plentiful but that doesn't seem to be the
case.


Auction houses would be a good source. In the various recessions we
had under the previous Tory administration, JCBs sold at auction at
ridiculously low prices.

The hire rates for JCBs were so low that it was impossible to make
money with a new(ish) JCB purchased at full price or leased. So the
clever ones were those who bought JCBs cheaply at auction because
previous owners were on the brink of bankruptcy, or in it.

Don't give up on eBay, though!