Don't Sign for That Bobcat Without Checking These 7 Things First

You don't buy a Bobcat every year. Most small contractors buy one track loader in a decade, maybe two if things go well. So when the delivery truck shows up, there's a strong urge to walk around the machine, run the engine for ten seconds, and sign. I don't blame you. I did the same thing on my first purchase.

Then I spent four years as a quality inspector for a compact equipment rental company. I reviewed 200+ machines annually—Bobcats, compactors, mixers, you name it. I learned what breaks, what gets hidden, and what a buyer can catch with their own eyes before it's too late. This is my pre-delivery checklist. It's not a full inspection—you'd need a third-party technician for hydraulic testing and undercarriage measurement. This is the 30-minute field version that catches the expensive stuff.

1. Check the Dealer Paperwork First (Really)

Everyone walks straight to the machine. I check the paperwork first. The machine will still be there in twenty minutes—the paperwork is where the problems hide.

When you're picking up from a Bobcat track loader dealer, or having one delivered, ask for:

• The bill of sale with the machine's serial number
• Warranty registration showing the actual manufacture date
• Hour meter reading at time of loading
• Attachments like the compactor: serial number and date code

Here's why: I rejected a "brand new, zero hours" Bobcat in 2023 because the registration date was nine months old and the hour meter had been replaced. A replaced hour meter only happens when the original clocked enough hours to hurt resale value. That's not a mistake—that's a cover-up. Per FTC guidelines, claims like "new" have to be truthful. But in practice, get everything in writing. A salesman's "don't worry, it's basically new" doesn't hold up in a warranty dispute.

2. Walk the Bobcat Track Loader Like You're Buying a Used Car

Spend fifteen minutes on the outside, looking for signs that the machine has been used more than the meter says—or repaired in ways the dealer didn't mention.

• Paint lines and torque marks. Factory paint marks on bolts are a good sign. Broken or missing marks mean someone loosened them.
• Hydraulic hoses. Look for rub marks where hoses touch steel. That's a leak waiting to happen.
• Track tension. Press on the top run. It should sag about a half-inch to an inch and a half. Too tight kills bearings. Too loose throws the chain.
• The underside. Leaks drip down. Shine a light at the skid plate and undercarriage.

I once told a dealer "make sure it's prepped." They heard "give it a wash." We caught the discrepancy because the hydraulic filter still had the factory paint marker on it—six hours of running on an old filter. The machine looked spotless. The filter told the truth.

3. The Bobcat Compactor Attachment: Don't Trust "It's New"

Compactor attachments—like the Bobcat compactor line—look simple. A plate, a hydraulic motor, and shock mounts. But the shock mounts, the rubber isolators between the vibrating plate and the base frame, are the part that gets damaged before the unit reaches you. This is the counterintuitive one: a fresh compactor doesn't automatically have good isolators. I've seen brand-new attachments with cracked isolators because someone dropped the unit off a forklift or stacked another attachment on top. The damage is hidden unless you look closely.

We reject maybe 30 attachments a year on isolator condition alone. Maybe closer to 40, I'd have to check the log—but it's the #1 hidden defect. What to check:

• Quick coupler fit: attach and detach twice. It should lock with a clean click and zero play.
• Vibration motor seals: oil film around the housing means the seal is already weeping.
• Shock mounts: look for compression cracks, bulging, or rubber that's separated from the metal bushing.
• The base plate: check welds for cracks. Vibration cracks steel in straight lines—and those cracks get painted over.

If the isolators are bad, you'll feel it in the operator seat within the first minute—the whole machine shudders. But by then, you've taken delivery. Check before.

The same logic applies if your setup includes a mixer attachment: check the gearbox for oil seepage and the mixing blade for wear on the leading edge. A mixer that doesn't rotate smoothly under load isn't going to "loosen up." That's a repair bill waiting to happen.

4. Hydraulic Connections and Quick Couplers

The fastest way to kill an attachment circuit is a dirty or misaligned quick coupler. This is where buyers get impatient and skip ahead.

With the engine off and pressure released, remove the dust caps from both the machine couplers and the attachment hoses. The male end should slide into the female end smoothly. If you hear air hiss when you complete the connection, the seal wasn't seated. Check the flat-face surfaces for chips or dirt—a tiny dent will cause aeration and erratic compaction.

The question everyone asks is "how many hours does it have?" The better question is "when were the hydraulic couplers rebuilt?" Because 90 percent of attachment problems come from couplers and hoses, not the motors themselves.

5. Generator Installation: Do This Before the Machine Arrives

This one seems off-topic. Stay with me. Half the small contractors I visit order a new Bobcat and then realize, on delivery day, that they don't have reliable power on site. Or the power is so marginal that the machine's electronics brown out on startup.

A proper generator installation for equipment—whether you're running a mobile light tower, charging batteries, or supplying a small shop—boils down to three things:

• Sizing. Starting surge is 2–3 times the running load. If you need 10 kW running, you want a 20–25 kW unit, not a 12.
• Wire gauge. Undersized extension cords cause voltage drop. I had a customer in 2022 whose brand-new Bobcat kept throwing fault codes. The machine was fine. The culprit was a 100-foot 14-gauge cord feeding a battery charger. Swapped it for 10-gauge, and the faults disappeared.
• Grounding. A floating neutral or missing ground on a portable generator is both dangerous and confusing to electronic controls. If this is outside your skill range, hire an electrician. This is not the place to save money.

I realize "do the generator installation before the equipment arrives" sounds like common sense. But I've watched people sign for machines, then spend two days messing with cords instead of working.

6. The Air Compressor Pressure Switch: The Most-Botched DIY Job

The single most-googled question in shop air compressors is "how to wire an air compressor pressure switch." It's also the most commonly botched DIY job I see. The switch is the workhorse that gets no attention until it fails, and then YouTube makes the fix look easy.

If you're going to wire a pressure switch, here's the shortened version:

• Disconnect power first. Sounds obvious, but it's the first step people skip.
• Identify line side vs. load side. Line comes from the breaker; load goes to the motor.
• The typical switch has four terminals: L1/L2 in from power, T1/T2 out to the motor. Some switches label them differently. Read the diagram inside the cover—don't trust memory.
• Tighten the screw terminals properly. A loose connection creates heat, which is why so many pressure switches melt instead of failing mechanically.
• Verify amp rating. If your motor draws 15 amps and the new switch is rated for 12, that switch is the weak link. Check before you install.

I've seen more than one fire hazard from pressure switches wired with speaker wire. If you're not confident, spend the $150–200 for an electrician. Compare that to replacing a burned compressor motor or something worse.

(Note to self: write the full standalone version of this at some point, because every shop explains it differently.)

7. Cold Start and a Full Hydraulic Cycle

Finally, start the machine the way you'll actually run it: cold. Tell the dealer you'll start it yourself, first thing in the morning.

Watch for:

• White smoke that doesn't clear after 30 seconds—could be coolant or a bad injector.
• Warning lights or error codes during warm-up.
• With cold hydraulic oil, cycle the compactor, raise and lower the loader arms, and run the track loader in forward and reverse. Listen for whining or screeching from the pumps.
• Re-test the quick couplers under flow. They can leak when pressurized even if they felt tight when seated.

Then take out your phone and record the whole thing. Date, time, hour meter, serial number, walk-around, control test. Send that video to yourself and to the dealer. It's not paranoia. It's having a reference point that cuts through every argument later.

Don't Skip This Because You Feel Rushed

A few final things. Don't do the inspection in the rain. I've made that mistake—everything looks darker, leak streaks don't show, and you're not looking closely enough to see the broken torque marks.

Don't sign an "as-is" delivery receipt without question. If the dealer stamps "accepted as-is" on the paperwork, ask exactly what that means for warranty coverage. I've watched that phrase become a $6,000 surprise on a pump rebuild.

And if you're a small customer buying one machine—the dealer knows you're a one-time sale. That's fine. It doesn't mean you deserve less care. I went back and forth between a big dealer and a smaller one for my first track loader. The big one quoted faster delivery; the smaller one returned my calls. I went with the smaller one. He's still my supplier over a decade later.

The vendors who treated my early small purchases with respect are the ones I still buy from today, for much bigger orders. And I've walked away from dealers who wouldn't give two hours to a $60,000 purchase.

This checklist works because it's not trying to be nice. Machines don't lie—but people with incentives to hide things do. Thirty minutes with a flashlight before you sign is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy for that machine.