(Educational, clear, practical — written for real excavator operators and buyers in South Africa) When you walk into a parts yard or message a supplier, the first thing they’ll ask isn’t your excavator’s colour, bucket size, or where it last got stuck in the mud.They’ll ask you one thing : “Do you have the OEM part number?” For many machine owners, that question instantly triggers panic. They flip open a manual from 2004, scratch their heads, and pray the number they send isn

Stop Wasting Time, Money, and Sweat on Half-Assed Repairs Let’s get straight to the point: Most contractors are terrible at this .They stand over a busted final drive, hydraulic pump, or swing motor and say, “I think we can fix it.” And then three days later, the machine is still broken, your operator is pissed, the client is furious, and your wallet is getting fleeced faster than diesel prices. Here’s the brutal truth: some parts are worth repairing. Most aren’t. If you don’

Because Cheap Pumps Are the Fastest Way to Turn Your Excavator Into an Expensive Garden Ornament Let’s get something straight right from the start: If you buy a cheap aftermarket hydraulic pump for your excavator, you’re not “saving money.”You’re delaying the pain . And when that pain hits, it hits hard — blown hoses, slow hydraulics, cooked oil, trashed cylinders, destroyed spool valves, and a machine that suddenly works like it’s got emphysema. Hydraulic pumps are the heart

A Brutally Honest Guide for Contractors Who Are Tired of Being Screwed Over Let’s not dance around it. The used excavator parts market in South Africa is a jungle —and most suppliers are hyenas. You already know the type: “We’ve got stock” (they don’t) “It’s 100% OEM, boss” (it’s not) “Machine was running” (it wasn’t) “We’ll courier it today” (nope) “Looks the same, so it should fit” (it won’t) If you’ve been in the construction or plant hire game for more than five minutes,

A Hard-Hitting, South African, Contractor-to-Contractor Reality Check Let’s cut the crap. Every contractor in South Africa thinks  they understand the cost of downtime… until their excavator dies in the middle of a job, the client starts phoning every hour, and their crew stands around scratching their balls while billable hours burn like tinder. Most guys only count the price of the replacement part.R5,000 here. R12,000 there. Cute. But that’s not the real cost.Not even clos

Because Some “Rebuilt” Parts Belong in a Scrap Bin — Not Inside Your Machine Let’s get brutally honest: The word “rebuilt”  gets abused in this industry more than an old rental excavator. Some rebuilt components are excellent  — done by real professionals using genuine OEM specs and proper tolerances. But others? They’re slapped together in a backyard workshop using whatever parts the rebuilder could find, guess, grind, weld, or pray into place.Those “rebuilt” parts will rob

If You Ignore These Symptoms, Your Machine Is About to Eat Your Wallet Alive Let’s be brutally honest: when a final drive fails, it’s almost never “sudden.”It’s never “unexpected.”And it sure as hell isn’t “bad luck.” Final drives warn you .Loudly.Repeatedly.Aggressively. It’s contractors and operators who ignore those warnings — until the machine is limping across the job site like a wounded buffalo and everyone is suddenly shocked that the bill starts at R40,000  and goes u

How to Make Sure You’re Getting the Best OEM Components (and Not Expensive Scrap Metal) Buying used excavator parts can save your business a ton of money — but only if you know how to identify what’s high-quality and what’s a ticking time bomb . The harsh reality of the used parts world is this: There’s good stock…There’s bad stock…And then there’s the absolute horror show that some sellers try to pass off as “good condition.” At Vikfin, we’ve built our entire reputation on s

Sawubona, boet! The Vikfin yard in Benoni is looking like a Komatsu Christmas tree right now. We’ve just put the finishing touches on stripping a proper high-hour Komatsu PC400-6, and the result is one of the fullest 40-tonne parts spreads we’ve had all year. The engine walked out the door within 48 hours (R128 000, thank you very much), and the main valve bank went to a mine in Mokopane yesterday, but literally everything else is still here, steam-cleaned, photographed, pric

When you watch an excavator in action, it’s easy to focus on the big stuff — the roaring engine, the swinging boom, the bucket biting into the earth. But behind every precise movement, there’s a powerhouse component working under immense pressure to make it all happen: the dipper arm cylinder . It’s one of those parts that most operators only think about when it starts leaking — but by then, you’re already losing power, precision, and money. At Vikfin , South Africa’s trusted

When it comes to excavators, most operators think power means horsepower, torque, or hydraulic muscle. But there’s another kind of power hiding down below — one that doesn’t get the spotlight but literally keeps the whole machine moving. It’s the track adjuster , and without it, your excavator wouldn’t get far. This small but mighty component ensures your tracks stay tight, your undercarriage stays aligned, and your productivity stays on track — literally. At Vikfin , South A

If you’ve ever stood on a construction site and watched two excavators side by side — one with steel tracks grinding through the mud and another with rubber tyres rolling smoothly over asphalt — you’ve probably wondered: Why the difference? It’s not just about looks. The choice between a steel-tracked excavator  and a wheeled excavator  completely changes how the machine behaves, what kind of terrain it can handle, how it’s maintained, and even how the operator should think b

When you’re in the market for a hydraulic excavator, there’s one question that always rises to the surface before anything else: Do you go for a wheeled excavator or a tracked one? Both look similar from a distance — a powerful boom, a bucket, and that familiar rotating cab — but what lies beneath makes all the difference. Whether you’re digging trenches, clearing debris, or handling material on a construction site, the type of undercarriage (wheels or tracks) determines how

There’s one sound every excavator operator dreads — the grinding, groaning death rattle of a failing final drive. It’s like your machine is screaming for mercy while your wallet quietly cries in the corner. The final drive is the powerhouse of your excavator’s movement system. It transfers hydraulic power into track rotation — which means when it goes, your entire machine goes with it. No tracks, no work, no profit. And yet, it’s one of the most commonly neglected — and most

If you run excavators in South Africa, you already know: keeping them moving isn’t just about buying machines — it’s about keeping them alive.And when things break (because they will  break), your real profits come down to one question: “Can I get quality replacement parts — fast and affordably?” That’s where two of the biggest names in the industry come into focus: Volvo  and Doosan . Both are powerhouse brands with loyal followings, solid engineering reputations, and huge g

In the construction game, downtime  is the enemy. When your excavator’s parked instead of digging, every minute costs you money — in idle crews, missed deadlines, and lost contracts. But there’s one simple, smart way to slash downtime without breaking the bank: using used OEM excavator parts  from a trusted supplier like Vikfin . Let’s break down exactly how  genuine OEM parts — even used ones — can keep your machines in the dirt and out of the workshop. 1. Perfect Fit, Every

Every powerful excavator you see on site — roaring, digging, breaking — is a collection of thousands of precision-engineered parts working together. But what happens when one of those machines reaches the end of its life? Does it all go to waste? Not at Vikfin. Behind every used OEM part that leaves our warehouse, there’s a story — a process that starts long before it lands in your hands. It’s a story of engineering precision, grit, and South African know-how. This is the sec

In the world of heavy-equipment maintenance, one of the most crucial decisions you’ll face is whether to go with original equipment manufacturer (OEM)  parts or cheaper aftermarket  alternatives. For those working with excavators — especially contractors, fleet owners, and maintenance teams in South Africa — this isn’t just a theoretical debate. It’s a decision that impacts downtime, reliability, costs, and ultimately profitability. In this post, we’ll dig deep into why OEM e

When it comes to the anatomy of an excavator, most operators and mechanics immediately think about the boom, bucket, or hydraulic pump. But deep inside the undercarriage and swing frame lies one of the most critical — yet least appreciated — structural components of the whole machine: the X-frame . It doesn’t move oil or lift dirt, but the X-frame  forms the structural spine  of your excavator’s lower body. It’s what keeps the tracks properly aligned, the upper structure stab

When you think about an excavator’s hydraulic system, the first parts that come to mind are usually the pump, the cylinders, and the control valves. These are the muscle and the brains of the machine’s movement. But sitting quietly between the engine and the hydraulic pump is an often-overlooked hero — the pump bell housing . It may look like a simple chunk of cast metal, but the bell housing plays a critical structural, alignment, and vibration-damping role  that directly im