Why Smart Operators Across Africa Are Ditching New Parts and Switching to Vikfin – The Ultimate Guide to Buying Used & Refurbished OEM Excavator Parts in 2025

Sawubona, mfowethu! If you’ve ever stood next to a 40-tonne excavator that’s been sitting dead for three weeks waiting for a R280 000 hydraulic pump from Japan, then this 3 000-word deep-dive is written specifically for you. My name is Ralph – I’m one of the guys at Vikfin who actually turns the spanners, drives the forklift, and argues with customs officials so your parts land in Kitwe or Walvis Bay without drama. Today I’m pulling back the curtain on exactly how Vikfin has become the go-to supplier for thousands of contractors, mines and plant-hire companies who refuse to pay dealer prices anymore.

Grab a cup of rooibos (or something stronger), because by the time you finish reading this you’ll know why we confidently say: “We will match or beat any genuine quote in South Africa – and probably still deliver faster.”

Who is Vikfin and Why Are We So Damn Cheap?

Vikfin is a family-owned South African company based in Benoni in Gauteng and Cato Ridge in KZN. We have no marble reception, no air-conditioned showroom, no fleet of branded double-cabs, and definitely no corporate golf days. What we do have is:

• A 5 000 m² open yard stacked with 20-, 30- and 40-tonne excavators in various stages of undress

• A team of five guys who between them have over 40 years of excavator experience

• A business model that is brutally simple: buy high-hour machines, strip them properly, sell the parts for 40–70 % less than new, and treat customers like mates instead of invoice numbers

We live at the bottom of the food chain on purpose. While the big dealers have rent, medical aid, company cars and shareholders to feed, we have low overheads and zero ego. That means a final drive that costs R185 000 new from Komatsu South Africa walks out our gate at R48 000–R68 000 and still carries our famous “doesn’t work? full refund or swap – no stories” guarantee.

The Parts We Actually Keep in Stock Every Single Week (All Prices in SA Rand ex-VAT – November 2025)

Here’s the current price board on our workshop wall – photographed yesterday so you know it’s real:

Engines (complete drop-in, 1 000–18 000 hours) R58 000 – R148 000

Final drives / travel motors (20 t – 45 t class) R22 000 – R82 000

Main hydraulic pumps (K3V112, K3V140, K3V180, HPV145, etc.) R28 000 – R52 000

Slew motors & swing gearboxes R26 000 – R48 000

Valve banks (main control valves) R18 000 – R42 000

Complete track groups (500–900 mm shoes) R26 000 – R54 000 per side

Track rollers (single & double flange) R320 – R520 each

Boom, arm & bucket cylinders (re-sealed, chrome perfect) R6 000 – R22 000 each

Buckets (1.0 m³ – 3.0 m³, rock or GP) R12 000 – R42 000

Complete cabs (glass, seat, monitors, joysticks) R8 000 – R28 000

Computer boxes / ECM / monitors R4 500 – R11 000

Wiring harnesses (main cab & engine looms) R6 000 – R16 000

Track adjusters & recoil springs R4 200 – R8 500

H-links & dogbones R4 200 – R7 200

Ring gears / swing bearings R11 000 – R16 000

Plus literally thousands of smaller items – pins, bushes, seals, filters, glass panels, steps, handrails, turbochargers, injectors, starter motors… you get the picture.

The Vikfin Process – How We Turn a Dead Excavator into Your Profit Machine

Step 1 – Buying the donor machine

We only buy complete, running (or recently running) excavators. We pay quickly, collect nationwide, and always verify hours with service records where possible.

Step 2 – Full steam clean & photography Every machine gets a full hot-water high-pressure blast before a spanner touches it. We take 200–400 detailed photos – serial numbers, hour meter, oil samples, cylinder chrome condition, undercarriage measurements. These photos go to serious buyers before they even ask.

Step 3 – Systematic stripping

We follow the factory workshop manual sequence. Nothing gets hammered off. Every bolt is torqued logged, every seal condition noted. Major components (pumps, motors, cylinders) are dismantled, measured, photographed again, re-sealed where needed, and bench-tested where we have the rigs.

Step 4 – Pricing that makes accountants happy

We price to sell fast. A rule of thumb we use internally: if a new part is R100 000, we want to be between R35 000 and R55 000 depending on measured condition. That’s it. No negotiation dance required (although we love a good haggle).

Step 5 – Shipping or collection

Same-day or next-day courier anywhere in South Africa.

Ten Real Customer Stories from the Last 90 Days Alone

1. Mpumalanga coal mine – needed two PC400-7 final drives urgently. Dealer quote R412 000 + 9 weeks. Vikfin supplied from stock R124 000 collected same day. Machine back on bench Monday morning.

2. Northern Cape manganese contractor – bought a complete stripped PC450-7 for R485 000. Sold his dead machine to us for R180 000 scrap value. Net cost R305 000 vs R4.8 million new.

3. Durban plant-hire fleet – bought eight complete cabs over six months. Saved R1.36 million and upgraded their whole 30–40 t fleet with air-ride seats and new monitors.

4. Free State gold mine – recurring customer for track rollers. Buys 40–60 at a time @ R380 each. Hasn’t bought new in five years.

5. Botswana diamond mine – needed a ring gear for a Hitachi ZX470-5. We supplied a Komatsu-compatible unit that cross-references perfectly for R13 800 vs R68 000 new.

6. Zimbabwe chrome operation – bought two engines (Cummins QSM11) for R138 000 each. Flew their mechanic down to Pretoria to inspect before loading. Still saved 62 % vs Harare prices.

7. Western Cape civil contractor – rolled his PC400-8. Bought complete cab + all glass + wiring loom for R24 000. Back on site in nine days.

8. Namibian road builder – regular undercarriage buyer. Orders full container loads every quarter. Pays cash on loading, gets extra 5 % discount.

9. Small one-man contractor in Limpopo – phoned crying because his bank wouldn’t finance a new pump. We sold him a tested K3V180 for R36 000 on 30-day account. He paid us two weeks later from the first job the machine did.

Technical Masterclass – How to Spot a Good Used Part (And Why Ours Pass Every Time)

Hydraulic Pumps Good signs: clean magnetic plugs, no scoring on swash plate, pressure holds 350 bar for 10 minutes on test bench. Our process: every main pump is fully dismantled, pistons measured (tolerance 0.02 mm), new seal kits fitted, bench run for 30 minutes.

Final Drives Check duo-cone seal faces for polish marks (means they were replaced recently). Oil should be golden, not black coffee. We drain, measure backlash on all three stages, replace seals if any doubt.

Cylinders Chrome pitting = instant reject. Rod straightness checked with dial gauge. We hone if needed, new genuine Komatsu/Hitachi seal kits, pressure test to 1.5× working pressure.

Engines Compression test all six (or eight) cylinders, oil pressure hot, blow-by measured with manometer. We change injector tips and thermostat as standard, supply 72-hour start-up guarantee.

Undercarriage We ultrasonic-measure link height, bush outside diameter, pin diameter. Anything under 60 % we sell as “cores only”.

The Vikfin Guarantee – The Clearest Returns Policy in Africa

Buy any part from us. Fit it. If it doesn’t work perfectly, pack it back in the same crate, phone us, and choose: a) Full refund including your freight both ways, or b) Free replacement part + we pay a R5 000 “sorry boet” bonus into your account.

We’ve been doing this exact policy since 2014. Returns rate? Under 2.7 %. That’s how confident we are.

Frequently Asked Questions Our Customers Actually Ask

Q: “Are these parts stolen?” A: Every machine has a full paper trail – original export documents, de-registration certificates, Microdot and TransUnion checks. We’re happier to show paperwork than hide it.

Q: “Will it fit my -7/-8 model?” A: 92 % of the time yes. Phone us with your serial number – we’ll confirm in 30 seconds.

Q: “Can I pay when the machine is working again?” A: Selected regular customers get 30-day accounts. New customers – 50 % deposit, balance on delivery, or cash-on-collection discount.

Q: “Do you have Cat / Hitachi / Doosan too?” A: Yes. 60 % Komatsu, 25 % Hitachi, 10 % Cat, 5 % everything else.

Q: “Why don’t you have a fancy website?” A: Because we’d rather spend the money buying another excavator to strip than paying a web designer R8 000 a month.

The Future – What Vikfin is Doing in 2026 and Beyond

• Expanding our yard in Durban (bigger port access)

• Starting a “core exchange” programme – bring your old pump/final drive, get R8 000–R25 000 credit

• Building a proper hydraulic test bench that can run HPV/Cat/Doosan pumps

  
  

Final Words – Stop Bleeding Cash and Start Digging Smarter

In 2025 a new 40-tonne excavator costs R9–R12 million landed. Diesel is R25+, finance rates are 11–13 %, and clients still want the same production for less money. The only way to stay profitable is to slash your parts bill without slashing reliability.

That’s exactly what thousands of operators from Kathu to Kitwe have discovered with Vikfin.

Whether you need one track roller tomorrow morning or a complete 20-tonne strip next month, give us a shout. We’ll quote faster, cheaper, and with more photos than anyone else – guaranteed.

Phone / WhatsApp: 071 351 9750 (Ralph) or 083 639 1982 (Justin) Email: admin@vikfin.co.za

Come visit. Have a dop en tjop. Leave with parts that make your accountant smile and your machine roar.

Keep swinging, keep earning, and we’ll keep the parts flowing.

Cheers, The Vikfin crew

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