We buy parts
Sell Your Parts
Components, cores and parts machines — priced on identification, demand and whether they are testable.
- Written offers
- Transport arranged
- Running or not
- California
On this page
MachineryBarn buys used equipment parts and non-running machines bought for their components — engines, transmissions, final drives, hydraulic pumps, cylinders, undercarriage and cabs. Parts are valued on identification and demand: a component nobody can identify is worth scrap, and a component from a machine nobody runs any more is worth little more. Serial and part numbers are what turn a pile of iron into a priceable inventory, and photographs of the tags are the most useful thing you can send.
What counts as a parts
This category covers components sold separately from a complete machine: salvageable assemblies removed from equipment, surplus inventory from a dealer or fleet, and whole machines bought as parts donors rather than to be returned to service. A parts machine is one worth more dismantled than repaired.
Parts are not sized, they are identified. A component is described by the machine it came from, its own part or assembly number where one exists, and its condition — working, rebuildable core, or scrap. Those three facts determine almost everything about what it is worth.
Where these machines usually come from
- Repairing machines where new parts are unavailable or uneconomic
- Supporting older fleets that manufacturers no longer stock for
- Rebuild cores for remanufacturing
- Dealer and independent repair shop inventory
- Export markets, where older machines stay in service far longer
Parts we buy
Configuration changes who the next buyer is, so it changes the offer. These are the variants worth naming when you describe your machine.
- Major assemblies
- Engines, transmissions, final drives, swing drives, axles. The highest value and the most worth identifying precisely.
- Hydraulic components
- Pumps, motors, valve banks and cylinders. Strong demand and priced on whether they are working or core.
- Undercarriage and wear parts
- Track chains, rollers, idlers, sprockets, buckets and cutting edges. Priced on remaining life.
- Cabs, glass and body
- Complete cabs, doors, glass, panels and counterweights. Bulky, and worth more when a matched set is available.
- Parts machines
- A complete non-running machine sold to be dismantled. Frequently worth more this way than as a repair project.
What determines a used parts's value
Roughly in order of how much each one moves the number.
- 1
Identification
The single largest variable, and the one sellers most often skip. A component with a legible tag and a known donor machine can be listed, matched and sold. The same component unidentified is scrap steel. Photographs of the tags do more for the offer than any description.
How to check it: Photograph every data tag, casting number and serial plate. Record the make, model and year of the machine it came off.
- 2
Demand for the donor machine
Parts follow the population of machines still working. Components from common, long-lived models have steady demand; components from rare or obsolete machines have almost none regardless of condition.
- 3
Working, core, or scrap
Three very different positions. A tested working assembly is worth the most; a rebuildable core has real value to a remanufacturer; a seized or catastrophically failed component is scrap. Be honest about which — it is verified quickly.
How to check it: Say whether the component was working when removed, why it was removed, and whether it can be turned over or tested.
- 4
Completeness of an assembly
A complete engine with its accessories, harness and ECM is worth considerably more than a bare block. The same applies to transmissions, valve banks and cabs. Missing ancillaries reduce value disproportionately.
- 5
Storage condition
Components stored indoors, drained and plugged are worth far more than the same parts left in the weather. Water in a gearbox or a rusted cylinder bore turns a good core into scrap.
- 6
Quantity and organisation
Parts sell in volume. An organised, listed inventory is a genuine sale; a scattered yard of unidentified components is a scrap transaction. Effort spent listing is effort that returns.
- 7
Wear part remaining life
On undercarriage, buckets and cutting edges, what matters is measured remaining life. A part-worn set has real value; a fully worn set has scrap value.
- 8
Whether it is a whole parts machine
A complete non-running machine is often worth more than the sum of loose parts, because the buyer gets everything matched and can dismantle at their own pace. Do not part out a machine before offering it whole.
How usage is measured
Where a component has an hour meter or came from a machine with a known reading, give it — engine and transmission value depends heavily on hours. For everything else, condition and identification carry the value.
What gets inspected on a parts
Knowing what a buyer looks at lets you describe the machine accurately the first time, which avoids the offer changing later.
Identification
Data tags, casting and part numbers, serial plates, and documented donor machine details.
Major assemblies
Whether the unit turns over, oil condition and metal content, external damage, and whether accessories and ancillaries are present.
Hydraulic components
Shaft and spline condition, seal leakage, port thread condition, and whether the unit was working when removed.
Wear parts
Measured remaining life, even wear, and whether sets are matched.
Storage condition
Water ingress, rust, whether ports were plugged, and how long the item has been out of a machine.
Inventory organisation
Whether items are listed, tagged, palletised, and accessible for loading.
Wear items that dominate cost on this class
What we need to price your parts
You do not need all of it to start. The more of it you have, the closer the first number is to the final one.
- What the components are, and what machine each came from
- Make, model and year of the donor machine
- Part or assembly numbers where visible
- Whether each item was working when removed, and why it was removed
- Whether major assemblies turn over or can be tested
- How the items have been stored, and for how long
- Approximate quantity, and whether an inventory list exists
- For wear parts, remaining life if measured
- Whether you have a complete parts machine rather than loose components
- Where the items are and whether there is loading equipment on site
Common situations
The circumstances that come up most often when someone sells a parts, and what each one actually means for the sale.
You have a yard full of unidentified parts
Start with photographs of every tag and plate you can find. Identification is the difference between an inventory sale and a scrap sale, and it is work only you can do because you know where the parts came from. Even a rough list by donor machine transforms what we can offer.
You are thinking of parting out a machine yourself
Offer it whole first. A complete non-running machine is frequently worth more than the sum of what you would realise piece by piece, and it saves you the labour, the storage and the leftovers nobody wants. Partial dismantling is the position that sells worst.
A repair shop or dealer closing
Send whatever inventory records exist, even if imperfect. Shop inventories usually have part numbers already recorded, which makes them far more valuable than an equivalent pile without documentation.
The parts have been outside for years
Say so. Weather is what turns cores into scrap — water in gearboxes, rusted cylinder bores, seized assemblies. It does not stop a sale, it just sets realistic expectations about which items still have component value.
You have components from a machine nobody runs any more
Worth telling us the donor machine early. Parts demand follows the working population, and components from obsolete models often carry scrap value rather than parts value however good their condition. Better established before an offer than after.
Moving a parts
Parts are collected on a flatbed or in a container depending on volume, and loading is the main variable. Tell us whether there is a forklift or loader on site, whether items are palletised, and roughly how much there is — a well organised inventory can be loaded in a single visit while a scattered yard cannot. Whole parts machines are collected the same way as any non-running machine. Transport is arranged and paid for by us and is inside the offer.
Ownership and paperwork
Components are not titled and transfer by bill of sale. Whole parts machines transfer the same way as any equipment, against the serial number — and note that a machine being sold for parts still needs clear ownership and any finance released, exactly as a working machine would.
Attachments and extras
For this category the whole sale is components, so what matters is documentation: inventory lists, part number records, service history for major assemblies, and any manufacturer tags. A rebuilt engine with its rebuild paperwork is worth substantially more than the same engine without it.
Makes and model families we see most
We buy parts from manufacturers beyond this list. These are the ones that come up most often, with the series a seller is likely to recognise from the machine.
| Manufacturer | Model families |
|---|---|
| Caterpillar | Components across the full equipment range |
| Komatsu | Engine, hydraulic and undercarriage components |
| John Deere | Construction and forestry components |
| Case | Construction equipment components |
| Volvo | Construction and truck components |
| Cummins | Engines and engine components — strong standalone demand |
| Detroit Diesel | Truck engines and components |
Get a cash offer
Get an offer on your parts
Tell us what you have and what shape it is in. We come back with a cash figure in writing.
- A written offer, not an estimate
- Transport arranged and priced into the offer
- Running or not, any make
Prefer to talk it through?
(916) 740-7755Get a Cash Offer
Any brand, any condition, any hours.
- Written offer
- Transport arranged
- No Spam
Where we buy parts
We buy across California. Our published town-level coverage is concentrated in these counties.
