I'm contemplating buying a Cat 305.5E CR with long stick, thumb, and four way blade. Cab machine a must, just wanted input on this compared to the Case CX55B. I really like both machines but the cat just seems to be the one for me. Anyone here have experience with these?
I demoed the 305.5E for a day. I have run the CX55 for about 4 hours. The CAT I thought had a nice cab, more sporty than the CASE. I liked the ability to change flow with the CAT. Getting in and out of the cab on the CAT sucked. As far as control systems, I thought they both were real good, both were smooth and precise. I thought the cycle times were better in the CASE. They are both real close as far as the spec sheet. They are both quality machines. I ended up buying a Takeuchi TB153FR.
I replaced my KX121-3 with a new KX057-4 for $70k in December of last year and am very pleased with it thus far. Cab, dual aux, thumb, 4 way blade, and aftermarket radio. Financing was easy, 0% required down, 60 month financing at 0% interest. The financing decision took less than an hour. Things I don't like: Thumb... a progressive link thumb would be nice, but more importantly the shape of the thumb has little to no hook and thus isn't very good for grabbing large logs. Its flatness also reduces the capacity between the thumb and the bucket so it doesn't grab multiple logs very well. I do like the width of the thumb in relation to the 24" bucket. The counterweight's paint uses a high build primer. This pretty well takes out the option of touching up the counterweight in the field, makes it look sexy and smooth though. The zerk on the base of the boom's cylinder is on the cylinder's eye, exposed. Due to my first dislike (thumb), I had a log slip out and roll into the zero, breaking the thin guard off and breaking the zerk. It would be better for this pin to have a grease journal and put the zerk on the end of the pin. Good things: I'm 6'2", 270lbs and have plenty of room in the cab as well as going through the door way. The cab is modern feeling and quiet. The foot pedals are a huge step up over the KX121's pedals. There's enough leg room to comfortably have your feet on the pedals and work them. The blade can support most all of the force the machine can make. On some machines, when the blade is supporting the front of the machine and you lift hard, the blade will collapse until the tracks are supporting some of the weight. The bucket pin is solid, no grease journal to create a stress riser in the pin. I broke 3 pins in the 121 in under 400 hours, right through the grease journal. The 57 bucket pin is greased through a zerk on the tip of the dipper. It has grease gun storage under the hood on the side of the machine, makes greasing regularly easier without a support truck. Good pushing power with the blade... it actually specs higher than my Mustang MTL325 (Tak TL250) in pushing power, although the CTL is clearly a better pusher. The carbody/undercarriage is easier to clean by far than the KX121. Instead of being solid from nearly the idler to the final drive, the middle ~60% is open. Cleaning out the packed tracks only takes 5 minutes per side instead of 20+. The machine is stable working over the lifted blade. The KX121 with a 6 way blade wasn't, it would "nod" substantially. To work with the blade up I put it behind me to act as counterweight and work over the finals. Good power and lifting capacity. I have a 24" 6.5 cu.ft. bucket. It could easily handle a bucket 50% bigger. Smooth controls. Even wide open you can be quite gentle with the bucket. I do like the TB153FR, although the cab is a bit bare bones. It's swinging boom offers a few unique advantages normally reserved for full size machines with the boom next to the cab.
I usually buy a Werk Brau thumb, but on this last TB153 I bought an HEF prolink thumb since WB could not give me one. Its a pretty awesome thumb, the articulation is outstanding. The design of the tines is very good in my opinion. There are not many thumb OEMs that do prolink on these size machines.
I don't know of any OEM pro link thumbs in the 6 ton or less category. The shape of the 57's isn't very good, and the dipper/boom combination and thumb rotation put the nearest grab point further away than the 121. If I had a mulligan, I wouldn't go with the Kubota thumb. One good thing about it is it folds up a good closer to the stick than the E50's thumb.
Both HEF and PSM do a prolink in this size machine. The PSM was also real nice just to much money.
I can't seem to find HEF on a google search?
Thanks, I sent them an email.
I have a 2013 304 E with a long stick. I like the machine but.... It is a hobby horse. Meaning it rocks a lot even with just a 18" bucket. Even if you put the backfill blade down, it doesn't help that much. It does seem that it is much better once you get used to the controls and learn when it is at the end of its reach. Other than that I really like the machine. Don't know if a medium stick would help. The 2 younger guys that run it most don't seem to care about the rocking, maybe it is me.
I have a Kubota U55 and a CAT CR305.5, they are both nice quality machines. The Kubota has a better cab, its faster and has more power. The only things I don't like is the Kubota thumb as others mentioned and I don't like the plastic flip out foot pedals. The Interior is a lot nicer on the Kubota. The cat is nice but if I didn't get it so cheap I would have bought a second Kubota, Im not sure about the Case, never ran a Case mini. I have ran a Case 160 and it seemed to be a great machine.