hey guys I am looking at buying a 10,000-11,000lb machine the two and only two that Ive decided on purchasing is either a 1)CAT 305E2 2019 with 229hrs and 3year 5khr warranty left for $80,000 it comes with a 24" digging bucket 48" clean up bucket and an auger attachment with a 6" bit standard manual pin grabber and straight dozer blade with a cab enclosure. 2) Yanmar VIO50 2021 for 86,000$ with 0hrs and 4 year 4khr warranty it has a cab with hydraulic coupler, angle blade, 12" digging bucket, 24" digging bucket and 42" digging bucket and I got them to throw in the SV40 pedals and Bluetooth stereo. both machines are in Canadian dollars by the way I have a 2003 gmc c5500 for towing so the weight isn't an issue both seem like very good quality machines and im having a hard time choosing between them I like the monitoring system on the cat a bit better but the yanmar is very smooth and I feel like the hydraulic system is better and the engine could possibly be better as well I know they are both built very well and im wondering if anyone out there has ran both and could give me their opinion on witch is the better machine to them.
What are "SV40 pedals"? Yanmar has a limited (small) dealer network, but the roomy cab and standard hydraulic bucket coupler were enough to sway me, twice. All my mainline medium and large frame excavators are Caterpillar, but, all my minis were Takeuchi. The Yanmar and Takeuchis are very similar under the hood. So, i got a Vi055 and a Vio80. No real complaints, except parts availability for odd stuff, like a mirror bracket and such. Biggest drawback is the BSPP hose fittings, as they don't appear to grow on trees, but all my Takeuchis are that way, too. The Cat are ORFS & STOR, which are much more common. Next one will be a Yanmar again.
Yanmar all day long. Are you on VI? I'm just not a big fan of the cat minis. Owned one and demoed one. If you ever intend to run attachments on it I'd for sure go yanmar. There are some posts on here about CAT running a single pump to run everything. (not sure if this is still the case) Bogs down as a result. Seems like a good deal on the CAT, considering it's a cat, or the yanmar is pricey, one of the two. Thought the gap would be bigger.
Yanmar builds a really good excavator. Quite a few around here, from the small machines to the 100 series and have yet to hear anyone complain about them. I demoed a 305.5 last Spring, I was not impressed with the machine. I don't know if your hooked on CAT or that machine specifically. The CAT to consider in this weight class is the 306. Much improved in everyway. Much more lift capacity, ability to dial in the machines response reactions. Interior is much better. It likely would cost more, but it is a much more productive machine. I know you don't want to consider anything else, but this is a consideration to think about.
Thanks for the reply’s guys !! So the SV40 pedals are the yanmar SV40 mini ex pedals and there a bit bigger and nicer for operation than the VIO50 pedals. it’s another 300+ dollar add on so they would throw that in for free they said . I am living on Vancouver island and I’m leaning towards the yanmar for sure I’ve researched the vio50 for the last 5 months and I think it’s the one I want but my neighbour is a heavy duty cat mechanic and finning is 10 min away from my house and yanmar dealer is 2.5hr away from me that’s the only real reason why I’m considering the cat not to mention the attachments for the cat are pretty legit but the yanmar comes with way more options and in my mind is a better machine but for the price and services attached to the cat it’s got me in a tight spot on witch is the right way to go..