picking up some bigger terrace/ land clearing jobs,need a bulk pusher.the less electronics the better,something made in the 90s.looking at cat d8n,dresser 25g,komatsu155,leaning towards the d8n lots of parts and lots of machines out there, blade looks to be the narrowest out of the bunch to, for transport,not sure about the 128 gallon tank? but like the 3406. 25g very underated horse like the cummins n14,hate to have to work on the final drives though,parts ??? priced some rails salt aftermarkets where 5100 a side. komatsu 155 not sure, run a 65ex-12 now and can fix things myself but have never seen a 155 or been around one. if you needed a older 40 ton class dozer which would you choose and why????
8N, no contest - for exactly the same reasons you've already figured out for yourself.........
I put quite a few hours (thousands) operating D8Ns. One week on a almost new 155 Komatsu. It was one of the most depressing weeks I ever ran dozer. I never have operated a Dresser, so I have no opinion on them. Any model of the high tracked D8s is your best choice.
what is the difference between a d8L and d8n?
8L is the same size as a 9n
3406 better then 3408, what the difference between planetary powershift and powershift or are they the same??
8L is too big for what you want, plus they went out of production in the late 80s, so anything on the market is already 25+ years-old. 8L became the 9N so you're not comparing apples with apples comparing an 8N to an 8L. Powershift transmission works exactly the same on both tractors. All powershifts are planetary transmissions by design.
Cat D8 only.try getting delivery times on Komatsu spares,then try paying for them! and after all that,see how much your old Komatsu is worth and if anybody wants to buy it.. Cat all the way for me.Have worked a lot of D65 and D155's and found them to be good machines though but as an owner you have to consider the overall running costs from purchase,operation and eventual sale perhaps many years later and I allways put my money on a Cat.
If you have never seen a D8L, D9N or a D8N, it would be like a mouse (D8N) and an elephant (D8L) next to each other.
Nige is all over it!!! 8N for sure!!! Funny, I rattled a 11N that I was running along side the 8N I had ran...OMG!!! But, once you get out by yourself pushing and you have nothing to compare it too...just a few more steps up and a little more heat from those twin stacks. I was building half (one side) of a lake (new development) and the 631's were doing the other side, being pushed with a 9R. The kid (boy) running the 9 was one of those third gear forward AND reverse kinda guys and...sucked the life out of the tranny. They came over and got me and asked if I'd push the scrappers until they hauled in a different push cat. "sure", (like I had a choice). I crawled into the cut with 6 631's waiting. They were stacked so close together that I pushed two...yes Sir, 2 at a time out of the cut with a 1' cut by both. What a hoot, I'm tellin ya. The super called the owners, they came out, watched and laughed and then...asked me to push just one at a time. "Roger that Sir" Too much fun!!!!
If you are already running a Komatsu , you should consider a 155, mid 90,s year, better on fuel than the Cat, the 140 engine is good and you can get parts non genuine aswell You might also want to consider a 135, weighs around 30 ton, found these tractors to be very reliable no controllers on these machines either
done a fair bit on 135's.Great tractor and reliable.tried to get some parts for it 2 years ago.The price and availability was laughable.Had to get them from the states secondhand.Took about a week and still hurt on the wallet.The other one ran for about 10,000 hrs with almost no breakdowns until it broke up a tranny good style.The parts were unbelievably expensive and after looking at the cost of some impending running gear and potential resale value they decided that it would wipe out a lot of profit it had made in 10'000 hours and therefor scrapped it.They paid under £30k each for them in 1997 from MB.Both were ex McAlpine tractors with around 2000hrs on them so were considered a good buy.The remaining 135 has stood for a couple of years now with 'rebuilt' engine that failed after 50hrs.It also needs tracks and will probably get scrapped.MB don't want it as a trade in.Their 155-2 has ripped it's way through a reliable 8000 hrs until it broke up a final.They had MB try and fail to put a new dead shaft in it and if it wasn't for the company that own it having large pockets of money and enough of their own work to get some pay back they would probably have to scrap it.They spent £70k on a complete retrack and the finaldrive repair through the dealer who wouldn't stand by the deadshaft refit as they didn't supply the shaft in the first place.The shaft was £7k from Komatsu Japan and took 6 months to deliver it.After MB failed to freeze it in correctly the decision was taken to burn it out and buy another.This tractor still has the tranny,torque and opposite final drive that hasn't been looked at.The engine(which still has loads of power)hasn't suffered more than a turbo and water pump.As for being better on fuel than a Cat of simmiliar size(D8L?) I have never pumped diesel into one.An 8K or 8H burns much less in my experience than a 1990's 155. In summery,I have no doubt that a 20 odd year old 155 would bankrupt a small start up contractor if it started breaking down.
Wonder why Komatsu does not support you guys in Europe.?? We here in PA do not suffer from these horrific scenarios, parts are not a problem, seems to me cost on their parts are in line with other manufactures.?? Our D155AX-5 has been a superb performer!! Wondering, did some of you Brits offended someone at Komatsu a tad or what?? Cat is fine, however it is no way the last word in heavy equipment and the last I bought parts from them (two days ago) they weren't having any sales or giving anything away either!!One thing I do know! There is nothing inexpensive about owing and operating a 300 HP Crawler Tractor no matter who makes it!! One needs to make certain that's what is really needed to do the job!! Chum. .
just bid on a 87 d8n 10000 + hrs in Toronto nice shape,sold for 89000 canadian,sold for about what it cost new in 87. before it a komatsu 155 2008 8800 hrs sold for 91000 Canadian. only 6 years old compared to 27 years on cat resale no comparison
Chum,If Komatsu service,parts price and availability matched Cat here in the UK then Cat would have a big problem as the Komatsu kit is very good.But they don't. Earthscratcher says it all without saying much. I like Komatsu kit,but I like Cat better. The Irish lads seem keen on the Komatsu dozers.Perhaps they get better back up than we do.
Nicky 68a, I would be foolish to argue with a man in his own sandbox! However I do wonder why price, parts and service in Europe are that way ?? You're right though one thing that is for sure, no matter how good a piece of equipment may be it is of little use with a good parts supply! I'll admit, to me equipment brand is a little like my children, I love them all and it's hard to pick one over the!! .
Well said Chum Duffy, but you and I both know,1 of them is just that little bit more betterer.
Nice comment there Chum Duffy about the kids.As for the Komatsu thing,I can only speak for the English dealers,not the Irish or rest of the UK dealerships.As for the Euro side of things,I have no idea really.I reakon some imput here from other English users of older Komatsu kit may be able to enlighten us somewhat. Garrie.......all animals are equal,it's just that some animals are more equal than others.........