Getting both a d6t and 850k dropped off tomorrow to compare. Think its going to be fun. Right now we have 750j and d6ns. I like the cats. Supposed to be off but might go in just to play with them and see what I like best. Both PAT blades wide tracks. Any thoughts on either?
D6T vs. 850K We challenged the d6t vs the 850k. Both machines were outside beam tractors with cabs. After 30 days of test we choose the Deere because of the following reasons: more power, lower undercarriage rebuild cost, and a slightly lower price. Our operators liked the AC and visibility better in the Deere and the seat and controls better in the Cat. Our operators were quite surprised by the Deere's performance.
The 850K has a lot of adjustments for the transmission you can set through the screen. If it feels too hot or lazy with certain controls, make sure to play with them to suit your preference.
We ended up with the 6T. It was 2 months to get a gps ready 850k. We liked the 6t a lot better, The one the dealer brought out was brand new and ready for us, and they came so close on the price to the 850 it was a no brainer. After all the problems with our 750js after getiing above 7000 hrs, it was time to give cat a chance.
390Eric: What problems did you have w your 750J? We have one w about 4000 hours. Only problem we've had was a faulty hydraulic pump which was under warranty.
If I'm not mistaken the 850K's come prewired from the factory ready to go?? If cat got that close to a deere's price, they are really wanting your business. What kind of problems where you having with the 750's?
It was two months for our dealer to get an 850k prewired. We have a highway equipment dealer (kobelco,hyundai) that bought all the 850ks from the deere dealer because they rent them to the pipeliners. We had to go thru them just to get a demo of one. Yes Cat wants in with us, about the only Cat we had before was just 815 and artic trucks and a d8r. In the last two years we bought 3 more trucks, 2-735s and a 740, d6n and the 6t. We have an early 750j with 11,000 or so hours, u/c lasted forever. Chased an overheating problem for years, now the hydraulics over heating. It hasn't been a bad machine just last couple years seems like it runs for 3 days then down for 3 days getting it fixed or keep trying to find fixes to the same problems. At this point its just showing its age and has become unreliable and either needs to be gone or totally gone over is it worthit? We have a 2010 0r 11 I believe. It had to be put together on a friday at the end of the shift. Most of the blade cylinders came apart early on. Our dealership said they were all put together wrong, the blade started cracking at the welds at a year old and some other issues. Both have been decent machines, our dealership changed names within the last couple years and service just isn't the same. Barely keep any parts in stock, just has been a big down fall with them too. Cat is really taken care of us and seems to have what we need a lot faster and they have been coming close enough on all the prices that we feel its worth for the little bit extra it costs. As you guys all say dealerships attitudes go a long way in your purchase decision. I have gone from Cat to deere in one day and feel the cat is a better machine.
I hate it when dealers(or the factory) play the blame game!! Fix the problem regardless!! Are the cat's and deere's equipped the same way? Do the same jobs? Sounds like y'all keep machines till they are dead? How are the cat's holding up in compare? To me anything over 10,000 hours is getting on up there in hours in a hydrostatic machine? Even between 5 and 10K hours most companies tend to trade up for newer machines for tax reasons and to keep downtime down regardless of make.
My owner keeps stuff. Once its paid for it stays for the most part, figures what he would get out of it to sell it rather keep it for back up. He is trying to move the older 750j into that but we have so much work to get done we need to run it. Both the 6t and 850k were xw tracked with rippers. Pretty compareable machines. The cats are newer and we don't have the hours on them yet. We have had a fair share of problems with our 6n we got it with 800 hrs out of the rental fleet. But cat has stood behind it and fixed it quickly with no blame games. Our oldest cat is my d8r 2004, 7400 hrs. Its lived a tough life about 90% of it has been ripping rock. Its been breaking down a lot lately, but the parts are there the next morning not 3 or four days.
Mainly sounds like the dealer, deere or both needs to step up. And i was talking about deere on the blame game stuff Good feedback. I believe the general consensus on 750/850's are that they are an all around general machine. Ripping rock and heavy dozing maybe where most people like the cat. I think its just all in what we get used to. Have you been on any 950 and 1050 machines?
I believe the 750/850s are good machines. We have guys that prefer the 750s. I like the cabs on them, I am a tall bigger guy, easier to get in and out of. Was in the 6n today and kept hitting my head getting in and out of the thing. Never been in a big Deere dozer, owner doesn't like liebherr so wont even look at them. I wonder how those big hydrostatic machines handle hard ripping and dozeing.
all hydro machines work really great till the hydro takes a dump then they become the most expensive boat anchor ever devised. wouldn't be so bad if they would last longer than 5/6K hours.
5-6k hrs? I have multiple C, H, & J Deere hydrostats with 8000+ and have had no major hydrostat issues. Keep the oil clean and cool and they last a long time. I worked on a ton of dozers at the dealer and 90% were problems on the electrical side of the hystat system. Very seldom did I see component failures.
Granted the best machine on earth can have issues, but I ran a 700k for a while. Problems started about the 5th week and continued until we turned it back in on the 2 month rent we had. All these new machines seem to have too many computer issues. Mechanical they are good, but electronic issues suck. Mechanics can downsize from large truck to a Honda Civic now, as long as they have room for a laptop.
We have an 850c that cannot be killed too. Just keeps chugging along. Eats turbos though.