Having been around CAT dozers my whole life and seeing a few Komatsu's in action, I was curious what some business owners thoughts are on productivity vs. costs between CAT, CASE, and Komatsu Dozers. By no means is this a "whats the BEST BRAND?!" question. I just never had the oppurtunity to move earth with Case or Komatsu machines. From reading other threads I gather that CAT has been a little more on the spendy side, but not necessarily on the productivity side. However, it seems CAT maintains a higher resale value than of the other machines, but does this provide an advantage for buying quality used CASE or Komatsu dozers? I dont know?!? any experiences would be a great help. Thanks! :usa
Depends on your application. I find a Cat dozer over a D6 sized machine is a good tractor. Below that, they are good tractors, but I find the Deere dozers to be a better machine in the small dozer range. Just look at what Cat was aiming to compete with with the new K series machines. Komatsu isnt a bad dozer, as long as you sell it off after a few years. I have been on several D65s that a pile of hours on them, they just seem to get slower and slower. Case makes a good finish tractor. I just dont find them to have enough ass so to speak. They seem a little on the light side to make any heavy pushes. It really all comes down to what your application.
All I can say is parts. Nobody can give you the parts service like Cat or John Deere.Anything you need will usually be there the next AM.
The new Case K or L series hydrostat dozers have a lot more push than the older TC models. Case makes a great dozer in the 70-120 Hp range. The bigger dozers although available I wouldn't recommend. As far as resale value goes...if you plan on running this machine until it's just about beat makes no difference. Check the price on the new Cat, Case, Komatsu...then use the equipment trader to check values of a similar model a couple years old. I think that resale value can be misleading sometimes...depends where you trade it in and when you trade it in. Parts for Cat , Case and JD are great in my area, Komatsu...not quite as good a dealer network.
I am no operator, but I have heard from operators the same about Cat & JD. Cat has a good machine in the "bigger" dozers, but JD is better for the smaller dozers. I also see alot of Komatsu's. They must be OK for the $$$$.
I love the Deere's...until I ran a new Komatsu with the cab forward design....very nice. Komatsu's parts availability is very good too. They are all pretty close. Almost a matter of personal preference.
A while ago (early 90's) I was looking after 5 new Komatsu D65-12's. They had Komatsu's first attempt at diff steering. We put over 12000hrs on them and they were 100% reliable. The worst problem we ever had was that an engine sump rusted through because there was no oil leaks to stop it happening! Cat always get a higher resale value. Probably because parts are so easy to find.
Ive noticed the Deere 450H is a popular choice. See a lot of contractors running full line of Komatsu's as well.
Around here dozers are Cats or the 450 size John Deere. I couldn't tell you where the nearest Komatsu dealer even is (on edit in the same town as the nearest Cat dealer. Odd the things you miss if you aren't looking). the only thing that is Komatsu around here are excavators. I like the smaller Komatsu dozers seem nimble enough and had enough power for their size. The main reason all the private owners around here buy Cat is just better known. I like the 450 deere's as well, good little pushers.