Looking at purchasing a used motor grader for township maintenance and commercial site work looking for an all wheel drive machine and will be roughing in and finishing with this machine I’ve operated cat and Deere machines and like both of them looking for everyone’s input.
I’ll go first. Which brand has the best support in your area?
I’ve gotten good support with Deere and Cat but lately Deere has been better.
My fuel cost per hour is at least 1/3 higher on my 2012 772GP then my 1998 143H. Newer is not always cheaper to run or maintain. My Cat just idles along. The Deere won’t run at the low RPMs the cat will. The the large pin Mount for the Deere that goes through the Beam has no replaceable bushings. I work in heavy rock grading logging roads and have seen this area of the frame heavily warn on the Deere. The H series Cat has a much better design.
Budget?
Looking at the 180,000 range is our top amount we want to spend
I definitely know about the fuel consumption is more on the Deere then the cat the Deere machines just don’t have the low end torque the cat machines have.I didn’t know the center pin was like that thanks for that vuable information.
Having never ran a newer CAT more than a few hours I can only comment on Deere in regards to fuel economy. Our previous 770G pre-DEF 9.0L sipped fuel blading at 1200-1400 rpms. Our current 672G DEF machine also is gentle on fuel running 1400-1600 rpms. I push snow at 14-18 mph, 1400-1800 rpms in 7th. I don't have a gallon meter on the fuel barrel so can't nail this. Last time I pushed I ran 7 hrs and used less than half a tank. But since I can't prove it I'll go high and say 45 gallons. 6.5 gallons per hour. Our neighboring township runs CAT. Their first 140M was totally gutless and drank fuel because it had to be ran WOT to work at all. Their later model has the larger engine and is a bit better. But still won't run with the 7 series Deere with 9.0L engine. I've ran them both on my roads as well as running down the highway. Their operator totally agrees since he's ran ours also. To the OP's question. With that budget you can get into a pretty nice machine. I'd go with whichever brand offers to the most stable service.
The grader instructor for the operators union here says a conventional Cat 140(140H) has better feel for finishing work than a 140M with joy sticks. I would think the same in all wheel drive machines. He also says the JD's have come along way and really likes the new machines. The have a new (2020) Cat 140, a 14M and a JD 770G. The M series is a different course from the others. He's been an operator for close to 40 years.
Souinds like a 143H 1AL-prefix machine with a 3306 engine might be what you're looking for. There is another series of 143H (APN-prefix) but that is powered by a 3176 engine And TBH I'd personally prefer the 3306 version.