Had a major breakdown on my 334 yesterday and when i took it in for repair got to play a little with a 435.... Might trade in the 334. Any body have one? any problems? Thanks!
What was the breakdown?? I liked the 435 its smoother then the 334 but there 2 totally differnt sized machines
Cracked cylinder head..... Lotsa hours on the machine(3000)....Just time to trade I think. I fully realize the size difference as its about 2 tons and a bit wider too. I do a lot of water and sewer and it would sure be nice to have the ZHS model as I am usually right up against a house or something... Just wondering out loud what owners think of them.....
i have 2 435's one with over 5000 hrs no real major problems, lot's of hydraulic filters, but they are awesome. there is alot of cab vibration and they do not lift like the 305 but they sure do dig
Thanks C.D. !
If you have a Takeuchi dealer try a TB153. It is as handy as multipurpose tool. You get near zero swing and zero tail. Spin the machine all the way around and it over hangs by 2" or so. Much better for loading trucks than a typical swing boom. This has a side to side boom which keeps the articulation near the center of the machine. When offset digging you don't get pulled around like you do with a typical swing boom configuration. Also because the boom articulation is near the center of the machine, its lifting capacity is awesome. Surely worth a look if your interested in a machine to handle tight spaces.
colorado digger what year are those 435's? 5000 hrs is real impressive to have on a mini. No major break downs either thats great.
i have a 430 now for 3 years have not yet had one issuse great mini
crowd cylinder nuts come loose and rods break on the older models and have seen it in the past year on newer ones its a hit and miss deal not all do it the rods threads were cut wrong from the factory on some and thats what causes them to work loose and break other than that they are a good strong machine dig well.
i have a 05 with 5000 hrs and an 07 with 1500 hrs. they run great, no motor probs, hydraulic, just change filters. the older one has had rhe boom welded up a few times. they are both fast tracks which is awesome. the tak. 53 does not have a turbo as far as i know.
Looks like I've got one bought... Pretty sure I'll be happy with it. Thanks!
I have a 05 and am really happy with it's reliability. 1500 hrs and no problems with the major components. Glad to hear from those with a lot of hours. I second the benefits of the fast track system. Scott
beware i have 4 bobcat excavators and just lost a motor at 680 hrs on a 337 they willnot warrenty even with uptime protction soft wear i have owned over 12 bobcats but would be hard for me to buy another if they dont take care of good customers
I just found the site so I'm sorry that this info seeems to be a little late. I wish I could have warned you before you bought one. I own an '06 435 that now has about 2000 hrs on it. I am VERY unhappy with how it's holding up. I have had so many problems with it that I can't remember all of them. I actually own (2) Bobcats (A300 & 435 ZHS) and have had numerous problems with both. To top it off the dealer sucks. If I inquire about any problem I may have, they offer no help. "You better bring it in so we can check it out". "We have never seen or heard of that problem before". Yours is the only one with that problem". I will try to make a list of some of the problems: 1) Machine would bog down while traveling in the Fasttrack mode. Dealer fix: To turn up the pump. Tractor black smokes when throttling up. 2) Seal went bad on the swing break piston. Swing would not function (intermittently of course) and dealer found it difficult to diagnose. It took several weeks of taking it to the shop with no fix. Got so frustrated I went running back to Cat to see about a trade in on a 305. Cat wanted the 435 plus $40K. No deal-stuck with the junker Bobcat. 3) Swing ram blew itself apart. Bucket was in the air at the moment of it's demise. I was running that function, and it was extending when it hit the end of the travel and blew apart. Head gland is aluminum and partially stripped the threads. Unfortunately the extremely thin walled cylinder stretched, thus allowing it all to come apart. Worst part is that this ruins the barrel. Bobcat dealer says that mine is the only one that's ever done this. Local hydraulic repair shop says that this is a common Bobcat problem. I suspect that the head gland was unscrewing itself (did notice a slight leak earlier in the day), but I could not easily get to it and decided it would make it through the day before I needed to do the disassembly required to tighten it back up. After we repaired it we checked all the other heads for tightness. Found (and tightened) the thumb ram to be loose also. I am getting tired of typing (and complaining) so the list will stop here for now. Just as a reference, I have several tractors (one with 12,000 hrs-Cat 416C), and have been operating heavy equipment for over 25 years. I know what is abusive and what is not. This tractor is just not tholding up like it should.
wow, who is you're dealer down there?? i know our dealer is awesome, bobcat of the rockies. sorry you are having problems. i know some fellas with a a 300's and they speak very well of them.our newer 07 435 runs like a top, i can't see the digging being any worse down there than up here.we also run head shakers and hammers and load with 36" buckets. well, whatever, to each his own. i'll take that bobcat over a cat all day long.
Just took delivery of it yesterday... Bummer to hear that some of you have had problems. My dealer has always treated me awesome....
Dealer is Bobcat of Durango (formerly LBJ Equipment). Initially they tried to take pretty good care of me. They did offer a loaner while the machines were under warranty (if mine was in for warranty repair-which they were often). I have lost confidence in their ability to repair things correctly. I have had issues with the hydraulic coupler as well, which the dealer tried to repair. After the repair the unit began to leak (from the swivel-which they did not repair, but they did disassemble and reassemble it). When I brought it back in they said that it failed because the part that they had repaired (the bore and pins that engage the bucket) was damaged to much to be able to repair, and that the coupler needed to be replaced (give us $1300 please). Their excuse was that one of the o-rings from the pins (the pins are actually pistons as well) got cut on the imperfections of the bore (bore damage was the original problem). Then (according to them) a piece of this o-ring traveled through the ports (about the size of the head on a ball point pen) and cut the seals of the swivel, thus causing the external leak. I told them that I have never heard of this happening, but I have heard of seal/o-rings that get damaged upon installation, yet they insisted that that was not the case. I don't buy it! First of all their "repair" only lasted for (2) bucket exchanges (yes that's right-only two) and then started leaking after about a days worth of digging out a crawl sapce addition (with a 36" bucket like you mentioned that you have). As I mentioned in my last post, I have been doing this for a while and I have never heard of an o-ring cutting an o-ring before. Further more, I did not accept their opinion that the coupler was ruined. I took it to a local hydraulic repair shop and they repaired without any issues. They said that they have never seen an o-ring cut an o-ring before either. Upon disassembly they saw that the seal had been damaged during installation. They proceeded to make repairs to the "un-repairable" coupler. I have been using it ever since. This is only one of many, many instances why I have lost confidence in the local Bobcat dealer. Oh, another instance went like this: The 435 was sitting (at idle) while we were hand digging to expose an existing utility line when all of the sudden we here a very load and sharp bang-as if someone had hit the boom with a sledge hammer. I happened to be looking towards the machine when this happened, saw the windows shutter, but even after 20 minutes of investigation we could not determine what had caused this. Since we couldn't figure out what had happened and could find no visible faults with the machine I decided to keep using the machine. Once I moved it, I found a very large broken bolt. We then conitnued looking to see where it came from-without success. Later I took it to the delaer and together we looked for where this broken bolt belonged. They eventually found that it came from the track tensioner assembly. They (mis) informed me that if I did not buy the $800 assembly then the uncontrolled spring tension would eventually destroy the track ("may break at any time"). I was unwilling to spend that much when the only thing I needed was a 1" diameter bolt. I know how the tensioner works and the spring is designed to give when the tension on the track gets near the point (but before) of causing damage to the track. The only reason (in my mind) the bolt was there was to keep everything together for assembly pruposes. Once the track is on it will prevent the assembly from coming apart. They told me that I had to buy the whole assembly because Bobcat said that the assembly is an unrepairable part. They don't even sell the bolt or the other components of the assembly. No part numbers are shown on the parts schematics either. Needless to say, the bolt is still not repaired and everything is working fine. The reason that the assembly can not be repaired (according to the dealer) is that it is too dangerous to compress the spring to make repairs. I understand the dangers of compressing a spring that takes several thousand pounds to compress, but they do make tools for this and I would expect any reputable dealer would have one. That is part of the shpeel that they give as to why they need to charge so much for mechanic work-because of all the tools they need. Ultimately I told them that I would repair it (if I decided that it needed it). They warned me not to try and compress the spring myself (too dangerous) to wit I replied that I would not compress it myself but that I would take it to an ACTUAL mechanic if I needed it repaired (ouch!). My local Cat dealer can safely compress springs up 120 tons (of required compressive force) like the tensioners on D9's. I'm sure that they can handle the measly little 435 spring. Furthermore, I showed them the parts blow up (so they could see the design) of the Bobcat tensioner. They confirmed that it was similar to theirs and that no damage would result in the bolt not being there anymore. I can ask my Cat dealer about anything and get straight answers and assistance from the repair or parts department. They employ experienced (career) mechanics that have earned my respect and trust. I'm sure that not all Bobcat dealers are as I have described (nor all Bobcat machines) but I have experience with dealers in CA and CO and can assure you that that's the way it is in both areas that I've worked in.
I am happy hear that you are having good experiences with your Bobcats and your dealer. I would much, MUCH rather report a positive experience with mine but unfortunately I can not. I do however really like the way the A300 works. It will grade while turning, won't tare up your work,gets traction all the time, and doesn't eat tires (1900 hrs on OEM HD tires-may reach 3,000). It has had numerous problems also, but compared to the 435 has been pretty good. Unfortunately they cost about as much as a tracked unit, and don't come in yellow. I certainly wish the OP (and all other Bobcat owners) the best of luck with their machine/s. I, on the other hand will not buy Bobcat again, nor would I expect anyone who has had anything close to my difficulties to.
We have an 06 435 with around 1035 hours . We have had a couple of cylinder issues as described that we were not happy with, the dealer worked with us some on repairs. We have used hammers A LOT as well as a Hammerhead breaker so we can't blame it totally on defects in the cylinders. We use a 36" bucket and thumb and pick up a big chunks of broken concrete and we don't feel like we gave up much capacity compared to our 341. We like ours real well.
Have you gone up the chain to the district Bobcat rep, regional and factory rep? They should be able to get you some satisfaction even if they have to send someone down from Gwinner. I had CAT reps come down from NC to help solve issues I had with a 272c skid. We just had to make enough noise. I certainly have had issues with some of my Bobcats but my dealer has been awesome though not perfect. I have owned about 13 machines in 12 years..I run 2-3 machines at a time and do all the operating myself. Seems like someone isn't doing their job at the dealer and Bobcat needs to know about it.
I also own a Bobcat mini (430) and am beginning to wish I had found this website before making the offer to buy. Bear in mind I am a operator wanna be with little experience on excavators. Already had a Kubota L35 TLB. Backhoe is OK but no comparison to a mini ex for most digging projects. Tried out a neighbor's mini to clean out about 1000 feet of ditch line and fell in love with the little digger. First mistake, I bought a rental machine with 1900 hrs. Owner of the company was a friend of mine and assured me his rentals were in top condition because they were dilligently maintained by expert mechanics. Second mistake, trusted my friend was truly aware of how his rental equipment was actually maintained. Third mistake, after noticing some problems upon delivery I decided they were minor could be taken care of with little effort and expense. Conclusion...do your homework and take a knowledgeble mechanic/operator with you to inspect prior to making an offer. Not a knock on Bobcat. I have put 300 hrs on the unit and it has been very productive. Just wish I had done more homework before pruchase.
we have 4 435's ZHS fast track. 1 07 model, 2 08 models and one 09 model. hours range from 100 hours, 600 hours, 1800 hours and 2800 hours. All still fantastic machines. Never had an issue apart from the Dipper arm main pivot bolt tends to come loose, which could be bad but it's not hard to check it. They dig very well and are very fast. Kubota motors are faultless.
I love to hear this. The bolt loosens up on mine ,but like you said it's an easy fix. Scott
As you have noted in your post, you were dealing with CAT. I have, in the past, been in contact with the Bobcat rep. This was after filing out one of those surveys (that come in the mail after warranty repairs are performed). In the comment section I wrote how between 1400 hours of Bobcat use (435: 800 hrs; A300: 600 hrs) vs. 14,000 hours of CAT tractor use (416C: 11,000 hrs; 315CL: 3,000 hrs) the Bobcats had been in the shop at about a 20:1 ratio. Mind you, I did not actually keep score or anything but the difference is huge especially when you consider the amount of hours used on the Cats. Even if they were in the shop the same amount of times it would be way lopsided against the Bobcats because the Cats had 10X the hours. In the beginning the Bobcats could not even get 40 hours of use before they had another warranty issue. Imagine the hassle between movingthe machines bak to the dealer and having to try and get another machine to keep the job going. During the warranty period our dealer did offer a loaner unit but it was never the same unit (as the one being repaired under warrranty-skid vs AWS & tails swing vs ZHS) so we were always making adjustments to how we were doing things. I guess my point is that I have tired of fighting the good fight. The rep is not aware of the most recent problems that I have had with the 435 (or the A300 for that matter) but he has been aware of things up to the point of warranty expiration. Realistically, I have forgotten more of the problems than I can now remember and I get to the pointr that I am tired of even talking about it. Occasionally I get pissed and will begin to rant (see this thread) and eventually tire of it again. You are right. I should complain to someone who can do something about it. I think I have finally resigned myself to the fact that I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO GET THEM TO FIX THE BIG STEAMING TURDS that they sold me instead of the quality machine that they CLAIM to be marketing. Sorry, I felt as though I was about to blow just now.....I feel a little better now. After I calm down a little more I may try to contact Clayton (dealer rep) and try to remember the events and their sequences.
Proabably be best to try and write down a timeline of events - don't rush it just start it with what you remember and then leave it. Then add things as you remember them. You could also make copies of all documentation related to the warranty repairs and copies of all invoices for repairs carried out after the warranty expired e.t.c Once your happy with your 'evidence' then have a chat with your rep.
Dgodgr hey did ya sell ur 435 if so I think I have it now, im fixen it all the time , rams leak an blows seal if ya reach out to max, bogs down, I had my first 435 stolen so I had toget another 1st one was great no problems at all, this one o man , cant offard another one right now , otherwise this one be gone an I have another
Yes I know im a view yrs late
Nope. I still have both of my Bobcats (an A300 & a 435 ZHS, both 2006 models). The 435 now has about 3,700 hours, the A300 has about 3,400 hours. The last repair I have made was track replacement. Excellent track life, no complaints there (way more than the comparable Cats I've seen). Before that I had to weld the boom (near the dipper mounts). This is a very common problem with these (just ask CD). I have actually had a lot of hours without any major problems lately. I need to re-seal both blade rams and will do so soon. I would have loved to replace them but the thought of the financial setback cooled my jets. Another noteworthy comment is that I recently covered for a buddy of mine. It was a simple exploratory hole to design a septic system. I used my buddies mini (a Cat 305 with 1,700 hours). I found myself wishing I had my mini. Oh, and his tracks were already torn and coming apart (parallel with the car body).