Narrowed it down to purchase either cat 272d ($81k cdn.) or 262d ($69k cdn.) or kubota svl75 ($64k cdn.). Yes I know the cat's are wheel units. What brand/model is better and reliable ? I do excavating and grading driveways. Require to excavate existing asphalt driveways and dig the dirt , or just dig gravel/dirt in new sub-divisions. Will be going over sidewalks and curbs and short distances (10-20 ft. approx.) on asphalt roads to load tri-axle dump truck. This procedure is a couple times a week. Average hours a season are approx. 120-150 on machine.
272d is 98 hp, 262d is 75 hp, svl75 is 75 hp.
What do you have now? Tires or tracks?
Had tires, bobcat s300 & s175, running bobcats for 15 years, until last fall. think I will hate tracks when i have to hit sidewalks and climb on to road to dump filling the dump truck. Tracks rattle your teeth on pavement. But on the flip side, tracks will not spin and bog down and create ruts when excavating as tires do. Kubota is making a big statement to the big players in skid steer industry, with their aggressive pricing. Have the svl90 on hold, but will back out, because of its weight therefore would have to order a new trailer and a heavier truck to tow.
I recently traded s650 bc for a 262d cat and I couldn't be happier the ride control and self leveling bucket up and down that works and return to dig. its just a Cadillac compared to bobcat don't know much about kubota
i believe the cat is like a cadillac. bobcat is more of a mans machine it seems like. kubota looks more like a mans machine too. i have never understood self leveling until now, when it actually levels going down too. personally i am not a fan of self leveling bucket. makes more sense if its mechanical tho.
I had a s205 bc with self leveling it only worked going up not down so glad you understand it now, its nice to have while driving pipe. lol mans machine
Is self leveling selectable on the Cat?
yes, heated air ride seat, back up camera, gps, removable floor mat you can dump. its kind of like power windows in your truck, you really don't need them but there nice to have
Concretepete, what style controls are you and your crew used to running? The Cat and Kubota have ISO controls only. My advice would be to rent the machines you are looking to buy. A short demo might not even give you the full feel. We have a Cat 242D on a lease thru a buddy of mine. I bought a Bobcat T590 in December. Had to get Bobcat hand/foot to get the Kubota engine, last one they had. Ordered a Bobcat S550 and sales guy talked me into hand/foot again. I tried like hell to buy these both with ISO controls. Last weekend I did a side job with the Cat. Spreading gravel, it sucked. I can't stand the controls after actually working with them. Glad I didn't get the machines with ISO. Customers have not really liked the Cat controls either. Cat has a nice cab. Won't buy another. Just ordered a Deere 312GR radial arm with hand/foot controls. Deere has a new 317 G track machine. Similar to a Bobcat T190/T590. Maybe check it out. Yanmar engines. Spend a few hundred bucks and rent the ones you are interested in and then decide. Don't forget how important the dealer is, need parts and service. Tracks are awesome. Benefits outweigh the negatives. Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.
Always had run hand/foot. Iso is new too me, tried at dealer's yard but not worked with bucket, just drove around , lifting arms up and down. Rentalshop, you have many hrs. with that cat controls ? Did try bobcat s750 with joysticks, the cat's felt better. But only 5 min. in the seat and just driving and not working the bucket ; - no digging, or grading gravel. Maybe I should try these machines in actual working them hard. I can make hand/foot machine dance tangos. Reason for me to consider hand controls is knee pain.
surly the dealers will bring you a machine to demo or they will here. you will have the controls down in no time and wonder how you made it with out them
i try to tell this to people. you will never get the controls down to where you will be as good as standard hand foot if that is what you have lots of hours on. in certain circumstances electric is very nice, in certain circumstances you will be wishing for manual hand foot. i have lots of hours on both, we have both on identical machines, and i still drive the hand foot machine a lot, as much as my knees can stand pretty much. if i had to give up one machine, it would have to be the electric one; but it is ideal to have both around. i would certainly never own 2 electric machines.
cat controls don't have the lag that bobcat has in joysticks, if that what your talking about. the machines concretepete is talking about have good controls imo. I had know problem switching. not sure but about all heavy equipment has some type of joystick on it now days, even lawn mowers lol
I have had the Cat here at the shop for four months. Run it out and drive around lot, park it out front and load/unload from trailers on rent. Thought I would love to run it. But I hate it. Customers have complained. If people like those controls that's great. I don't and I write the check. Don't have to learn something new. I run my excavators on backhoe controls. There's a switch, I don't have to learn another pattern. Get a long hard demo or rent one or two. Since you are in Canada, my experience is the Cat is jerky when cold (hydraulic fluid responds different in cold). Also some reports that Bobcat has had problems with cold start and Diesel engines as you can read in other threads on this forum. Kubota wheel skid may be something to look at. Hand/foot controls and kubota reputation.
perhaps I should check out kubota's new ssl75 with its hand/foot controls and its dump height is higher than the track svl75 (only 119"). Anyone run the new ssl75 ? Gas tank mounted to rear door is a concern. How is kubota's resale ?
There's a another thread on here regarding kubota wheel skids. Don't think there was anyone that has ran one yet. I looked the 65 at the rental show in Atlanta last month. Spoke with kubota factory reps. The door is thick steel and has a gap between door and tank. Looks like 25 gallons of fuel would weigh about 200 lbs and they claim the hinges can support it. The weight's not really hanging unless the door is open. I don't know anyone that runs with the door open. LOL Kubota resale is unknown on the wheel skids since they are just hitting dealer lots. Most kubota products are on par with others as far as resale.
If you lean toward the Kubota wheeled machine, you may want to spend a good long day in it first. They seem like a good rental machine but not good if you are an owner operator as far as comfort goes. CAT's EH I thought was pretty good, but if your not used to an EH machine than you may not like how an EH machine responds period. Since your in Ontario, you might look at Wacker Nueson's wheeled skid steer. They have a very large WN dealer in Ontario. This wheeled machine is very heavily built with exceptional dump height. http://www.wackerneuson.us/en/products/pg/skid-steer-loaders-1/prod/sw28.html
Salesman suggest the 262d should be fine, but is this a step down in terms of power from an s300 ? Am favouring the 272d. Would be nice to add a track unit also, but mini ex is at the top of the list also.
I have been a big fan of handle controls since they came out. Ease of operation and feathering the throttle make operation very comfortable instead of sitting in a screaming pin ball machine.
Cat has an option for hand/foot controls now. No idea what they are like though.
Saw a YouTube video not long ago with Cat talking about hand/foot controls as an option. It would have to be E-H. May also be very expensive. They would probably have to redesign the floor of the cab because it's cramped already. We had a Deere 323E track loader here that was switchable between ISO, H-pattern and hand/foot. Just looked and that was a $5k option. But then you could keep everybody happy. That machine is for sale for around $49k used at the dealer. Cat dealer may be pushing the 262D since it probably doesn't require DEF.
Finalizing price on 272d , salesman just quoting me a higher price now and suggesting a new 2015 model that he can discount 3k, therefore with 2 buckets, extended warranty, ride control, camera, quick attach, a/c-heat, radio 82k, BUT when we first talked he quoted same machine but new model year 2016 for 82k not including the second bucket. Think salesman is playing games. 7 months ago , was quoted 78k, but don't recall if ride control and 2nd bucket were included. Considerable difference in a short period of time.
Hard to tell given what I know as possible variables here, but for certain, if your original quote was May-July last year, the USD vs CDN has 'changed in a bad way' for us Canadian purchasers _ it has bounced back a bit lately, but it really is 10-12% to the bad vs then.. Other than that, salesman always want to sell what they are pushed to _ if you are spending that kind of money, I would get what you want, hopefully for a fair price.. Good Luck!!
Was back in sept., and quoted by another salesman ( jerk ). Just got email to sign the sales contract, that is pushy. Think am going to go buy something else.
ordered a fully loaded 272d, arrives next week
Make sure to post up some pictures!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nice
so, new machine came in yesterday, salesman tells me it will be a couple days before they pdi it. I drop in unexpectedly to see it. The front door glass is shattered. I ask a mechanic what happened ? Says it broke it transit. He does not know that I am the new owner. I call the salesman later and he tells me , that they will REPLACE the door it is on order, and it will be a few days before it arrives. I come back later that day and there is new glass BUT the weather stripping does not fit correctly, and gaps at the joints and crinked. Well it is not a whole new door, but slapped together from the spare parts bin. At this point I want to body slam everyone in sight. Talked to the service manager and he does not want to talk to me , as I un-politely voiced my thoughts of him and his staff. Now back on the phone with salesman, I tell him I want a new door, not something pieced together by an incompetent inbred idiot. We agree to meet tomorrow to go over the machine. I told the salesman I want a new machine with no damage repair. He ignores this request. i have no given a deposit yet, but have sign some paperwork. What to do ?
id tell them to take a new door off another new machine and go with that and put the pats bin door on there machime. make sure weather stripping is good