Hi we are looking at buying a cat 287b just wanted to get your thoughts on it we got ride of our t300 this fall and wanted to try a cat thanks for your help
we have a 257b and I love the suspension on it, the only problem we have had is the bearing going out of the bogie wheels, there not real hard to replace, I think the 287 is about the same , i`d look for a newer one, they changed the under carriage to a better design, but in the long and short of it the cat is the best skidsteer ( MTL ) that I have ever tried
Thanks that was one thing that i did not like about the T300 it would shake the windows out of it on hard ground. We dont use a skidsteer much so i dont want a nother new one we are looking a 2004 that the local cat dealer has. and got a good deal on it
That is about the same year our 287b is. I like the machine it rides a 1000 time better that the t300. U will be happy with this machine. Like all machines they have there problems, but i have not had any major problems with ours. Good luck
Most guys use bobcat around here because we had a great dealer but i think they went way down hill. i just didnt know much about the cat skid steers and have always wanted to try one going to look at it tomorrow . thanks for the imput glad to here from some one who has one. It has to be good it says CAT on it
Yeah, we have a T190 that rattles like that. I told the boss he ought to advertise it as a "Vibratory Loader". That's one thing I like about the Cat, one heck of a good ride.
LoL that is a fact "Bobcat Vibratory loader" we ended up buying a 277b 2005 alot better shape and only had 900 hours on it. Very smooth Machine. thanks for all your help
Another thing I like about the 277B; when your in the cab operating it, even though you have the engine pegged out, the engine is actually not that noisy. Fairly quiet engine.
I rode a Cat just last week, was by far the best riding tracked machine I have ever rode in, the only problem I noticed was lack of power, I was very surprised to see the T-300 Bobcat blow right through the snow piles and the Cat would shy down and struggle to lift any amount of snow, the T-300 out muscled the Cat, not even close, it was very disappointing cause in the beginning I fell in love with the Cat as soon as I fired it up.
This is very interesting to read. I currently have a T300 and looking at adding a CAT to the fleet. I always hear the CAT has more power.
Don't really have any experience with Bobcat but I will say the cat is fairly disappointing as far as power in my opinion.
Is the ride better because of a different/better design or is it just the thread design on the tracks? I used a John Deere CT322 the other day during a snow storm and it would rattle the windows going across the asphalt lot. James
It rides better due in part to the track design which does not contain any steel cables which makes it more pliable. The tread design is not blocked like a typical CTL which improves ride quality. Also the track system is suspended and not rigid like the Deere and everyone elses CTL for that matter. The thing that I liked most was how quiet the ASV track system is. Much more pleasant to run. The cost of the smooth and nice quiet ride is a system that does not handle tough ground conditions very well. Its an expensive system to rebuild. However kept in its element they are nice to run. The other issue is they have a very low resale value. It seems all CTL's lose value more quickly than their wheeled counter parts but the MTL are worse than any other. Partly due to the high rebuild costs. Check out Iron Planet. If want a CAT its a good place to look. You will save a ton a money, but of course like any other auction, even though IP does an inspection, its a buyer beware kinda deal. Check what a new MTL sells for and compare what they are worth after 800-1000 hours and a couple years. The depreciation is very stiff. I have found the CAT weaker than other CTL's by comparison. Bobcats largest machines make around 237 foot pounds of torque, Deere makes around 254 foot pounds, CASE is 288 foot pounds and CAT is 217 foot pounds. Not everyone needs a small dozer for a CTL/MTL so the power is kinda relative to what you need out of a machine.
Thanks for the info. I have heard great things from Cat owners about their track machines so I like to give one a try. The Deere was the first one I had a chance to use and so far i like it more then the tire skid steers. I would love to get one on a muddy lot to test it out. Plowing with it was great. I was able to move large piles. If I hit a pile I couldn't move I just lifed the bucket 6 inches and drove over the pile taking most of the snow with me. Then I would go back for the rest. The guy that I was operating for is testing out the tracks. He has a John Deere Series II 250 right now. I want him to test them all which means I get to test them. He is thinking about the Bobcat and New Holland (has anyone tried them?) now. I said he should try the Cat as well. James
Sorry don't mean to Hijack your thread but i can't start my own yet. I've been looking at a 2006 Cat 247B tracked machine. It rode great, but my concern is what i'm going to spent in replacement tracks. I'm having a hard time finding out what the cost of the tracks are??? anyone know? Thanks
I got a price on the one we just got from Cat and with the rollers and tracks about 6000. Might get a little cheaper from some one else.
Is that American or Canadian? typically how long to the rollers last or should they be changed when the tracks are?
I have been wondering the same thing about the tracks and rollers. I hear of guys getting 1000 hrs I have heard of others getting 2000 hrs and no probs with the bogies...I guess it depends on what you run it on....how you turn it (3pt turn vs. spin on a dime) and if you spray it down after playing in the mud.....for that I was thinking of trailer mounting a pressure washer and 35 gal tank just to give the tracks a quick rinse. Anyone have thoughts on this? Ditto on the thread hijack, but it's hard not to when you can't post a thread. I don't see this being a real juvenile forum, so it's strange to require that....they could at least require fewer posts before allowing new thread postings....just me 2 cents
we got our 277 this week i like it alot i think it is night and day to the bobcat not as much power but fine for what we need it for. It did come with a box inside of it says laser on or off and 4 other controls on it up down right left. is that for eletrice controls any one know.
Have a CAT 277, thing is awesome. Have driven the bobcats and feel much more comfortable in the CAT.
Cat tracks Not sure if this topic has been covered, did a search and could not find anything. We have a 277b Cat and it needs new tracks. Dealer wants close to 6k for new tracks. What are my options? Thanks
Have to put a new set of tracks on my 287b we don't want to pat the cost of a new set, so we are concerding tradeing it in on a 289. The apraising guy was out here today looking at our tractor. He mentioned there is a undercaraige that u can bolt up on your b model that will make it a ctl. He is suposed to get me some more info on it I will keep u informed.
MTL track can be temprimental in certin conditions. 3-pt turns will increase life and proper tension is a must, check monthly . I have seen tracks run 600hrs and up to 1500hrs. 6k is about the $ for a replacment set on the larger machines, check with your local dealer for national discount programs. not all dealers are on the programs but many are. I have no seen a retro kit from MTL to CTL, if you kow of something I would like to see more info. There is a retro for the 247/257 to convert to the B2, new motors, frames, rollers and tracks but the cost is about 16K
Cat 277b tracks We decided to try the tracks from Titan Track. They were fully 2k less than the Cat tracks and that included freight. Hope they are good and that our decision does not come back to bite us in the butt. Once we've got them mounted up I'll give a review.
There is no kit that takes a MTL UC and swaps it for that of a CTL. He's referring to VTS, which replaces a SSL with a CTL UC.
You right Tigerotor but perhaps that would be a good idea. swap out the MTL for a CTL undercarriage. That would be a great project for Master's thesis.:drinkup
I will agree that the cat mtl by far has the nicest ride but you will be crying your eyes out later once that machine hits 700-800 hours. I have seen plenty people trade these machines in because there undercarragie cant handle the things there trying to do it with. Thats why a lot of people go with the rigid undercarrage it will hold up a lot better. The windows will rattle on any ctl machine if your riding on asphalt but i have other machines so im not riding my ctl on pavement that much. On any 2008 and up bobcat ctl they new put windows guards i guess you would call them on the outside windows it helps plenty when riding on pavement. Also i give caterpillar a chance every time im ready to buy a new skid steer they do not have more power then bobcats
I have over 2000hrs on my ASV undercarriage and I'm far better off than most of the customers I sold Bobcats to regarding undercarriage costs.
2000 hrs i dont know what kind of work you do but you should sign that machine up for some type of award because your the only person i know that even has a mtl with that many hours :beatsme.. But on a good note when i traded in my old t190 with 1700 hours I only had to change one sprocket and it was under warrenty other then that no problems
First off, I don't own a CAT...I own an ASV, but I'm sure you must know of more than just me. You said earlier that you've seen "plenty" of people trade their MTLs in. I know the odds are low, but I'm sure someone in your neck of the woods has to have reached 2000hrs on their machine. You should call Milton CAT for a reference. Maybe I'm really lucky, or just good. Or maybe the undercarriage will last plenty long if a guy operates it the way it should be operated, maintains it the way it should be, etc. ASV was in business for over 25 years making these undercarriages before Terex bought them for almost a half a billion dollars. I'm sure something must be working right. If not, that's a whole lot of 800-900 hour undercarriages in the garbage. I personally sold over 200 Bobcat tracked machines as a former salesman and your blanket statement of "Thats why a lot of people go with the rigid undercarrage it will hold up a lot better." is a blind one because it simply isn't true. I have seen Bobcat undercarriages last longer than CAT undercarriages and I've seen just the opposite take place. See my comment above regarding operation, preventive maintenance, etc. You've been reading too many marketing materials, spec sheets and listening to too many young eager salesmen spewing Bobcat talking points. I remember going to all those "Bobcat Bootcamps" over the years and wondering how what they preached could be so different to what I really saw out in the "real world". Well after about 7 of them it dawned on me that maybe they didn't spend enough time out in the market instead of in a office. Ultimately that is why I own a RC50 and a S220. Don't drink the Kool Aid.:drinkup
Your right if you take care of your stuff the right way it will last i agree. Im glad you dont work for bobcat no more i can see why acutally, it just seems like you knock there equipment a lot but then again you still own one? What type of work do you do?
I think I knock all OEMs equally. Nobody makes a perfect machine. Truth be told, I'm very partial to Bobcat; however, I don't spout out all the "talking points" like a lemming. Where they are good I make positive comments and where they are bad I make negative comments. I'm a full time algebra teacher now (too many 15 hour days behind the windshield as a salesman) and I mostly sub contract in the summer to many of my former customers and I have some snow removal contracts in the winter.
dig deep as a former bobcat salesman what machine was your biggest competition selling against? And what good and bad things do you think bobcat has? Im curious you would know you sold them for 7 years?
I sold them for just over 8 years. I attended 7 annual “Bobcat Bootcamp” training sessions in AZ. At one point Case was probably the stiffest competition here in Wisconsin, but when CAT came out with skids that started to change. I still thought that Case made an overall “stronger” skid, but they couldn’t compete with CAT very well for some reason. I think it had something to do with the local CAT dealer and a slow decline at the dealer level for Case even though Case has a long history here in Wisconsin. You can still look around and see gobs of 1800 series machines along with many XT machines. John Deere used to also have some success up here with their “New Holland” machines, but the reliability issues on the 200 series killed that (not too mention the fact that they are loud, hard to get in and out of and the visibility stinks). Mustang and Gehl are still around in smatterings because of their Midwest connection My intention was not to offend you by “trashing” Bobcat because I sold tons of them, and made good money doing it. My personal favorites were the 553, 753, 773, and the 863 and I was over the moon with the S300 when I saw it for the first time in 2001 before it was released. I still think that the S series are a mostly good machine, but it’s hard to say they make the best (even though I’m biased toward them) because I don’t think anyone does. They all have their strong points that stand out for some customers and their weak points for other customers. To be honest, I think the cabs could have been updated quite a few years back; I hated the hand throttle location and you mentioned the window rattling, but I think it was mostly little things that add up...poor transition to a joystick control (poor performing E/H), no hinges in the cooler/radiator/condenser, the need to remove the overflow bottle to get to the before mentioned items, battery location, big problems initially with the tracks, drive motors, bearings, fan belt springs, motor mounts (all on the track machines). I know they have worked many of these issues out, but it was inexcusable for me to go to these training sessions to listen to them bag on the others when they knew they had big problems.
Thats some good info digdeep we have had everyone one of those machines from the 553-743-753-763-773 all very good machines. We have good luck with bobcat machines the g series were nice and the k series are just a tad better. Hopefully the m series which looks real real nice will make some customers happy. I must say thou i have demoed everything out there and just seem to keep going back with bobcat. There easier to get in and out of the visibility is real good i like the cab the deluxe panel is easy to use and understand. Hopefully they got the pressurized cab down because that was an issue with dust in cabs.
Maybe bobcat is like a nice pair of boots...you have more expensive, even fancier pairs in the closet, but you just keep going back to what works best for you. :drinkup I've heard more positve things said about the 743 over the years than compared to probably every other Bobcat skid...bullet proof.
Just traded a 287B for a 289C. The 287 is great machine!
I have a 06 257B and yesterday it "ran away' meaning it revved up beyond redline and would not shut off until I cut the fuel line. I am not a happy CAT owner right now. The warranty is out, so it might become an anchor somewhere unless they do right by me.
257b machines are nightmares!!!! good luck :usa
Where can I find other people with similar problems, or recall notices. I know of only one other person with the same machine and he lost a head gasket at 500 hrs. I have only about 550. At 1100 he has to replace the whole undercarriage. I love how the machine works but i am not ready to drop another big check to fix this one. Any ideas on a better machine? thanks
Thats the problem with those machine i know people that where replacing that undercarriage at 700-800 hrs costing them thousands. How much did your buddy go for? Well your best bet is to go with a rigid undercarriage
He is upgrading to aluminum wheels with recessed grease fittings. I think he is up to $6000 plus or minus. The mechanic is helping for free, he has been down since february with not enough dough to fix it. I sent CAT a letter today, I will keep you posted on my results.
The 257B is CATs weak sister in their lineup. I equate it to the Bobcat T190. weighs too much, too little power, just a poor design.
Hand and foot control t190 never gave me any problems its 100 times stronger then the 257b.
What is the favorite machine with hand controls? Or is just a bigger CAT the way to go?
I have found the T-190's to be underpowered, too little breakout, constantly going over relief, loud. The T-190's I have run have all been near new machines. The last I ran was an 06 all with AHC. I think it is one of the worst machines in their lineup. The larger machines I don't have as much heartache over from a performance standpoint (there are still the BC specific issues I don't care for but at least you can get something done with the larger machines. You seldom see the T-190 on the BC lot here anymore. Maybe its the elevation, but I hear others complain over the performance of the machine as well. They do seem to have a powerful lift curcuit, probably its best redeeming feature in my opinion.
Looks like the engine is fine needs a head gasket and turbo. I will be upgrading to a bigger machine. Anyone have a Takeuchi, I hear they are the best bang for the buck.
I take that back, the engine is smoked. BUMMER
Seems to be rash of those lately on here. A friend of mine has a 226B with 300 hrs and it almost smoked the motor, CAT had to pull it and it required extensive work. It was out of warranty and CAT first said they were not going to cover it. He informed them that he would let everyone one that he knows what a POS the machine and the dealer was. They fixed it for free. According to other threads on here it costs 10K for a new motor, no small issue. You would be better off to junk it.
It is pretty sad that an 06 CAT 257B with only 500 owner operator hours, clean and serviced machine can be out of service so easily. They have a service letter that went out only to the dealers about a bad head gasket design. If you have the dealer service the machine they would have fixed it for you free. But as it is a diesel, service is limited to fluid and filter changes. Why haul a machine an hour each way when that is such an easy service. Had there been a recall notice about the gasket I definitely would bring it back. It looks like I have an expensive planter for the yard. The salesman says he will give me $5000 for a trade in. A new machine is $59000 plus tax. If my math is right and I get 500 hours on a new machine it will cost me $120 per hour not including fuel or operator to run. I don't know what planet he is from but that machine doesn't bring that kind of money, unless there is something I am missing....
Welcome to the harsh reality that is Cat SSL/MTL ownership. You pay WAY too much to buy them, and take it in the shorts at trade time with their pizz poor resale. $59,000 for a 257????? That is just plain insane. You could buy a different color that will hold up much better that is LOADED to the hilt with twice the capacity for that much. I will never understand how they sell machines. In this case, it appears that it's not with their great customer service....
There are several good examples of the name on the equipment being much stronger than the machine itself. CAT ssl/mtl's are a great example of that.
KSSS off topic but i see in list of your equipment you own a Case 440 skid are you happy with it??? As I am looking to buy a 440 CT and am curious if there are any issues I need to know about? Cheers John
The $59k was for the bigger machine. Cat is stepping up for me by covering half the cost of the motor, I am thrilled that I won't have to go to battle with them as I was gearing up to do. Now I can focus on work instead. I tested a Takeuchi, this looks like a bullet proof machine built to work. It feels a bit primitive compared to the Cat, but I think everything else will too. The Cat is a treat to operate, just not as long lasting. Johnboy test a Takeuchi to compare if you can.
CAT, NH, ASV and Case all had the same issue with head gaskets on the turbo charged 2.2L engines. Case and NH had the Shibura engine and the CAT and ASV engine is a Perkins copycat of the Shibura. The issue has been fixed for quite a while already with the introduction of a different head gasket they came out with. Case changed engines for more displacement. The naturally aspirated 2.2L engines never had a problem.
It could not have been fixed for too long since these are recent model B series machines that are blowing engines. On the 440. I have the VTS on mine. I have about 1500 hours on it, very reliable. That machine has an incredible amount of power, especially considering its size. When you track it or buy the CT version you can really get a lot of work out of it. I have had about 14 CASE skid skid steers over the years, and the 440 is at the top of my all time favorites. I have never owned the CT version so I cant speak on it from an owner standpoint. They are far and away the most popular CASE tracked machines in this area. I have noticed that guys burn the tracks on them fast. I think that is due to inexperienced operators and the fact that the machine has so much grunt that spinning the tracks is maybe too easy. Hard to beat a 440.
I am thinking about buying a CAT 277c with mulching head, after reading these posts I ammore confused than ever, nay more ideas?
Demo all of them that you are interested in and ask your dealer for the names of a few customers that he has sold the same machines to.
none of the highflow machines i have been dealing with provide adiquate flow to run mulcher heads. not enough power, they tend to overheat. If I were buying a machine for mulching I would go supertrak. I did a demo on a SUPERTRAK SK 140 early this year. what a beast. http://www.supertrak.com/
Great machines. I need to start my own thread so I need to post three times this is the third time so maybe I can post.
have had 287b and inside of tracks keep wareing out heaps!!!!!!!!!!! when looking frm back off machine looks like axles are bent cat replaced once but still has problem they cannot fix. This has been a big b problem for me as reduces life off tracks by 30 % cat has been hope less to fix problem.
Dont want to make you cat guys sick but when cat switched from the B series to the C series they had the B series undercarrige order for the C and they couldnt use them. Sold them out to customers..all complete roller frames hydraulic motors and hoses all complete tracks ready to bolt on to your B for 12 grand! It was my lucky day. They sit on a pallet all ready to bolt on. BIG SMILES FROM ME Thank you thank you thank you.
Nice too see someone have a win bugger
Has anyone made amod for bigger axles for 287b as this would sovle problem
bout 2500 per side phil
re 2500 per side for what not just tracks want to fix problem
i have a 2007 287 i dont like the track drive setup it needs adjusting all the time other than that its great work horse good power better ballance than the bobcat however the new 2009 has an up dated track drive sys real nice going to trade mine in asap ....good luck
How long are the tracks lasting? Thanks for all the great post.
cat 287 tracks i have been running my tracks for 3 years now and i am hard on my machines the track drive is holding up real well.. the rubber tracks are good for another 3 years..how ever i have had to replace a set of barrings in the rear roller wheels cost 1800.00 due to a hole in the dust cover but all in all its a great machine