Hello, have been reading threads for a while and decided to join. I am looking for a new CTL, have owned bobcats for several years and am not impressed with the T320. So I can't decide between a Tak tl250 or a Cat 299c, I am unsure about the suspension on the Cat, how it will hold up over time, will be demoing it this week. Had a Tak tl250 for a few days and was very impressed with it, will simply run circles around Bobcat.. We must have a machine with steel undercarriage, I would rather buy something American made (CAT) but they are $8000 more, but I have heard nothing bat about Tak..any info would be appreciated.:usa
From what i heard from a few guys is that the bobcat t320 was more impressive then the cat 299c. I have demoed a t320 and i will be demoing the 299c soon.. Chewy what bobcat models do you own
TK builds a solid machine. You might also check the CASE 450CT. Its a radial lift machine and specs along with the TK. It is more powerful than the BC, CAT and the TK. The cab is more along the lines of the CAT. Pretty tough to beat the room that TK gives you.
Bocat s330.. own a 2003 Bobcat T200 still runs good, but its time for a change, when we demoed a Bobcat T320 it was a rental unit with standard controls, never ran a bobcat with pilot controls
KSSS, The dealer in my area sells Tak and Case, when we spoke I called him about the Tak TL250, when he brought it out for a demo I asked him if Case had anything that would compare to the Tak, he quickly replied no, but I will sell what ever you want and we left it at that
That sounds like a case dealer not pushing there skid steers its like there almost afraid to.. The tak tl250 is gonna be hard to beat power wise.
Thats interesting, the CASE dealer here also sell TK. I have not seen that type of response. Sometimes the margins on one OEM will be better than another which can account for a dealer pushing one over the other. I have had good luck with the TK excavators. If your dealer has a 450CT Series 3 might be worth demoing as a point of comparision. You will find it more than equal to the 250 in performance. I don't know where they would stand on a price point compared to TK.
the cat will still stall if you try pushing to much material. I don't have any case experience but i know the tak has the most power I've ever owned.
My local dealer sells TK and Case as well. They said tk all the way. no comparison between the two
I have run the TK140 against a 440CT during a customer clinic in Az for several days doing a variety of different excercises. The 440 was clearly more powerful when excavating in the hard caliche than was the TK. I was very impressed with its ability. I don't know any can say there is no comparison between the two. The CASE was much more quiet than the TK but the TK sure has a lot of room in the cab and the slide up door I thought was nice, (until one of the guys got locked in the machine when the door malfunctioned). TK tracked machines are solid no doubt about that.
I also heard the same thing.I guess Case makes a good machine but no where near the best.. Case also has the lowest market share when it comes to skid steers. I dont know why but they do
Bobcat and cat also have quieter cabs then the tk. I never heard of a case 440 out working a tk140 but then again who knows
They all to seem to have there ups and downs that is for sure, my problem is that I am used to operating a 953Cat and a larger excavator, maybe I expect to much from them, until I demo the Cat 299c I am sold on Tak, seems capable of what ever I ask of it and right now we are working with very heavy wet clay, Tak was the only one that could handle it easily, def not the most comfortable though
i have many years experience on a Tak TL 150 and a CAT 277 before they updated the CAT and HANDS DOWN the Tak runs circles around the CAT, at the time the CAT couldnt even load a semi, i had to build a ramp to load out a truck, the Tak just simply moves more material and faster and has way more power than the 277. when we first got our TL 150 i was told it was comparable to a D4 dozer, i have mowed down full 6 wheeler loads of material going right through the heart of the pile in just 1 push, you couldnt even dream of doing something like that with a CAT
Actually Deere and CASE are about equal at 10-12 percent of new machines. CASE is number 2 in total machines sold. The term best is a misnomer. They are best for me. I demo others before I buy and I come back to CASE. Running at high elevations you cant beat the power. That may not make them the best for someone else. As far as power goes the CASE 450 and 440 tracked machines make almost 50 foot pounds more than does the TK. Now the 440 is much lighter and so I would not say that 440 will perform like the 150 but the 450 and 150 are very close in weight. I will not take anything away from TK, they make a good machine.
have not run a tl250 but we i know the 150 will do three times as much as the t300 bobcat. hav not run a cat.
The decider in my book. I have been around all brands and have extensively operated most, my recommendation would be the machine supplied by the dealer with the best support and service. All equipment breaks or has "glitches" you will need the backing of a supportive dealer with the resources to help you. Have fun!
i love Tak stuff...but i hate the local dealer...around here I would go CAT
Go with Cat...it is a very productive machine. The torsion suspension is dead reliable and simple. The ride is sooo smooth that at the end of the day you will feel less fatigued. You will be able to keep your teeth in your head. And no matter what anyone says about how powerful X or Y is. Any of these machines will do a ton of work. In my opinion, I think cat is the cat's ass. If you are gonna spend all day it, operator comfort makes a big difference to me.
I own both brands and I would rather sit in a tk before a cat. cat = airplane bathroom. tk = livingroom couch. Cat might be a little smoother but you're nuts don't get any breathing room. I agree that all brands can do a lot of work, but my cats will stall out trying to push what my tks run right through. Thats not productive.
I don't think I have ever heard the words, reliable and simple to describe the CAT MTL suspension. Smooth and quiet yes, simple and reliable not so much A solid CTL system is simple, the MTL with numerous plastic bogy wheels, torsion bars, lugs that tear themselves from the tracks, rubber bonded wheels that are not rock friendly. Overpriced replacement tracks. The large costs associated with maintaining this system, and the rock bottom resale values of these machines tell the story. As far as productivity, I believe they are, in certain applications more productive than a typical CTL even though they are underpowered. The track system has some advantages, but a lot of disadvantages as well.
The tak 150 is by far a better machine. It has alot more pushing power. It all depends on what type of work your doing. The cat has more lifting capacity but i know that the tak is built solid. I was about to buy a tak140 a year ago but i got a call about a great dill and had to go with it instead. You cant go wrong with the 250. Keep in mind the tak has a longer warranty i think!
Demo both and then decide..... The new Cat U/C should be a big improvement but I would wait a year to see how they hold up. I tried out the 297B last year for a few days and then only spent one morning in a TL150 before I knew that was the way to go. A TL150 will move and dig like no other compact that I have tried. I have had zero problems with my 150 so far and they do have a 3 yr standard warranty which never hurts!
Hey Kaiser...you've stopped taking your meds again...This is about the 299...not the 297.
Everyone, I have a Cat 299c on one of our jobs (have put about 11hrs on it) and can not believe how close to the Tak it really is!! this machine is the only one that I know of that is as powerful as TL 250, and it wont beat the hell out of you, the conditions we are working in are very soft wet clay which is really sticky and gummy, you all know that this type of soil will put a machine to test, the Cat did better I think because of its longer undercarriage and more space between the machine frame and the track itself (would shed soil easier) the Cat also did better on side slopes due to the suspended undercarriage which helped Traction,and makes this machine much easier on the operator by far compared to Tak... My conclusion on the two machines is that if you want a mini bulldozer buy the Tak the Cat 299c can do just about as well, the only thing I like better on Tak is the pilot system it has slightly faster response time, but once you get used to operating the cat its fine, no different than a new Komatsu Excavator.. the bucket operation is much faster on a cat though... think I am going to buy a 299c and put a Tak bucket on it
Had a new T320 there..... Bobcat cannot come close to the Tak or Cat's 299c
I find that hard to belive that the t320 didnt come close to them. What are the reasons why??
first reason is that the clay soil would stick in the undercarriage and would really bog down the machine, and it didn't seem to have near the HP to the ground like the other machines, Cat and Tak both said it was because of the Belt between the Hydraulic pump and Engine.. they claim you loose 10% HP with this setup.... the Hydraulic wine in the cab was very annoying under heavy load... the machine did have 220hrs on it vs the others had 1-15 hrs on them, don't get me wrong we own some bobcat equipment, we are just looking for something with more power
Did the t320 have the cab sound package?? I have it on a few of my bobcats its by the far the quietest machine i ever ran.. Did the t320 have the roller suspesnsion undercarriage? When i demoed the t320 i was more then impressed with it.. I thought it had extreme pushing power.. I have ran every brand and yes i agree with tak being able to out push them all. Only beef with tak is the noisy cabs.. And my only beef with the cat 299 is the rear visibility is a horror show
Will agree with you on the 299 rear visibility (prob would put in a rear camera system).. the 320 we had had a cab with heat and air, not sure about cab sound package.. Did not have the the roller suspension.. Dealer here didn't have any in stock... the Cat is def the most expensive though, so you were more impressed with the Bobcat over the Cat?
You would probably know if the machine had it because you cant hear the wine as bad with the sound package and the cab its self is nice and quiet. when operating the t320 vs the cat which did you feel was the quieter cab? The roller suspension is pretty nice on the bobcat. I was in the cat for a few mins not enough to tell the difference just yet power wise but I got my demo coming real soon on a cat 299. But when i was in the cat i still thought the bobcat had better visibility all the way round. The cat def has a nice cab with the air ride seat and all that good stuff. But once bobcat comes out with there new cabs this year its gonna be a real treat.
The Cat def had the quieter cab.. the suspension in the Cat was quiet impressive, when is bobcat coming out with there new cabs??
This year there coming out with a few new models and there going to have the updated cabs.. I spoke to a few people that have already seen what there going to look like they said it was very impressive..
Ha ha.......actually I cant get any more refills. Care to share?