Hello All, We are in need of another excavator and are now looking at the Volvo EC88 and the Cat 308E. We have had great luck with both brands so either one is fine with me. I am curious if anyone has a Cat 308E. If so, how does it perform and do you like it? We have a Cat 305.5E and a 316 size but need something in the middle. Thanks for any help.
Try them both doing what you will use them for. I demo'd a ECR88 vs. a 308 back about 7 years ago and the Volvo outperformed the cat for what I use the excavator for. Both models are slightly different now so I can't speak to todays models. I did just buy a volvo ECR58 over the Cat 305.5E for the same reasons which was more reach, tighter boom swing for rotation and more picking power for moving steel plates. After trying both of these sizes I really felt like Cat sells machines because it says CAT on it. For what it's worth, I paid slightly more for the volvo.
kwnate, Thanks for the info. We have 2 Volvos and they have been bullet proof. We went from a 312C Cat to a EC140B Volvo and felt it was a great move. Looks like we might rent an EC88 for a month for a water project so I should have a good chance to evaluate it.