About to trade in my Next Gen 326 for a 330 gc. Reason for trade in is with a 54 inch bucket, quick attach, large thumb, the 326 has the power but not the weight to be user friendly. Stepping up to the 330 for the weight, the 330gc has pretty much the same specs just heavier. The regular 330 has quite a few more HP than the GC, but it still specs out pretty close to the same. Why the additional HP? Anyone here with 1st hand experience with the 330gc?
My 326 as it sits now, same bucket and thumb that I will be ordering the 330 with.
Experience with larger models of "GC" machines (aka "Lite" models IMO) leads me to conclude that the performance of a GC model is equivalent to that of a "full fat" model the next size down. YMMV. It all depends on how hard you work the machine I guess but I am reasonably certain that if you expect 330 performance from a 330GC you are likely going to be disappointed. Also depending on how long you plan to own the machine you may end up in component overhaul territory much earlier with a GC because of its downsized components.
Are the pumps smaller on the GC? Main reason for going to the GC is to not pay for payload and grade system which is totally useless for me and is constantly getting torn loose from tree limbs. Looking at the specs the regular 330 is not really a stouter hoe then the GC which makes me wonder where the extra hp comes into play. Which I’m not necessarily after more performance, just more weight in a 326 sized package, and not all the extra fluff (tech) I don’t need to pay for.
They appear to be the same. It's very much a case of horses for courses. If the 330 has attachments you don't need or use and provided they can't be deleted to lower the price maybe in your case the GC model makes more sense.
That’s been kinda my thought, just can’t find much info about the actual differences or feel of the pants info between the two. Definitely don’t want a slouchy machine. Something I’ve been wondering about and your just the man to ask is, why are the Cat swing motors noisy? Or at least noisy compared to others. I’ve ran multiple Next Gen’s and they all are noisy when swinging around. Other manufacturers are near silent.
With the gc u don’t get a hp mode only eco and standard power
True, which I don’t have that on my 326 tho either
Rented a 330 GC for 2 months back in 2020. It was the first electronic over hydraulic trackhoe we ran for an extended period of time. As far as the machine goes it was fast, strong and well balanced. Loaded out around 2,500 tri-axle loads with it. Haven't ran a standard 330 to compare though. I might be wrong but aren't the standard and the GC the same machines the GC just doesn't have the tech? For our operation the tech on our 325 next gen is fantastic. The bucket weigh system is very handy for loading on road trucks. We can gross 25 ton on a tri-axle so now we aren't guessing if the trucks are under loaded or over loaded. Full auto GPS is self explanatory on how handy that is. However if you won't utilize nor need the tech it's just wasted money.
Thanks for the info CM, that’s exactly what I’m looking for out of it. The 326 is, fast, strong, but not balanced (atleast with my set up). I thought the payload would be handy, but have never used it. I have a pretty good idea how full to load the truck and dot around here aren’t to bad thankfully. The standard 330 has different reach, dig depth and is wider. So they are different, but not by much, I’m not looking for longer reach tho either. Longer stick will only catch more limbs.
Have you looked into the possibility of spacing the counter weight back on the 326 or possibly a heavier one? I know there are options on some machines but I’m not familiar with the 326 exactly. I’m just afraid you’re going to eat a lot of depreciation on your current unit for a machine that’s not much of an upgrade. We have a 320gc that’s low hours. It’s fast but you can see they took a page out of the auto makers book. The 320gc has a 4.4L 4 cylinder in it. A backhoe engine…. It’s like a corvette with a V6…. Looks the part from afar but not gonna turn many heads up close. I think resale on a standard machine will most likely hang in there a lot better if that matters.
My 325 Next Gen and standard 320 NG's all have the 4.4 engine.
If I trade in now, it will average out at $5500 a month as to what I’ve paid to have the 326 vs the price of the new 330gc. A lower interest rate is the kicker that helps it pencil out. $5500 a month is pretty good compared to rental rates and the fact that we have worked the 326 like a red headed step child. There is a heavier counter weight available for the 326, but I haven’t ever checked on what it would cost to swap out. No doubt expensive. The 326, 330gc, and 330 all have the same c7 engine as well.
We bought the 330 , they had 4 in a row, 1 GC and 3 reg 330s that had all the extras on it. The GC sat lower, tracks didn't look as tall and they looked a little shorter. Its a lighter duty machine when u look at the 2 SxS..We also bought a 323. That looks more like the 330gc, which i think the 323 is the same as 326 but that had a little more power..I think? The salesman said dont bother with the 326, go with the 323 , the cost difference wasn't worth it. Happy with both so far. The 330 is like a old 325c but new Tech. I probably should've pushed more for the 336 but the Opperators are a bunch of babies once they got use to the Volvo zero swings 235/245 . Finally weeded out those two turds
We’ve got a fairly new next gen 330 and it’s a nice machine. Electronics are pretty delicate though. Batteries were low last year one day when I tried to start it. Clicked once, screen went black. Tried jumping and no go. Put batteries in it and still no go. Stared at schematics for longer than I’d care to admit and finally found the body control module was fried. Other than that $2200 part it’s been solid.
LOL - If I buy a larger hoe than our current 325 compact radius it'll be a 335 CR. More times than I can remember we could not have done the job with a standard swing excavator. Same job -