Working with my local Fiscal Court to find the best replacement motor grader (looking at NEW) OK, bids came in for a JD 620G and CAT 120GC and 120 LVR. All graders are for AWD The CATs are 130hp (GC and LVR) and JD is 215hp (620G) These are used for typical grading and snow removal. Both will have the forward plow installed Being bids they have things not necessary like the CAT product link cellular. Some have stage V HVAC and others mention no "compressor" (what ever that means) I don't know enough about graders to fully advise but I'm head and shoulders above the magistrates reviewing the bids Can y'all offer advice My initial thought is to find a good used X with less than Y hours and look at it, but what to look close at??
That's a big HP difference! The newer JD's are much better than the older ones and have come a long way according to the head trainer at the operators union near my property. He likes them and they have Cat graders as well. Cat generally has better pricing if it's for a gov't. agency or municipality.
Waiting for a call back from CAT as to what is the differences between GC and LVR models
See the attached Spec sheets For some reason I can't upload the 120 LVR spec sheet but search for AEXQ2482. I'm not sure if they can sell you an LVR (appears to be an Indian sub-continent spec) machine in the US but stand to be corrected. Note the 120GC power when equipped with AWD is 163 BHP.
Thanks Both list 4 to 6 month lead time. The LVR reminds me of of a dressed out unit because it shows a full page of additions, the GC is 3/4 page GC $254k LVR $315k
sheets first is GC
I would suggest to ask the dealer for copies of the Machine Price List for the two models with the prices redacted then go through each one with a highlighter selecting the options you want. The documents you posted above will have originally come from the Price List for each model. At that point give it back to the dealer and ask to "quote this". I've always found that looking at the Price list gives you a much better idea of options, "what works with what" and more importantly "what can't be used with what". YMMV.
Horse power maybe more with the JD but check the torque specs, may not be as much as a spread, more power burns more fuel doing the same job between the two machines
More power can sometimes just make the tires spin easier. More power is good for higher speeds like snow clearing but if you aren't doing high speed work you may not need the extra HP.
It’s all about the torque at the wheels, more hp doesn’t necessarily mean more torque,
The particular engine might make a difference if it is known to be problematic. I'm glad I found a grader with an 8.3 Cummins instead of a DD 6-71. Not that 6-71 is necessarily bad but it's very noisy and not too many know how to work on them these days.
The two graders are in different weight classes. A CAT 120 GC is 32K lbs, has a 4 cylinder engine in it. John Deere is 40K lbs, 6.7 liter engine, 6 cylinder and 8 Forward and 8 Reverse gears. Would need to know the work mission of the grader. Is the grader expected to pull loaded semi trucks from snow drifts etc? Some CAT grader models appear to made in China & have been sold in the US? CAT also uses 7.1 liter and 9.3 engines in the 'light' graders. Did anyone talk to the grader operators to ask if they wanted a different or the same grader as they currently use? Were there any lease machine options? Choose wisely, graders appear to have a steep depreciation curve.
They went with the CAT, the County road crew uses it and it has same controls as previous. This is a 6x6 and has a front plow attachment. Mostly used to spread gravel and push snow