The company i work for is considering a switch from CAT to ??? Never running anything other than CAT, myself, some suggestions have been Volvo, Komatsu, Deere, and Case. 90% use is digging basements, with backfill work thrown in. Running a 320DL now w/ 2.025yd bucket and duck teeth, comparison thoughts? :usa
Any reason for wanting to get away from Cat?
I believe expense and shoddy customer service. . . according to boss We've always leased, don't know if it makes a difference. . .
Everyone likes different machines. I myself am a fan of CAT machines due to their longevity, parts availability, and nice cabs. Volvos are alright but not my favourites; their fuel economy is very good though. Deere and Hitachi are nice because they have very smooth controls, are good on fuel, and last almost as long as CAT machines. Komatsu's are great if you are buying new, they have very good 'feel' in the controls. However, I wouldn't recommend buying a Komatsu with over 6k hours on it if it hasn't been fully overhauled, because generally everything, especially the pumps tend to fail around 10-11k hours. Case is... OK... reasonable on fuel, not too expensive, decent feel and acceptable productivity. I don't have enough experience with CASE machines to make a definitive judgment. My advice - keep the CATs and also consider Deere (or Hitachi). They are the best machines on the market for the long haul. Komatsus are also nice if buying new, especially for grading work, but avoid used Komatsus. Feel free to disagree with me. Try out other makers' machines yourself at their dealers (or preferably on a real job site) and decide on what you like.
We will be buying or, more probably leasing, new. He (boss) asked me to get him a list of machine I wanted to try, and here I am! I guess an easier question is what is bad about a particular make? CAT=$$$ and a minor complaint is the 320DL actually weighs 48800lbs, making me even more NOT overweight. . .
Hey bud, I ran Cat for years and have run Deere/Hitachi, Komatsu, and Case. In fact last year I ran a brand new Case 210 which is about the same size category as a 320D. I really liked it and found that it had more power than the Cat, faster swing, and I think faster hydraulics. The cab was really nice, the seat comfy and fully adjustable and I think it had one of those LCD type of display screens for fuel, coolant temp, hydraulic temp, etc. The controls had a really nice "feel" to them. Case is currently running Isuzu engines, along with Hitachi. And they are awesome on fuel and from what I've heard are really reliable. Hitachi I find are really good machines and have a nice "feel" in the controls which is really nice for fine grade work like digging basements.
One thing ill tell you about these forums. opinions are like you know what. got a guy making bold statments about pump life on one page and on another is cluless about changing pins and bushings on a bucket. whew. Talk to other owners in your area there are bad dealers for everthing.
The co-owner was pushing for Case pretty hard, then stopped, I don't know why. I'll have to check them out too. I have literature from Deere, Hitachi, and Volvo; the Komatsu is a stark "no go", beats me why. I am really liking the Hitachi right now, I need to get some machines to try, I've only run CAT. . . We've got 6 months left on the lease. . .
I have ran several different types of excavators for basement digging. Most of the time was spent on a 320B and C models. B was slow but I really liked the C model. I recently ran a Deere and Hitachi 160. Deere was fast but burned alot of fuel. Hitachi was slow but did well on fuel. Both of theses machines only had roughly 2500 hours on them. I have been running a Volvo 210 and it is a very nice machine. Very fast, smooth and does well on fuel. I dont like the position of the radio but that is very minor. I am using the 210 to mix mud and dig trenchs in the oil field. One of our other guys ran cat for a long time and says he prefers the Volvo over Cat.
i think what many companies are coming to realize...is the cost of money.....let's say there's 30k dif tween on let's say a cat 320 to a hyundai or a case....whether you have the cash to pay for it, or borrowing the money...."money, still costs money"...you're either losing, or borrowing, so you own this excavator for 10 years, have 12k hrs on it....repairs have been for the most part the same machine for machine. at the end of 12k hrs...let's say, the cat is worth 30k...which we know it won't be, and the hyundai is worth zero dollars, which we know it won't be...what did those dollars cost you in the meantime? what did it cost to have those CAT decals on your jobsite? in reality, you're not really running a CAT anyway...you're buying whored out mitsubishi technology.
Get the Deere, same $$$$ as the Hitachi better residual value. jr
Everyone does have an opinion, acquired from whatever. I've seen/heard of over a dozen Komatsus, (Dash 5s and 6s mainly) with the same pump failure problems around 10k hours, and so I concluded that their pumps tend to last only 10k hours. Also, the couple of Komatsus I have operated a bit myself had a good feel, and thus I made the feel comment about them. And about the pins and bushings question, I've never owned an excavator of my own and have always greased religiously. Thus I've never had to replace Pins and Bushings before and didn't know much about the costs and efforts involved. If you want a politically correct opinion, all machines are the same. I disagree with that opinion. I don't know enough about Volvo and Case to advise you much on them. Try out many machines and buy whatever you like.
Tell the boss you want a Kobelco bladerunner http://www.kobelcoamerica.com/products/bladerunner/Pages/ED195.aspx
That blade would be handy AND irritating as hell. . . The only Kobelco I've ever run was a piece of crap, with only 1100 hours. A rental, but still, one hour was enough.
The radio on my 320D is UNDER the armrest. . . :beatsme
In today's competitive marked there is not much diffenrence on the macines.(my experience) You will get a lot of posts and meanings from many in here... But fuel prices does not go down, so consumption is important. BUT the most important thing is to find the best dealer in your area. It dosen't help if brand xx is the best product, if the dealer does not do his job! As stated here, talk to other users in the area and get their feedbacks on the dealers.
Well, then,anyone in central Indiana have a dealer for us to talk to? And don't say McAllister, I've never dealt with them but the co-owner is upset with them for some reason :dunno: It was recent, too, we've leased at least five hoes from them with that many dozers. I recind my earlier comment about only running CAT; I do have experience with the mini line of JCB crap, I think it's an 8080. Worthless. Bad sensors, heater went twice in the first 1000, alternator, some throttle problem, weird electrical gremlins, I'm glad I only occasionally run it. . . And we have two of their "robot" skid steers, one wee little one with a slightly bent arm already (<200hrs) and a big one they've replaced the drive system and the heater on. Aside from the hour on the KOBELCO, that is all, truthfully now. . . :bigrin: