Hi all, Just wondering everyone’s thoughts on the Volvo G940. I am probably priced out of a Caterpillar equivalent unfortunately but the volvo machine is within our budget. Would it be equivalent to a 140H? Looking forward to seeing what people think. Cheers.
I guess they are comparable in size. Our experience with a 940b wasn’t great. Not as simple and reliable as the Champion’s before. Engine and transmission issues. How would Deere’s compare money wise? G series have been pretty good.
Than thank you @Fatgraderman for your input. What year model was your 940B manufactured? The one I am looking at is a 2008 model. Similar powered John Deere models are approximately 50k extra id say.
2012 maybe. First year of their 4 on heavy equipment. And that was a big part of it. By that point the engine was a “D8”. The one you’re looking at will be the “D7”. They’re both built by Deutz. Some of those D7 engines had trouble with the “blocks dropping”. The liners would wear into the block just enough or warp that the head gasket wouldn’t seal anymore. Pretty much an in-frame at that point. Not sure what else to look for on those years of D7. The 11 speed transmission took a few years to get the bugs out of. Check for rough shifting. A lot seemed to get rebuilt around the 4000 hour mark. The one I ran had a clutch pack that wouldn’t release unless it was jarred. The whole transmission did get replaced under warranty and I think they did get them straightened out. But there was a learning curve there. But things like a sensor issue can mean a few down days waiting for a part on those. Shame, the one I ran was smooth and quiet.
I don't want to dog on Volvo, but I'm going to. I think product support is going to render those machines inoperable as time goes by. It might be different in Australia, but I'm not holding my breathe in the U.S. Sucks but Cat and Deere are kind of the only options at this point in my opinion. Haven't been in a new cat, but the G series Deeres are way nicer to run than the Volvo, IMO.
Volvo sold off champion after running the name into the ground. Virtually no product support here in America. Silveroddo hit the nail on the head.
Our 940 is a 2011. Comfortable to run, good power, really good on fuel. It is the king of codes, and parts are expensive. Not all codes are issues, but we have replace the fuel peddle twice at $2100 a pop. The shift control was replaced under warranty, I think it was $1800 ish, The side shift bushings are plastic, and about $600 for both sides. I can get a summer out of them. We use the dealer to service all our Volvo stuff old and new, so the use us pretty good. Guess it depends on where you are.
It's a shame Volvo ran Champion into the ground. Champion were very popular in Canada and a lot of operators preferred them over Cat and Deere.
worst part is, put the best parts in their own grader, and now they stopped making them altogether.
Looking online, they are supposedly making graders in China. I would have thought the Champion based machines were pretty good sellers. Lots of municipalities ran nothing but Champion for years.
yeah but they're not even close. I think Tony Beets had one on gold rush. Probably were not making enough money, so they dropped them.
I think I remember seeing a Volvo grader on Gold Rush but don't remember much about it. Even if Volvo would have sold off the Champion they might still be made in Canada. Sad to see a good well respected brand go down for stupid reasons.
Tony Beets has (or had) an SDLG loader. I talked to a few mechanics that seen SDLG loaders. When the first one showed up at Strongco Edmonton, the door fell off when they went to open it. I really liked the series 4’s, 5’s, and 6’s although the air conditioning on the 6’s was an adventure. And I ran a series 3 that was as tough as they come, just wasn’t as nice to run. Next one I ran was a 720B and we couldn’t see that one leave fast enough. That should have been a hint how the 940B was going to be.
I was just watching my recorded "Gold Rush" show from last night. I always record then watch so I can skip the parts that are corny/stupid. Anyway, they were putting together Rick's new Volvo 740 excavator. The bucket had "Romco" cast or welded into the sides. Also, there were small "Romco" stickers on various windows and other places. Well, "Romco" is our dealer here in Texas. The big sticker on the machine still said "Great West Equipment". I guess they must have hauled that machine from Texas, all the way up to Canada to get it into that gold mining operation. Just thought that was interesting. Jeff
I noticed that too. If you noticed they peeled that sticker off later after it was assembled. But the welded romco plate probably remains.
You are correct about that sticker. I thought I saw another Romco sticker on it when it first showed up. I watched the earlier part again.
Romco usually puts a decal on both sides of the boom,each side of the body and one on the counterweight. What I can't believe is if Romco was the middleman on that deal, that those decals made it all the way to the Ukon.
Maybe it was originally built for Romco, then somehow got diverted up to Canada for the show. I bet Romco made some money on that deal. They always seemed to make a lot of money off of my purchases back in the 90's. I got some great machines, but not sure I ever got a " great deal".
I was talking with a guy who worked at a Volvo dealer a couple years ago and he said the Gold Rush machines are leased for next to nothing. There is someone who counts how many times the Volvo name is shown on each episode. He also said Volvo sent a 20ft. sea can full of filters and oil etc. to Parkers camp and when some Volvo reps went up there to see the operation 6 month's later, the sea can had not even been opened. They aren't real big on maintainence.