so the review on the new holland inspired me to do a short review on the j c b. its really too bad stumpywally that you didn't get to purchase a j c b. i would have been interested in seeing any modifications you would have made to it. really the only big problem i have with the j c b 205 is the electro hydraulic controls. we are almost exclusively in tight quarters where we are turning a lot and the eh, although you can be as precise as you want with them, are just way slower at getting stuff done than the old manual controls. the 260 we demoed back in the day had pilot controls, which i liked a little better, but still do not know how they would perform in the cold weather, and im still not convinced the iso pattern is the best way to go in tight quarters. that being said, im convinced the j c b eh is at least as good as any other brand, and better than jd from what i understand. another thing i noticed going from the bobcat to the j c b is the tendency for the machine to bounce when turning. i don't know what causes this it seems to be a non bobcat problem. maybe from not having the transverse mounted engine? new michelin bib steels would solve this issue but im not convinced they are the most economical tire to run. the j c b cab seems to me to be light years ahead of any other brand. there are no rattles, visibility is unbelievable, and it is so air tight that you always have to leave the window open in order to easily get the door shut (it is a stretch to reach that door handle). the cab is big and the ergonomics are perfect. one thing i noticed is the air seat they have limited to only a few inches of travel which makes sense for ergonomic reasons, bit i would have rather seen them lower the seat mount in order to keep more travel. the cab is quiet and the radio can be easily heard at low volumes. i will say you do need to be careful with the left side of that machine where the door is, since it is not built super heavy like the rest of the machine. i hate to say it, but an all glass door would actually be nice... but perhaps not practical in this situation. as far as the one arm goes. it does work, and it will not break. but it still does need some attention on the next model revision. i would recommend the straight radial boom if you can stand it; there would be no issues with that design. as far as the story about the jcb and that paper mill. j c b did have some problems on the first machines that were built, much like any other manufacturer. as far as the bucket tilt cylinder breaking off every day, that problem could be solved by changing the hydraulic relief pressure on that circuit. a bobcat 630 has radial lift, which i would also recommend for a jcb in that application. i have a small defense for that j c b, but in a super rugged application, its hard to beat the years and volume of experience bobcat has in designing a machine. im cant say weather j c b has the most rugged longest lasting machine, but i sure look forward to driving mine every day. it is easy on fuel, and maintenance and such is really easy on it.
The cause of the hopping is likely the tires have a soft side wall which can cause the machine to buck. The longer the wheel base the more difficult it is to counter rotate add a soft side wall and it will struggle. Also the machine with a greater percentage of weight on the rear will allow the machine to skid easier that those that are 50/50 front to back. Didn't JCB replace your lift arm? I think every OEM that has brought EH out in the machines has had to fight EH related problems.
this is our second 205. we were having some problems with the first machine (500 hours on it) so they traded us into a new one for $0. how come the small frame D series cats are getting no hype. rear visibility does no look good on those which i'm assuming is why they offer a rear view camera now. interestingly, the j c b 135 155 175 185 205 appear to be exactly the same machine, only with different weights installed on them. so as far as performance goes with horsepower and such, the 205 is probably a little underpowered at 60 hp; and the 135, 155 etc would have class leading horsepower. i see the case 200 and the cat 242d are between 70 and 75 hp in the same class machine.
My buddy has sold a 287D, 1 262D and a 299D already. They haven't gotten any of the smaller 236/242/257/259Ds yet. He said CAT is limiting how many each dealer can have until they build up inventories (Bobcat did this when I was selling them too). He said you can see an object two foot above the ground two foot away from the rear door and there are no blind spots by the loader towers because it's a wide angle camera. He said the visibility to the fronth and sides is great with the new arms and even lower cab glass on the sides. And the Bluetooth works good too.
Dave: Like I've said before, I tried to buy a JCB, but they stopped selling the 60hp machines for a time at the end of 2012, I think because of boom problems. So, I went with the New Holland L220 with OTT. But I still pine for that JCB side-entrance cab every time I have to get in & out of my L220, & I get in & out a lot... And the quietness would be nice. My NH is not particularly quiet, although it is quite air tight. Too bad JCB doesn't offer a rear drawbar or receiver hitch....that would have been one of my must have improvements. If I could do it over again ( & in my crazier moments I have toyed with trading my L220), I would consider the JCB 260T. Even though I don't need the extra hp (74hp), the better engine (Dieselmax) & the wider 17"-inch wide tracks for better flotation & lower ground pressure would be a plus. I will send you a PM with my email...I would like to stay in touch & hear more about your JCB experiences, uses, & thoughts.
Dave, Stay tuned for Tier 4 small platform JCB's.....coming sometime end of Q4/Early Q1 2014. Adjustable EH and more horsepower. I concur with you that 60 HP on the 190/205 is just a little short.
i was a little disappointed when we were ordering our j c b because the first small frames were supposed to get a sensitivity dial and pattern changer but never did. as long as the t4 models don't have a particulate trap and all that ridiculous regeneration stuff (assuming their not), i would consider trading for a new one. that would be sweet. i plan on avoiding all emissions shenanigans in the fleet until everyone figures out which direction the technology is going. im not convinced the liquid scr is here to stay.
so i have been doing some research on the t4 final jcbs. there is no dpf or scr on the machines. they have variable geometry turbo and exhaust gas recirculation only. that is a huge selling point. i see they decreased hp from 92 to 74 on the new machines i'm assuming to keep the engines below certain engine size regulations. so the real question is is t4 final the last emissions regulation? or is there a tier 5 coming too.
You mentioned the key- 94 down to 74hp. Anything between 75-175hp has to be TierIVf by 2015. One way or another each OEM has got to figure out a way to remove carbon from the exhaust and this stuff ends up as soot in a SPF which must be burned by higher temps hence all the talk about regeneration. JCB does have engines above 74hp and it is very possible that they will be using urea by TierIVf.
There will be Tier V coming down the road soon. I doubt JCB'll avoid using some form of after treatment at T IV final or T V.
i think we have reached the law of diminishing returns on this emissions shenanigans. if we really wanna waste money, why not give it to all of the countries who pollute exponentially more than we do. i think i would be looking into designing a high horsepower gasoline engine if i was an engine company.
:iagree I wonder if natural gas will be the fuel of choice soon.
Yair . . . I thought you fellers already had a few of them over in the US? Cheers
Yair . . . dave esterns I thought you fellers had a few of them over in the US? Cheers
With our Cat's the EH machine is much slower to respond in cold weather than the pilot machines. It can take a good 15 minutes to get marginally good response if its been sitting overnight in below zero temps. The pilot machines just go. None of our machines ever sit very long though and most are inside buildings at night. The bibsteels are worth the investment. The ride quality alone pays for itself. I have yet to have one get a puncture in then either. I have only fixed one bent rim in the 600hrs we've been running them. With the way the tread is wearing it looks like `1500-2000hrs will be their life. Not outstanding for the cost, but the reduced downtime, improved traction and improved ride quality pay for the rest of the difference. They are just over $500 and firestones are just under $400. For that difference they are a no brainer for me. Just bought a set of 10" ones for our 226B3 that replaced our 242B3 in the barn. Put the set of bibsteels off that 242B3 onto our feeding 242B3 and sent the trade in with some halfway decent cat tires. The 10" cat tires off the 226B3 are going on our old LS170 that needs tires but doesn't get many hours anymore. Just hit 10,000hrs the other day. The Cat seats have full travel which is nice, if they get rid of some of the window shake they will be very quiet. I was always impressed with JCB's cab too, does the A/C keep up in it? That was always my complaint in some of their other machines. Do they offer Poly doors and windows? Our guys like to break glass. The CNH cab is big but ours was dirty and noisy. Is the JCB cab completely sealed like the C series cat? The Radio in our L220 NH could not be heard under level 30 and at that level the speakers started to clip badly. The Cat radio is much easier to hear. Rear visibility does look slightly worse on them but it all depends on the camera angle, part of me thinks Cat likes how big and bold the rear looks which is why so many of the shots are from a lower angle. we're supposed to be demoing one soon. The 236D, 242D, 246D and 262D are rated at the same 74hp but keep their respective load capacities and dimensions. The side and front visibility has been dramatically improved it appears though. A lot of the new features look nice as well. The Kubota engines will be a huge selling point. The auxillaries are in the boom now so they wont get smashed off by everything. Looks like they have a nice boom lock now as well. The LCD screen with programmable operators will be very nice as well. Dual leveling and electronic throttle should be nice but could create headaches. I think once Cat has them on dealer lots they will start making some more noise, right now they are probably trying to clear out the old inventory first. Our 262C2 will be up for trade next and depending on how things work out could end up being a 262D this spring. Our feeding 242B3 will be up for trade this summer but I haven't decided if I want to trade it on a 242D, 236D or 242D. For what it does radial lift would be better enough of the time and visibility is much better. I like the larger wheelbase of the 246D though. When we toured the plant they said they will restrict dealer orders until they have their inventory at the plant full. Those machines at the plant are reserved for fast sales, generally when a salesman has to deliver within a few days to make the sale and generally when it involves converting brands. Or if there is a fire or something. There are other times they can be used but they try to save them if they can. 75hp is when the emissions power bracket changes. I do not see anything past T4 anytime soon. Right now they are focusing on fuel economy regulations. NG has becomed the fuel of choice for many short haul fleets. It is expensive though and the infrastructure is not there for small fleets really. Like anything as time goes on it will get pricier and less cost effective to run, but for now does show a lot of promise. The biggest issue is CNG needs huge tanks on the vehicles for short runs times. LNG does not but it needs a heavy refer system to keep it cool.
the more i hear about other manufacturers eh the more impressed i get with the jcbs. the jcb eh is decent on cold startup, you lose a little of your ability, but then within ten minutes is normal. we always get the cheapest tires we can from the local tire guy. sometimes they are recap titan 7000s i believe. i think their just over $130 a piece and we get between 600 and 1000 hours on them. so not the worst deal. the heat/ac in the jcb is superb. the ac in the old bobcat was worthless, as was the heat if you needed to defrost the windows. heat and ac is more complex than people realize. just because your heat and ac system technically heats and cools does not mean its nice heat and ac. the heat in the j c b is soothing, and the ac does not give you a headache like the old bobcats did. the ac in our biggest case ih tractor is not nice. it just doesn't make you feel good. some days i wish the machine didn't have a cab. i will say the j c b heat does have a tendency to put you to sleep. i always feel like taking a nap after running the j c b for an hour or 2 in the morning. i know jcb offers a polycarbonate front window but I'm not sure about the sides. interestingly when one of the cows broke the front window on the j c b it cracked, unlike the bobcat windshield that would always shatter into a million pieces. i have never noticed a problem with the jcb cab not being sealed. the old bobcat would literally suck all of the dust into the cab and then circulate it around. the air outside the cab was almost always cleaner than the air inside that cab. i havent had the jcb in a prolonged super dusty condition, but have never noticed a problem. most of the time i leave the window cracked a few inches and there doesnt seem to be much dust that gets in. in our cab there are 2 holes behind the seat where the hydraulic hoses for the pilot control used to come into the cab, else the whole cab seems to be all sealed up; its a modular cab so there is not much sealing needed. if your talking about the standard radio skid steers seem to have, normally i run ours at level 13 or 14 and can hear just fine. i do like the look of the new cats, but using a camera to claim good visibility is unacceptable. not to mention i would opt out of the amics deal or whatever its called. the fewer electronics the better; and im sure it doesnt come cheap. and then im sure you cant get the camera without it. word on the street is tier 5 is going to be about reducing co2 emissions. apparently the epa wants to treat co2 as a toxic chemical now.
The Cat glass windows are laminated too so they don't shatter. We've broken a lot. The poly windows fell out of the B series and caused us issues which is why we switched to glass. The poly on the C series has been good. What I meant by sealed was if the floor and everything was modular like the Cat versus splitting in the middle like bobcat and CNH. The Jensen radio we had to run at level 30. Cat uses a normal single DIN radio though. I agree using a backup camera is not good visibility. I don't know if its required or just an option, but I'll have to run one to really get a good opinion. The AMICs system is needed for ride control and to custom tune the controls to your liking, without AMICS you cannot adjust the sensitivity.
Camera is an option.
I know its an option, I am wondering if the reason it is an option is due to limited visibility or just as a convenience. If they are like the original 299Ds were I think it may almost be needed for good visibility in tight quarters.
The visibility out the back on the C was poor, the visibility on D is even worse. All that extra plumbing and equipment for Tier 4 has to go somewhere. The camera is a available to provide an answer for anyone that looks out the back and complains about the view.
Our 262C2 I feel has better visibility than our 242B3's. Now if you watch Bobcats video where they measure the distance you can see a board on the ground it may be worse, but as far as what I consider good visibility the C series is better than the vertical lift B we have. Probably due to sitting up so much higher and smaller lift arms. I have only ever seen an older 299D in person and can say yes they suck, but the CTL machines always seem to have the ass in the air a lot more. It'll be interesting to see what the new D series is like. From the pictures it looks bad, but I'm curious. Then again none of our guys look backwards anyways, maybe a camera wouldn't be the worst.
Perhaps comparing the C to another CAT may make it appear better, I demoed a 279C and the view was bad coming from a CASE. A camera may be a good idea, I just wonder about dust, rain, snow and so forth obstructing the view.
KSSS : (FYI) …..4 yrs ago I mounted a heated camera (from "Rear View Systems") just to the front of my tailgate and in the centre, Kinda next to the exhaust pipe, for commercial winter plowing …….. as you know, there is virtually no rear vision day or night when the rear glass is either iced up or buried in snow … for that task it works "AMAZING" especially the night vision. But as the camera never gets taken off I couldn't be without it year round ….. rain, dirt, dust, brush debris …. no-problem … it is pretty well protected there, and if it gets a little dirty, like the front windshield, the camera is glass so it gets a quick wipe and good to go. The 7" monitor has 2 view settings, I chose to use the same view as looking into the rear view mirror in u'r p/u Definitely one of the best add-ons i've ever put on a machine !!! ….. And I thought was cheap too at well under $300 incl. shipping ……. cheers
You are absolutely correct there, no contest at all to the rear visibility out of a CNH machine, especially when comparing the CTL's. I don't know if the case rear end gets raised a lot, but it sure seems like the Cat CTL's have their ass pointed towards the sky versus the wheeled models. The wrong camera could be a problem, however I assume its the same one they use in their wheel loaders and such and will work okay. I don't think they would put one in there that would require a lot of maintenance but I could be wrong. The only experience I have with them was when we were driving the K series loaders around at their "dirt playground". They were brand new then, not sure how they have worked out over time. For our guys the more I think about the camera the more I can't tell if its a great idea. For bigger guys that cant really twist around in the seat it would be nice. We have a couple guys that are "cozy" in the cabs. Also have some older guys that just prefer to not have to twist around. These guys all use the rearview mirror actually but the issue is that the back windows are impossible to keep clean for very long it seems, plus your field of view is limited with the rearview mirror. Still better than nothing though. Then theres our guys that just don't look, I have a feeling that even if theres a screen showing them where they are going they still wont look, but the ones who are trying to be careful will appreciate it. From the way the specs read, ours will have the screen anyways so that I can program settings and passcodes for different operators, the camera option wouldn't be much on top of that compared to the costs of the things they back into. I will say though its not the right way to fix a problem, but theres only so much you can do with our situation.
When I wanted even better rear visibility from my NH L220, I considered a rear camera. But I didn't have any experience with them, & wasn't sure it would let me see what was just off the back edges of my tracks when I'm working in the woods. And I probably would have had to mount the camera on the roof, which would have created clearance issues in the woods. The view directly behind I could see well enough with the inside rear view mirrors (there are 1 on each side of a NH L220). So, I went low tech & just fabricated outside rear view mirror brackets that I mounted on the lift arms. The mirrors don't protrude further than my tracks, & I find them very natural to use & look at. And they show exactly whats off the back edges of my tracks. Even though the mirrors move up/down with the boom, they are useful over enough of a range to work. I haven't backed into anything since I've installed them. You can see my installation in detail at my thread StumpyWally
All JCB skids and CTLs will be Tier 4 FINAL compliant once the new small platform T4 machines roll out. In my opinion (this is not verified by JCB), I think they probably could have kept their old HP ratings and been T4 Interim compliant with the current configuration (large platform Ecomax), but instead chose to simply roll out T4F with the de-rate. Keep in mind, our backhoes are running the same engine at 91 HP and 109 HP and are meeting current T4I emissions also without aftertreatment (NO DPF, No Re-gen, No SCR). Such is the basis for my opinion on the SSL/CTL de-rate. Interestingly enough, the torque curve of the new T4F Ecomax is only about 4% less than the old 92 HP T3. Making up for some of that loss in overall torque is the quicker response and recovery from the T4F engine being High Pressure Common Rail/Electronic Injection (no mechanical injection pump). It is my hope that for T4F on the above-75 HP engines that JCB will choose SCR as their solution. It is merely speculation on my part, but JCB usually tends to "buck the trend," so I'm thinking they may try and do what others aren't, because we already have a leg up on everyone when it comes to fuel efficiency, and I think SCR would only build on that, based on what I've seen on our Ag side of the business.
Can anyone offer some description or opinions on the undercarriage of JCB/Volvo CTL?? For example, any rubber or suspended components, ride quality, OEM track manufacturer/style, ground pressure, turf damage, etc. Will JCB ever offer a track wider than the std. 12.6" on the small machines to minimize ground pressure?? Say like the 17" wide track on the large machines?? It seems odd that the smaller JCB 190T with the 12.6" track, for example, has a ground pressure of 6.2 psi, whereas the larger, much heavier 260T has a ground pressure of only 4.6 psi, owing to the 17" wide track. I think there is a place for the smaller machine with a very low ground pressure. I know I was interested when I was looking for a CTL. Also, will JCB ever offer a rear drawbar or hitch for their CTL?? For my reasons, see my thread
SCR is the trend for meeting Tier 4 Final. So far nobody has been able to reduce NOX emission efficiently without SCR.
ah surprisingly i do not know everything about the j c b. but my guess is they have no plans to offer a rear hitch option. i dont know a lot about the tracks but they seem to be just the standard track undercarriage, nothing fancy; should be reliable. i also would guess they have no plans on putting a wider track on the small frame. from what i understand jcb has met teir 4 final with no after treatment, as long as their under 75 hp. i believe bobcat already derated their machines, which may be why jcb did it at this time. word on the street is jcb will have scr and no dpf on their larger engines. word on the street is they will use significantly less urea than anyone else because of the efficient nature of the dieselmax. also, the dealer will be able to sell a kit to get rid of the emmissions stuff for burning high sulfur diesel. ah sounds like i will be "selling" my jcb to my buddy in another country.
so i was out and about looking at new skid steers today and i have a bone to pick again. how does nobody have an arm rest to go along with the joysticks? the case tr320 was obviously the worst. the lap bar dug into my arms while my hands were on the joysticks and the joysticks were in an odd location compared to other machines (im aware they are adjustable), and whats with the fit and finish on that machine? random joystick pods in the middle of nowhere with wires running to them mounted (loosely) somewhere by big awkward metal rods and such. honestly, did they take no pride in their design? i could go on and on but thats probably enough. yes, the full large arm rest with the joysticks mounted to the arm rests on the j c b is key. i dont see how joysticks work out when there is not a real arm rest right there. ic kubota and cat (the bobcat might actually have it now not sure) try to make a type of arm rest outta the lap bars but they still dont really work out. at least the fit and finish on the rest of the kubota is good.
Looking at the inside of a JCB I feel the C series Cat controls are fairly close. They are very comfortable. The lap bars are the armrests which keeps things in the cab neat. Ive never driven a JCB to compare.
Not to mention that each joystick and arm rest in the CAT is independently adjustable with the simple pull of a lever so that an operator can set them to his preference. The joysticks also are part of the air ride platform and move with the seat so your arms are always the same regardless of movement. I finally got into a D series on Sunday and I think CAT has raised the bar again in cab features. While some of these are not exclusive to CAT I think they are better integrated than nost others- heated high back air ride seats (vinyl or cloth), complete a/c cab integration (then entire a/c system is modular with the cab so the cab seal is never broken when the cab gets raised- this also has left a virtually clean chassis floor that a tech can basically crawl into and sit in when working on the machine), Bluetooth (I connected and the clarity was very good at WOT- the cab is very quiet), the accelerator/decelerator pedal is slick- acts as a decelerator when the machine is at high rpms, and smooths out the response when the machine is bouncy so that the machine is not revving up and down in rough terrain, visibility to the sides and front was very very good, the rear of the machine is no better, however, the rear camera is wide angle and offers clear sight lines beyond the towers and as close as about two feet behind the engine door and two feet above the ground- much closer than you can see out of even the best SSLs, the return to dig, work tool positioning and speed sensitive ride control worked very well. I especially think the work tool positioning and ride control were very wel thought out- set your speed for ride control and it automatically turns off when you slow down to dig into a pile or dump into a truck and it turns on once you reach the speed you have set (based on operator preference), the work tool positioning allows you to set the angle and height of the attachment such as a mower, trencher, Harley rake, mulcher, broom, etc. All you have to do is push the button after you raise your arms to turn or go over a sidewalk and the attachment goes back to the height and angle you have set it at. The self leveling feature also works up and down and stays level to actual true and not the chassis level so if the machine is on an incline or decline the machine knows what actual true level is sets the bucket or forks at true level. I still think the visibility to the rear could be better but I really think they did their homework on this series of machines.
if i was buying another machine just for fun it would probably be a cat. they are pretty sweet rides. the one problem i have with the bobcats is ride control is only activated by a lever in the engine compartment?! come on now that is ridiculous. i do not understand why it is so hard to have a button on the joystick to activate ride control. nobody offers this. apparently case does but you have to hold the button down the whole time you have it activated?! that is almost as laughable as when they made u hold down the 2 speed button the whole time u were in high. the cat speed activated ride control (yes im aware that is case terminology) isnt much better. its a skid steer in certain situations you want ride control on and in certain situations you don't. its not contingent on speed, and it is something you would turn on and off like a hundred times a day. the bobcat system of leaving it on or off all day is just ridiculous. im not impressed with the jcb system either. you have to hit a button on the dash but it will only activate when the loader arm is either all the way down or has no pressure on the hydraulic circuit. so it rarely gets used, which i am not happy about. the kubota has similar arm rests as the cat, and i didnt find them overly comfortable, but maybe cat has it figured out. the jcb joysticks do not move with the seat. i would imagine it would be better if they did. but one could probably make an argument either way. did they change the radio location on the d series? cuz that does not look too handy in the pic...
Cat has a switvh to turn the ride control on or off on the right hand side. Only whe. Its turned on is it speed sensitive. Before you had to adjust it at the dealer. Ours is set to 4mph . If you turn the switch off it is completely off. The only thing I didnt like about it on our machines is when you are carrying a heavy load. When the ride control kicks in the boom droos violently at first. I assume this is due to it sensing the load as the ride control performa as well with a heavy load as it does with a light load. The radio location is poor but it allows you to use a much nicer radio than the brands that use the chea p Jensen one like the CNH machines.
I had a chance to at least sit in a new Cat D series cab (I think a 262D), & it was the first Cat cab I've ever sat in that I liked. But the radio location is COMPLETELY ridiculous....you can't see it without swiveling around & down. The Jensen radio in my NH L220 is on the right hand ceiling, & it's better but still somewhat hard to read. The radio on the front ceiling, like the JCB I think, is the best for visibility. My NH L220 has ride control activated by a button on the right joystick...you have to hold it continually for ride control, which is a bit of a pain. What would have been wrong with a toggle on or off??
I hate the cat radio location as well. Bigger guys bump the volume control often and can't swivel around to change stations. I'm smaller and don't have an issue. It was something I mentioned to a few different people from Cat, both territory reps and the "D' series engineers that stopped out, but they said the main concern that people had was being able to mute the radio when they got a phone call so they felt that by just adding bluetooth they would take care of the majority of the issues which providing the cab is as quiet as I have head, I'd believe it would, but its still would be nicer to have it mounted somewhere else. I think a big issue though is the size of the radio, they want to be able to use a standard single DIN radio which is very deep and the back of the cab is the only area that provides enough room for it really. I can see the new cab being much quieter than the C series. The C series was already the quietest cab I had been in. The D series you can see has fewer cab joints (like where the door seals, its all one big formed piece now versus multiple pieces on the C series. The HVAC that was mounted underneat your feet in the belly of the machine is now sealed to the cab which will be nice for many reasons, one less joint to allow depressurization and noise, the HVAC will be out of the way for service (not that it was really in the way before), no longer will I have to worry about guys pressure washing with the cab up and filling the HVAC cores with debris. If they got the side windows to seal a bit tighter I think that cab will set some records for noise levels inside. The only other thing that made some noise was the boom lock but I see they have a different design on the new machines. The CNH machines have a better location but I am sorry that radio and speakers are a POS. In our machine you had to have them at 30 to overcome the hydraulic noise and by then the speakers were peaked out. The forward mounting of JCB and Bobcats radios is nicer but at least in Bobcats case they still use that cheap Jensen radio. Its not just that Jensen radio that sucks, we have a lot of problems with their Single DIN radios in our tractors as well. For $400 you think they could make something better, but instead we just replace them with $200 Marine Kenwoods that have far more features and work much much better. I think CAT may try staying single DIN so they can offer a CD player as well which is not that big of a selling point considering I have never had a CD player last more than a year in any off road piece of machinery. They just do not get along well with dust and the bouncing causes a lot of skipping. The auxiullary input jack is nice, but they really just need a USB hookup like everyone else. Even if you do not have an MP3 player, with a USB hookup you go to the store, but a $15 USB thumb drive, go home and download itunes, load all of your CD's into it, purchase any other music you may want, move it all to the thumb drive and plug the stick into the radio. Viola. As for CNH ride control, I think Stumpy Wally has a new project on his hands. I am sure with some minor wiring skills you could turn that momentary switch either into a simple on off switch or you could wire it through a relay where each time you click the momentary switch it turns the ride control to the opposite of what it currently is, kind of like Cat's two speed trigger.
well the cat drooping under heavy load when ride control is engaged is understandable. i assume this (safety) is why the jcb demands you dont have a load on the boom to activate it. it would probably take some pretty sophisticated hydraulic wizardry to stop the cat from doing that. i do like that about the jcb how there is almost nothing under the cab when you tilt it. 2 drive motors and a computer and wiring harness is about all that is there. im not super picky about the radio location, its a problem i could overlook. one thing annoying about the jcb is all the buttons you press a lot on the dash are the left side. so you end up pressing the buttons with your right hand. this is probably another one of their safety ideas making you stop the machine to operate the quick tach. at least cat has the button on the right hand side. can you set it so its activated at 0 mph?
I liked the trigger activation of the CASE machine in the 400 series the best. Easy to hold down, non fatiguing it was by far the best activation of RC. I don't want a continues switch, I like being able to chose without having to move my hands from the controls. The location on the Alpha series CASE machine is not as ergonomic as the 400 series, but I still prefer it to always on or always off mounted on the dash.
Cat's quick attach on the B and C series is on the left side and I run it with my right hand every time. Ride control is on the right side, creeper gear is on the right side and the display is on the right side. I don't see why your wouldnt be able to set a new D series machine to 0mph. In my application where I have a hard enough time getting guys to use it I like having the master on off and then having it activated by speed. I think if they had to hold a button none of them would use it and we would loose a lot of material as that is what our 262C2 spends a lot of its day doing, carting materials across the farm.
the purpose of activating the ride control at 0 mph would be so that the switch on the dash acted as an on off switch so there would be no speed activation. so i am aware that on the tier 4 large platform jcbs they have added screens to the rear and the side of the machine. does anyone know if the small frame tier 4 will have these? as everyone knows im not a fan of screens anywhere on a skid steer. also i assume they never changed the ride control button? i am probably going to price a new tier 4 model small frame and see just what they would trade us for with our current one having 350 hours on it. also i assume they didnt change the seat suspension? can they be ordered with the michelin radial tires? can michelin radial tires be retreaded? what is the cost of doing such a thing? if i bought one it would be another buy without seeing deal like the last time so the more i know about them the better. the less than perfect air ride seat and the joystick response were the only items that didnt meet my expectations on the original purchase without seeing.
Yes the radials can be retreaded for a couple hundred dolars or less. Call Bauer Built. They are the local Michelin retreader.
Thanks for the tip on replacing the Jensen with a marine Kenwood. And I agree totally with just putting a USB port on the radio...that would be a simple, elegant addition. Also, an interesting idea for my next project...to turn the NH ride control switch continuous hold switch into a a on/off toggle...although it doesn't bother me that much as it is. Actually, my next projects are to possibly try to sound proof the NH cab more with some Dynamat (very expensive stuff!!), and to add a left side console mounted switch for the cabin light, not to mention add a much brighter cabin light (one you can actually see or read something by...I hope it's not just my old eyes). What's the interior cabin light like in the new Cat D series and in the JCB?? How is it turned on/off??
In your case you wouldnt be able to put in the type of Kenwood I am referring to. I was referring to the issues we have with the Single DIN Jensens and replacing them with single DIN Kenwoods which wouldnt fit in the CNH location at all. Single DIN radios are the most popular and are very deep. As for Dynamat, Id agree those NH cabs need it. Ive used it in one of our Semis and it did help. Buy the Extreme bulk pack. Its $170 on Amazon IIRC and is the best deal. I also used their dynaliner for insulation. As far as interior lights go Ive had good luck with some 12" strip bars from Grote. They are about $40 and are LED surface mount. Not sure if the D series Cats are different from the C series but on both our B and C series the lightbis turned on simply by pushing on the lens.
Yea, after a little research I learned the same thing...Kenwoods only come in the DIN form factor, which won't work in my NH. You know, part of the sound problem may just be that the Jensen speakers are behind the head liner, with no grille or holes thru the head liner. Are the CAT D series speakers mounted the same?? Thanks for the Amazon tip on the Dynamat, but I had already decided that Amazon was the best place to buy it. I just need to figure out how much I need...the 9 sf pack or the 36 sf pack. I'll check out the LED strip bars from Grote. Thanks. Pushing the lens to turn on/off the cabin light is good. On my NH, it has a 3 position switch on the light...off-on-off. Clearly, one of the off positions was meant to connect it to a external switch...like a door push button switch. Too bad the engineers didn't put one on the door!! You know, I have a 2005 NH EH80 CS excavator (a Kobelco really) that I love. It has all the cab features that I wish my NH skid steer had...cabin light switch on the door, DIN radio that sounds good, quiet cab, even with the door open, spacious cab, side entry cab (like a JCB), skylight that is made to open easily, heated cloth suspension seat (my NH has that but the seat is not as adjustable for tilt & back support), etc. Most other excavators have these cab features also. What's taking the skid steer engineers SO long to catch on??? IMHO they need to just think a little and/or spend some time in a skid steer cab, & then an excavator cad, to see the light...
The Cat speakers are behind the headliner as well. Keeps them cleaner and working longer I would think. They seem larger than the NH ones though which makes a huge difference. The Cat light is 3 position too but not hooked into the door as a courtesy light. They are starting to make the seats better. The new high back Cat seats in the D series allow backrest adjustment. Cant remember if they offer lumbar though. I think a lot of it has to do with how young the SSL market is. Cat has only been making them since the late 90s. The expectations out of SSLs are increasing fast too as are the prices. People never sat in them all day before, now they do. We bought an LS170 new in 05 and the L220 we bought in 2012 was 10k higher. I think theyre afraid to move too far too fast.
ah i see the local dealer got in a bunch of the new gehl r series skid steers. of course with t bar controls. i will never know how anyones wrist can stand to turn those things. ah they seem like pretty sweet rides, if the year was 1999. at least with this model... it will probably allow them to retain their current gehl skid steer customers, but wont attract any new customers. i will say it looks like it is built tough...well except for the rear door because i demand much out of my rear doors. i do not really demand that much out of my skid steer. good visibility, good seat, modular quiet cab, good joysticks. thats about it. i couldnt care less about all the gadgetry on the new cats. camera, snubbing, return to dig shenanigans, bucket leveling, etc. we had 2 machines with bucket leveling and i never did used it. seems to me whenever its on im just fighting it all the time cuz i rarely want the bucket to remain level as i am raising it; seems to me whatever is in the bucket just falls out if you dont get a pretty good angle on it while raising. i will say it at least makes sense to have it now that it works both ways. but i have never been a big fan of the electric cuz it takes away your cycle time. there is an art to dumping into a truck/spreader and a one size fits all approach does not work out. i like to have the control over my machine. i did have respect for the old case mechanical self leveling however. as far as the high back seat; is that really that desirable? seems to me the bumps would have more leverage on you and your head/neck would always be bouncing forward. the high back seat seems to me it would have a whip lashing effect. the jcb has a light that you touch to turn on. seems to work i dont know if its excessively bright though. it also has a jensen radio but it seems to sound good, and the weather band is really nice on it. the ipod hook up was always supposed to be inside the arm rest compartment, it doesnt really work out too good having it on the front of the radio. but aint nobody got time to mess around with that anyway. what does din mean. ic jcb moved to the electric quick tach on the tier 4. seems to me that is less desirable. im unimpressed with the chinsy screen in the back door now, at least cat put some angle irons across their screen. i feel like a skid loader would benefit a lot from a seat like our tractors have in them, where there is a forward backward side to side cushioning via springs and gas cylinders in the seat suspension. not just up and down. also it looks like they beefed up that tilt cylinder (that people say break) there has gotta be like a 5 inch round pin holding that cylinder on now it is huge. if your breaking that you are hard on equipment.
I use return to dig all the time and make a lot of our operators use it as well. Too many guys digging deep holes loading out piles and too much wear on cutting edges on concrete. Not using return to dig is a quick way to make the guys at the quarries mad too when you start making a mess out of their piles. As for the high back seat, I like them in everything else as long as you dont have to turn around a lot. Im guessing it just fits well with the rest of Cats equipment. I will agree that for and aft suspension would be nice at a minimum. I think that does more work than up and down in enough of our tractors. DIN is the "Duetsches Institut für Normung". Otherwise known as the German institute for standardization. They eet a lot of electrical standards. The size of automobile radios is one of them a Single DIN radio is what you will most commonly find for sale. A double DIN takes up two DIN spaces and so on.
I can see where 'return to dig' could be useful...& self-leveling makes a lot more sense if it works both up & down like Cats. The one nice thing about ride control on my NH is that it can be invoked while carrying a load. Dave, did I understand you correctly when you said that in your JCB you had to turn it on BEFORE picking up a load?? Just for the heck of it, I measured the glass-to-glass width of my NH L220 cab across the top of the EH joysticks...33.5" Durallymax, what is that same width in your Cat D series cab?? Dave Esterns, what is that same width in your JCB new generation cab??
Loading manure is when the self level comes in handy, you set the bucket angle where you want it to keep the liquid in and lift and dont get a bath in manure. Of course now with cabs our operators have become more careless since they have protection. Dave made it sound like the booms had to be down for ride control to engage. On our Cat's its simply speed dependent but like I mentioned when it first goes to charge the accumulators or whatever it does when it kicks in for the first time with a heavy load you get a decent jolt, but for everytime after that it is setup for that size load and is not an issue it seems. I am not entirely sure how it works, but I am impressed with it. I do not have a D series but I measured out C series which should have very similar dimensions. Across the joysticks the cab is 33" wide glass to glass. Subtract 1" as the upper halfs of the windows each come in about a half inch. Otherwise the cab stays that width back to the B pillars. I also took some other measurements if you wanted to compare. From the bottom of the rear window to the front door it is 54" long. From the seat back when slid all the way back to the front door it is 39". From the floor to the ceiling it is 57" and from the seat bottom when aired up with nobody on it it is 37" from the cushion to the ceiling. The seat has a lot of travel though.
As an after thought, I just measured the cab width on my NH EH80 CS excavator, where the cab feels "spacious". Glass-to-glass width across the top of the joysticks = 37.5". Based on its feel, I would have bet it was more. What a difference that 4.5" makes compared to the 33.5" in my NH L220 SSL. My glass side windows on the L220 slide back full height, so that width stays the same. I will take more measurements as you did & report them. Too bad you don't have a D series...I remember feeling cramped in the C series cab, but much less so when I sat in the D series.
When I get a demo on one I'll try to remember to take some measurements. The cab looks the same dimensions wise but with updated panels so that it seals better.
More on cabs & dimensions.... A correction on one of my previous posts...My NH/kobelco EH80 CS excavator's cloth suspension seat is NOT heated, but that's OK because the cab heater can burn you out of the cab anyway. Milton Cat is only a 15 minute drive away, so I went there & sat in & measured a C series & D series cab. I summarized all my measurements in the attached PDF, & have included the source spreadsheet in a zip for further use by anyone. According to my measurements & observations, the Cat C & D cabs are identical. Compared to my NH L220, the Cat cabs are slightly narrower & have slightly less inside height, but the Cat cabs are longer behind the seat (but not useful space) & have a lower entrance lip. In fact, the approach to the Cat cabs over the front of the boom is quite flat, uncluttered & nice. And the C & D cabs have split lap bars that along with the joysticks not only move with the seat but are individually & quickly adjustable. That plus the large skylight I think makes those cabs feel as comfortable as they do. However, there is the bad radio location, & I'm not impressed with the glass door, which seems flimsy because of its lack of much of a frame. It seems to be just a piece of curved glass with a gasket on it. All the skid steer seats have very little adjustment front to back & up & down, particularly compared to the seat in my excavator, which adjusts probably 6" front/back & up/down, not mention will tilt & change backrest angle. While at the Cat dealer, I also sat in a B series cab (they had a D, C & B machines side-by-side). In an instant, it all came back to me how completely 'suckfull' the cab was!! It's not that it is so much smaller, I think, it's more that it just feels awkward. I bang into everything, & the one piece lap bar is a pain. Interestingly, almost all the SSLs Milton Cat had on display/stock were B series...maybe nobody wants them because of the cab. I certainly wouldn't want one. So come on Dave, give us some JCB cab measurements & blow us all away!!! Feel free to download & use the attached spreadsheet. I don't have ready access to JCB machines (dealer is much further away & doesn't usually stock SSLs/CTLs), so you're my source. Now, on to 2 other nagging questions...why do Cat & Bobcat doors open to the right, while everyone else opens to the left?? And...why don't more SSL/CTLs have doors that slide up into the cab roof, like an excavator?? The only ones that do that I know of are Kubota & Takeuchi. Whenever I've asked any dealer, they always say that there is too much vibration & the sliding doors don't stay up. I think that's a BS answer. And finally, to both Dave Esterns & durallymax, why do you use SSLs in your farm work rather than small, articulated loaders? You work on hard surfaces, & the small loaders are all side entry with comfortable cabs, probably have larger payloads & would be much easier on tires & fuel. You don't seem to need the auxiliary hydraulics that the SSLs offer. I think the small loader is more popular for farm work in Europe, & most tree nurseries around here use them. Some farmers, too. And you have your pick of makers (Cat, NH, Case, JD, JCB, Wacker-Neuson, Kubota) Before I went with an SSL, I considered a small, articulated loader...but I needed tracks for flotation & low ground pressure, & a small size for work in the woods. Also, after having used a tractor-loader for years, I liked the idea of being more 'intimate' with the working end of my bucket/blade/forks. I dismissed a small loader before I even got to price. What are your thoughts??
Definitely some good ideas on this thread....I really enjoy hearing how you guys (the end users) feel about certain features/ergonomics of different machines.....a few that I feel the JCB could certainly benefit: Adjustable control pods that move with the seat suspension/travel (like the Cat...nicely done, and should be easy now that they are all EH controls) Return to dig...also nice Speed adjustable smoothride Cat definitely has some nice features that I think all brands could benefit from. Was I understanding correctly that someone said that the Cat cab is now fully integrated when raised? Meaning that there is an actual "floor" to it, like the JCB? I really think this is one of our stand-out features that most people overlook. It attributes significantly to our overall cab comfort for noise levels and dust ingress. Anyway, I will definitely be relaying these suggestions to JCB next chance I get, because I think you guys all have some valid improvement suggestions. Thanks for the input guys.
hahah aint nobody got time for this! well i will have to carve out a little time because my obsession with skid steers is worth it. jcb width of glass at top of joysticks. 35.5 width of glass at joystick level 36 bottom rear to front glass 47.5 bottom of seat back to front glass 41 floor to ceiling at seat front 56.5 +1 seat bottom to ceiling 39.5 seat front to front of cab 25 (leg/foot room length.) cab floor to ground level 19 " seat back is adjustable as are joysticks. our farm was built around a skid steer. a small articulated loader would be way too big for what we do. if it was up to me i would have a large end loader to do all farm chores and nothing else. its true the jcb makes you have the boom down all the way to engage soft ride. although i have gotten it to engage a time or 2 with no load in the bucket. this was a disappointment when i found this out. having the boom down is not as big a deal as not having the button on the joystick to activate.
Cat C series cabs were fully sealed with the floor and everything. The D series uses better panels with fewer gaps to get a tighter seal and the HVAC is attached to the underside of the cab. It used to sit underneath the cab and would seperate when the cab was lifted. I think having the floor sealed like Cat and JCB is the only way to get a high pressure seal and keep it. For us its in the name, skid steer, they are very manueverable and universal. We use the the auxillaries for many different attachments.
Dave...thanks for the JCB cab dimensions. I've updated & attached my cab dimension spreadsheet. As expected, the JCB cab is bigger in all the important dimensions. Durallymax...I didn't appreciate that you use a lot of hydraulic attachments in your farm work. Although more small articulated loaders are becoming much more aux hydraulic capable. Dave & durallymax...it sounds like your choice of SSL over loader comes down to their smaller size & extreme maneuverability. Same as 2 of my reasons for picking a SSL for my frequent working in the woods & around my property. I'm not surprised when I think back to the low barns & their confined spaces on the dairy farms I grew up on. Dave, durallymax & JCBiron...any input on my question of why do Cat & Bobcat doors open to the right, while everyone else opens to the left?? Or thoughts on doors that slide up rather than hinge?? Of course, Dave & JCBiron you have a better solution in the side entry door. JCBiron...so it seems that you should let at least Dave & I know when JCB/Volvo improves their current SSLs with the following (not in any prioritized order): E-H controls that are adjustable for sensitivity. Joysticks & split lap bar that slides with the seat & are both independently adjustable. Ride control/smooth ride that is toggled on/off with a button on the right joystick when the boom is in any position. It shouldn't have to be speed dependent, or if it is, allow the speed dependency to be turned off (set speed to zero). Return-to-dig hydraulic functionality. Seat back & seat that independently adjust for tilt. Hydraulic load leveling that works both down & up. Wide track option on the small frame CTL, to allow it to achieve the lowest ground pressure of the line. A cab light that is bright enough to allow reading in the cab, & can be switched on even when the machine is off. The switch should be big enough to operate with gloved hands, & should be on the dash near the door, so it can be turned on when the door is opened before getting in (think getting in in the dark in the winter). A rear drawbar/receiver hitch option, with an additional option for a rear electric winch outlet. A side light option. A master battery disconnect switch, preferably activated from the cab. These "little" improvements would make an already unique machine really outstanding in my opinion, & without equal in the market. Any other ideas, Dave...
i do enjoy how skid steers are far enough behind the times that they have not all become basically the same machine like cars and tractors have. this is like the hay day of farming when tractors of different brands were significantly different and farmers could discuss all day why their machine is better than the rest. this is why i appreciate the jcb, they are different; it stirs the pot a little. word on the street is within a few months the tier 4 small frame jcbs will be out. they will have the pattern changer and sensitivity settings. the large frames already have this. i suspect that the way the door opens has been grandfathered in from back in the day. originally the front door was just a few guys trying to slap something on there so a heater could work so people didn't freeze in the winter. i don't thing too much thought went into it but once people got used to the way the door opened on that brand, thats just the way it ended up. seems to me the cab never really took off till bobcat started giving it away free around the year 2000 i believe. i would think there would be an iso standard for this somewhere though. as far as the roll up door, i would absolutely hate that. i get in and out way too many times a day to try to deal with that. i suspect that with a little age and less than ideal maintenance the door would not work quite so good after a while as well. at least thats the way all the old deere skid steer doors ended up that i have seen farmers running around with. i assume you can drive the machine with the door open which would actually be a nice feature. seems that you would probably hit your head on it though. also sealing the door becomes next to impossible as well. my preference is just a regular door, but i suppose one could argue either way. the joysticks are adjustable on our jcb. the seat and joysticks really work good the way its all set up. the only improvement i could see would be attaching everything to the seat suspension, which would be a very simple task. i suspect i could even do it if i had the time. the seat back does adjust for tilt, the bottom cushion does not. the cab light i think would be all good if it turned on with the door. its definitely bright enough for me to do reading and such. i believe a master battery disconnect is available but you have to open the back door to get at it. side lights would be handy. also more light down right in front of the machine just in front of the tires so one can see more whats going on while back dragging at night.
I forgot item 12 on my JCB improvement list: 12. A hinged skylight that is easily latched shut, al la excavator style. Tinted glass in the skylight, or even all around, would be nice, too. Dave, thanks for your input & support of the improvement ideas. Just a word of clarification, though... Re: the cab light, a simple door operated switch would be an improvement, but I still would like a large on/off switch that can be operated with a gloved hand so that the light can be turned on/off when the door is closed when you need to see or read something. Re: the battery disconnect, I added an optional one to my NH L220, because I found that with the increasing electrification of the machines, sometimes a relay becomes 'stuck' on & winds up draining the battery when the machine is off. Also, I find trickle charging the battery works much better with the battery disconnected. So, I'm in the habit of disconnecting the battery at the end of every day. But then the next day when I get in the cab to start, half the time I discover that I forgot to re-connect the battery before getting in!! Hence, the in-cab operated battery disconnect would help my forgetfulness!! The battery disconnect also supplements the anti-theft, operator code keyless start system in my NH, which I presume is also available in the JCB. I hope you're right about the new small Tier 4's coming out in early 2014. I will definitely want to look at them. As long as they have the improved ride control, adjustable E-H sensitivity, joysticks/lap bar that slide with the seat, & wide tracks, I would be disappointed in not having the rest, but I could 'make do' or 'cob' the rest.
I think the door swings the way it does so you don't have to step over hydraulic hoses.
Digdeep: Duh...that makes perfect sense..why didn't I think of that. Most of the time I have a bucket or forks mounted, so I don't think about hydraulic hoses. But in the winter with my hydraulic angle snow plow mounted the hoses are in my way with the left opening door. So, now I have to wonder why all SSL front swing doors aren't designed to open to the right?? And Dave, I think the way you would use a front roll up door is that if you're getting in & out a lot, you would just run with the door up. You would only put it down when you were going to be seated for a while. For me, when I'm working in the woods & the mud, sometimes I need to get in/out on the left, sometimes on the right, so a roll up door would work. But, I would still consider it a less good alternative than the JCB side entry. As for sealing a roll up door, the front glass/frame in my excavator rolls up & uses a cam-latch system, which seals the frame in when you close the two latches. So it can be done.
Actually CNH seems to be the Minority on their doors opening that direction. Cat, Bobcat, ASV/Terex, Komatsu, Newer Deere's, Newer Gehls, Non-JCB Volvo's, and wheeled Tak's all open to the right. I don't know if there is a reason for it or not, my guess is possibly due to more people being right handed and having the door open that way being a more natural feel. Hydraulic hoses could have something to do with it but having the door open the other direction lets you unhook them without having to completely exit the machine and close the door which could I guess be a safety issue and the reason thy put the doors that way. For all I know they just threw darts at a board though. Those were some things I mentioned to the Cat engineers when they were here. IIRC I saw one brand (CNH?) offers side lighting off the rear of the cab now. We get in and out of ours every couple minutes as well, but the couple minutes were in them we want the door closed and sealed so a roll up would be much slower and a hassle. I think thats the reason Deere did away with it as well. People moving dirt all day have different requirements and the roll up door works for them.
1. All new T4 JCB Skids have adjustable sensitivity for the drive controls as standard equipment. I would like to see additional adjustment for the loader/bucket as well, but not sure if that's on the radar yet. 2. Agreed that the joysticks should be mounted to the seat frame/suspension so that they travel with the movement of the seat. 3. I think the way JCB does their smoothride (button on upper left, only engage-able with bucket down) is for safety purposes.....not saying that it is necessary (obviously other manufacturers do it differently and get by with it), but JCB is very safety-conscious with their skids already, so they may just be "over thinking" it....not sure, but I would also like to see an engagement option from the joysticks. I also think the speed activation is a good idea. 4. Agreed 5. I am surprised JCB doesn't offer this, as many of their other products do have this level of adjustment with the seat. May be a space/travel issue??? 6. Agreed....although self-level up/return-to-dig down would go a long way towards making self-leveling in the down direction a non-critical function....but either way, it would be nice 7. Agreed! I have already hounded JCB about offering a 15" track option on the small platform CTL's....they claim that they don't have the clearance on the boom side, but I don't buy it... 8. I think if they had side lights (#10) with an egress lighting option that was programmable for 10 sec, 30 sec, etc....that would be helpful. Almost all Ag machines have this feature anymore. JCB's light is on the right hand side of the cab, and is easily used with gloves....You just push on one end of the light or the other, it pivots in the middle. 9. Not sure this is on their radar at this point 10. See #8 11. Standard equipment, but located behind the engine door cover on the bottom left.
JCBiron: I appreciate your feedback... 1. Agreed...I would like E-H sensitivity adjustment for the bucket lift/tilt as well as drive. My NH already has all of that. 2. We both agree that joysticks should move with the seat...hope the JCB engineers add this soon. 3. If the current smoothride engagement (button on upper left, only engage-able with bucket down) is due to "safety concerns", then I definitely feel the "lawyers" are out of control. Let the engineers restore some much needed functionality with an any-bucket-position engage button on the joystick. My NH already has this, although you have to hold the button down. It should just be a toggle. And an adjustable speed activation option would be a plus. 4. Sounds like we all could use return-to-dig...hope the JCB engineers add this soon. 5. With JCB having the most spacious cab by far, I can't believe there is a space issue preventing independent tilt adjustment on the seat & seat back!! 6. Agreed, return-to-dig going down with self-level on the way up would be a great step. 7. Please keep hounding them to add a wide track option on the small machines. I agree that the excuse of boom clearance is feeble. And why stop at 15" wide tracks?? Go all the way to the 17.7" inch wide tracks that the large machines use. By my calculations, 15" wide tracks on a 190T would reduce its ground pressure from 6.2 psi to about 5.2 psi, while the 17.7" wide tracks would reduce it to about 4.4 psi. Particularly if any frame changes need to be made, go with the 17.7" wide tracks & get it over with!! 8. A programmable delay on lights off would help with egress, but does nothing for ingress. So, a simple door-operated switch would be useful. That together with the cab light that can already be turned on/off with a gloved hand by pushing on a rocking lens would be OK. The programmable delay on lights off would be "icing on the cake". 9. If they can't offer a rear drawbar/receiver hitch/winch option, at LEAST provide easy bolt-on attachment points for user-fabricated designs. That may already be so...I haven't looked at the rear of a JCB enough to determine that. 10. A side light option should be easy. My NH already had that, & the sister Case line has the side lights built in as std. equipment. 11. Glad to hear the master battery disconnect is std. equipment. Cab activation would be a plus. The battery disconnect is an option with NH, but std. with Case. And I'm in the process of thinking thru how I could add the cab activation feature to my NH (or any SSL) using a solenoid operated switch. 12. Don't forget this...A hinged skylight that is easily latched shut, al la excavator style. Tinted glass in the skylight, or even all around, would be nice, too. If JCB says they can't do the hinged skylight because of "safety concerns", then we really do need to shoot all the lawyers!! If you haven't already deduced it, I'm a retired engineer, albeit a Civil. I'm ever hopeful that companies will build the best machine they can...JCB is almost there...
i should probably specify that all the controls on tier 3 machines including boom and bucket are adjustable via dealer laptop. to me the boom bucket works perfectly.
Bit blurry but this is an image of what SSL's on a dairy farm go through. We've been waiting on our new pressure washer to be built and installed so washing is a bit behind but this is the type of crap that builds up under the cab. I took it apart to clean the cores and under the heater box.
I'm glad i don't have anything to do with dairys and hogs. Mice and leaving equipment out in the fields is bad enough.Good luck
I guess you may be a good example of why CAT made their cab and A/C completely integrated in the new D series. Not having an airbox to remove will make that job much easier.
Boy, that is some repugnant mess!!! I can only hope that you're pressure washer is working soon. BTW, what brand/model SSL is that?? It looks like the cab is tilted toward the rear??
Not many mice around here, our equipment gets run all the time. Aside from a couple grain trucks or something I really don't ever have to deal with mouse damage that often. We have an exterminator though that spends a lot of time keeping the mice and rats at bay. They are more attracted to the calf feed and such which keeps them away from the equipment for the most part. We fill our cabs with dryer sheets in the off season and that has actually worked out very well. Not much gets left in the fields really, just when we are moving bales. And even then its not left there for long as we are usually out there from for 16hrs or so trying to get everything done. Yes it is, I am looking forward to the D series not only for that reason but more so for the revised engine compartment that is sealed off and draws air in through the rear grille, that will help keep a lot of the debris out of the chassis. Many other things I like about them too. This machine will be ready to trade this spring with our 242B3 being ready next spring/summer also. That 242B3 is the one we feed with, I'll have to get a picture of that thing because it's life is worse. It sits in a confined shed with nothing but fine dusts and feed products. For awhile we were feeding cottonseed hulls and the fuzz would cake into the radiator and be impossible to clean out. The cottonseed we normally feed isn't too bad, but those hulls were terrible. I am still waiting for the day they install a central washing system though where I can just hook up the pressure washer hose, drop a couple panels and let it go haha. That is our 262C2 Cat. I much prefer the rear tilting cabs as you can still work on things with the boom down if needed. Plus its really nice with the boom in the air being able to reach in from the front versus having to do everything from the sides. New washer is in, however this is a normal mess for any of our SSL's. Only takes a month for the majority of the stuff to get in there. Our NH L220 was smoldering within no time, one of the things that really worried me with it especially given the number of fires they had in the area with that series.