Anyone know what the difference is? Also anyone with experience operating these machines? I am looking at purchasing one and needed some opinions. Thanks
I have not ran one of them but I have owned a 321CLCR and ran many 320CL's. The C is the series model, the L is for long undercarriage and the U is for utility, which is Cat's reduced tail swing. I really liked the lack of tail on the 321 but the cab was not very comfortable. What I found out was that I really needed just a reduced tail swing machine not neccessarily a 0 swing radius in my working environment. What I like about the CLU's is the full size cab. Also, not neccessarily the case everytime but often times just the CU will be a grey market machine, most Cat track hoes are L versions in North America. Maybe someone else has more experience with these particular machines. It may be hard to tell the difference from the pictures (photos courtesy of machinerytrader.com) 320CLU 320CU
What exactly do you want to know about them? I ran one for over a year and a half, 80 hours a week, pretty constant for that whole time. Good little machine. As CM said, short radius, with a full side cab, thats a big plus. We had a CLU and a CU. I ran the CLU, I noticed mine was a lot more stable than the other. We never really had any mechanical issues with any of the machines. We had two on my site, one on the other side of town on. All very reliable. They only thing I found you need a heads up on is fuel filters. Depending on your fuel supplier, or even type of fuel you run. We were running a heavy bio diesel blend. My filters always fell 20-50 hours short of scheduled maintance. I did find a little trick though. I started cracking the tank drain valve every morning. Being a demo site everything was an environmental clean up anyways. I would let it run until the fuel was good and pink/red. Most mornings when I opened the drain, it was brown. I had no say in the fuel supplier, but I found a way to keep myself from being shut down, or having to change filters and go home smelling like a fuel guy.
How many hours were on the machines? and had any major workorders been done on them before you operated them? Other then that i think you answered my question. Thanks!
We had no major work orders on any of the machines. We did purchase them with 1,000-2,000 hours. I believe they came from an auction in Florida, im assuming ex RING rental units. They were reliable machines for us. No real issues other than the expected coming from a demolition machine. When we auctioned them off they were around the 8,000 hour range. Tracks were still in fair shape. Actually they were in great shape for being on concrete full time, and being used as bulldozers on concrete. We auctioned them off and replaced them with new 320Cs, and the 320cs were not well recieved. Everyone loved the short swing radius.
The difference between a 320C U and a 320C LU??? 1'3" of undercarriage legnth(the LU being 14'7" long and the U being 13'4"). The L also has another 7" of width on it's standard tracks. Weight wise the LU is heavier by 1,555lbs (50,175lbs vs 49,160) , but given the added stability I'd say that's a decent trade off. Basically the top part is exactly the same, the only difference is that the tracks are longer and wider. The HP, hydraulic flow, fuel capacity, sticks, attachments etc etc are exactly the same the only difference is when you get into lift charts (the L does way better due to it's longer and wider stance). If you need to know exact specs for the lift chart, reach etc just pm me and I'll send em over (hell I can fax them if you really care).
I agree with CM comfort level in the cab of a 321CLCR left alot to be desired, not like other cat hoes I been in. IMHO:drinkup Bob
Hi i am new here. this is francisco from uruguay. I am planning to buy a cat 320. They offered me a 320 C in usa. I would like to know the difference between 320 C and 320 CL. I guess they are almost the same. Thanks
320 C difference with CL? I am Fran from Uruguay. First time here i am planning to buy a 320. They offered me a 320 C and would like to know the difference between 320 C and CL. Is a 320 C good machine? I guess 320c and 320 cl are almost the same. Any response?
They're both nice machines. The 320CL has a longer undercarriage than the 320C. The L stands for Long undercarriage. The long undercarriage gives better stability and lift capacity than the short undercarriage.