I've been in the market for the 349 F or Volvo 480 E for a while and am about to pull the trigger on one, I'm leaning towards the Volvo. What's your guys opinion on these machines?
The creature comforts and room in the cab of the Volvo would make you want to choose that, but if the 349 and 480 compare the way the smaller 336 (NOT the hybrid) and 340 do, I'd take the cat for better balance and power. Have you been able to demo or test run the two? How's the dealer support in your area for each?
How do they compare in price?
New the Cat is about $60,000 more.
How is the dealer service and parts support? Around here the Volvo dealer is going the way of the dodo bird.
Dealer support is good with both but better with cat. Haven't ran these specific machines but have ran lots of cats and volvos.
In the U.K. the Better bit of Iron on Backup Support and Digging ability would be the Volvo, I have driven about every make of Excavator other than John Deere as this brand is not sold within the U.K. Volvo dig Muck and control the best of anything on the market, between the Volvo and the CAT the Volvo is smoother,digs better, loads better, we have nothing bad to say about them against the other Excavators on the Market today, Hitachi can build a fair Excavator that also can stick a bit of work, best of luck tctractors
I've ran only a couple Volvo's they are nice but I didn't care for the balance or the speed. They seem jerky at times. We are sewer and water contractor so we need the finesse sometimes. The Cats seem to have all three balance(unless I'm being dumb and pick up more than I should), speed and finesse. Cats are a little more but you will get it back out of it in the future. Ether in resale or life. Go with the 349
I personally know of 2 companies running 349's with excessive engine oil consumption issues, 1 with a failure.
Price for the Volvo with a severe duty bucket, progressive link thumb and four year warranty is right about $375,000. Cat is 60-70 thousand more.
Why??? tctractors
What do you mean why? Lol
It might be time to look at what is happening in the Global picture?? Oil even in the U.K. is cheaper than Bottle Water what a change, the Euro and £ is low against the U.S. Buck, so Europe and the U.K. are avoiding spending on Yank stuff, China is looking for a few Dollars with big wheels like CAT heavy into products and parts from China, I would love to know what percentage of CAT Excavators is U.S. Built, I sort of know where Volvo Swingers are built, with the unknown looming over us all and stability ahead not looking good due to World changing and terror groups that are outside this Forum scope, the Head needs scratching when shelling out good Coins, Sir I wish you Good Luck with your New Excavator and hope things work out well. tctractors
Having operated a lot of Cat and Volvo excavators (not those models admittedly), Volvo's would be my choice. Much nicer operating environment and precise control. Both seem good build quality, but Volvo' here in the UK seem to last longer. Graham
Most 349's are either built in the USA or Belguim from what I've seen. $60 grand is a lot, but keep in mind, who has better parts support. If a hoe breaks down and needs a part, and one can get that part in a day or two instead of weeks, you'll make or break that $60K in production pretty fast.
If the parts took weeks to get I don't think the loaders or trucks would be as popular as they are but maybe you have more experience with that?
This Back Up issue is something that I can only script from my own experience within the U.K. Volvo would beat CAT in Parts and Service near every time, I often find that people think CAT equipment is totally built in the U.S.A. the % of parts from China that go into equipment is growing constantly, even CAT Socks are made in "Ting Tong" the Grimbergen Factory has boom sections made in Ireland now, so it is better to call things " Assembled " in the USA or ? I do like CAT kit but just a few months ago a new 330 landed on a site that would only tick over and would struggle to dig Cotton Wool, it took CAT over 2 weeks with a lap top to sort its running data. tctractors
Lots of good feedback so far. I'm leaning towards Volvo at this point. I just can't justify the near 20% premium that cat is wanting.
Have you compared prices of parts yet for each machine. What about resale value. You will get your 20% back plus more I suspect when it is time to trade.
As a business man I agree, $60K is a lot of money up front and I don't think the Cat is worth the premium. That's coming from a Cat guy. On the flip side when I've compared purchase prices for equipment locally, Cat has always come in at the same price or cheaper - the difference is the dealer.
Volvo is a bit more on parts but not a deal breaker. I probably could get close to 20% more back on resale but I don't believe in paying 20% more to hopefully get that back at all. I could nearly get another semi and end dump for that $60 k.
Wheeler (Cat) is an excellent dealer though. A couple of weeks of downtime would suck up 60K pretty fast by the time one included the whole scenario, but that is not to say that your local Volvo dealer would necessarily be any slower than Cat if you had a problem. Is the Cat pre-wired for GPS? If so that is about 20K of the difference.
Wheeler is an excellent dealer for sure. Just a bit over priced. I'm not sure about the gps wiring.
SHHHH... someone might find you wrapped with a 30 SQFT vinyl decal in a 55 gal drum of yellow paint
A Korean Samsung dressed up with Volvo decals does not convince me, after getting old this Samsung´s leak hydraulic oil from everywhere. New machines are all very good, even chinese look nice, after getting 15k hours Cat still goes on, even the yellow paint on the Cat´s last´s longer.
buy a cat you wont go wrong
I'd never say Cat or Volvo are better overall, in my part of the U.K. There's nothing between the dealerships, I can get anything for a Cat overnight, and apparently the same goes for Volvo. As far as the machines, some of the Cat's aren't as well set up or balanced as the equivalent Volvos, and vice versa. However, There's a reason the 320 was the biggest selling excavator around the world for several years, and still is near the top, and it certainly isn't price
To the OP. The decision has to be yours in the end. Both machines can be good but the support you get will be one of the most important factors in whether your experience is good or not. Price is nice as they say but look at total projected cost of ownership to make your decision instead. The last thing I would do is base my decision on what a bunch of guys behind a computer screen say about which machine is the best. We all know some people bleed Cat yellow. And some will vote for Volvo because that is what they like and have always used. I have worked on both and either will do the job. I would personally demo each unit first to get a feel for them and possibly what fuel consumption is. Look into what each has for emissions systems. I am not sure if the Cat is truly T4 final or just compliant and running the T3 or T4 interim solution. I have not seen or heard of any running so I cannot comment on how they are running. I know the Volvo is T4 final with DOC/DPF/SCR. They have been running well as far as I have heard.
Thanks for all of your feedback! At this point I looks like I'm leaning towards the Volvo 480.
We have only had the smaller sizes, Cat 315 and Volvo 160, and from that experience I would say it's almost a toss-up. Both good machines, but I can tell you the cost per hour is less with the Volvo. Also, the Volvos, with our sizes, have brought the same money at trade time. Dealer support would be the biggest factor for me. One last thing, our under carriage life on the Volvos was far better. Good Luck!
Cat has gotten very aggressive on the 349 F and I decided to go that route. I'll keep everyone posted on how it performs.. I've got high expectations for this machine.
lmao, its true tho. had a 349 and two 345's to look after, only the one 345 used slightly less oil than the other two of 5L every two days
Ben Witter has a good point, in the end its your choice, ive put together a screen and crusher plant in hwange ZW, and we had the help of an EC700 volvo, precision is as much in the hands of the operator as what the machine is capable of. we had two operators and it was chalk and cheese, i could ask the one guy for 5mm movement with the tip and he could do it, the other nearly dropped the whole structure he was so coarse. whatever you decide, an experienced and well trained operator makes a lot of difference to the longevity of your machine in as much as dealer support affects your downtime. i am a cat mech, thats what my boss believes in, here in zimbabwe dealer support is poor for volvo, whereas caterpillar is slightly better. but we do our own maintenance. and info from cat is alot more forthcoming. that said there are things on either machine that i like/dislike. my mate swears volvo. its alot like toyota versus landrover here. personal preference. at the end of the day it boils down to the man who uses it.
Hey guys I have ran everything but Volvos!! But have heard a lot of good things about them! Are they good for 20000 hrs!! If serviced accordingly and operated by a good operator!? Has anyone experienced a high hour machine!?? Regards Jake