I know CAT quit making them right around the 2008 downturn. Any chance we'll ever see new 613s produced, and if not, how long will the existing 613s remain viable for use? Just think they're awesome machines, and hate to think they're a dying breed.
I agree - they are very good machines. I think the biggest hurdle is that the guys/contractor that can really utilize this size machine - just cannot afford the initial cost of them. We have a CAT dealer who has a 2008 model 613 with around 3,500 hrs - they are asking over 180k for it. For a bigger outfit they can swing it - but for the little guys it is too much. They tell us to just go with a 4wd or quadtrac and pull pans, but many of our jobs they are just too big. This size machine has a place but manufacturers cannot make enough profit on the few they could sell - that is understandable. We have 2 JD 762's - one is an old straight 762 and we have a 762A that has a computer issue that we cannot find any help for - so it is currently a huge yard ornament. We love this size machine and have thought about going to CAT 613's but are afraid they will be like mother deere and no longer support them.
I read an article a few years ago that said Cat was using an outside contractor to build some 615's. There were built only if ordered, not a standard item. I wonder if that deal continues today? Jeff
Those electric controls on the Deere scrapers always were a downfall.... great when they worked.
Kress website advertises they build 613s at Peoria. Not sure if they still offer them.
It would be interesting to calculate how much it would cost for a third party to do a certified rebuild of 613s and 615s. Strip them down to bare metal, magnaflux them, and build them back up. Often thought about doing that with Terex TS14Gs. Similar to what Piacentini does with their fleet in Australia.
If I remember correctly Kress started out putting rear wheel drive assembly’s on JD scrapers
There is a serious void in the market for small/medium self propelled scrapers, both open bowl and elevating. Economics of production has forced pricing high enough for the larger models such they must be used 1000 hours a year or better, every year. The smaller niche market earthmoving contractors can't do this do to weather limitations and job size. The last TS14C the company I work for purchased in 1994 was $303K. Today's cost of that machine would be $533,280. No new scrapers after that. I don't know if a business could rebuild and be profitable selling certified rebuilt scrapers at that price? Or would contractors be willing to purchase essentially new vintage machines at that level?
Frame up rebuilds on anything that is to be sold in a retail market is going to be cost prohibitive on just about any scale you want to discuss. The problem is not only cost but also the source of any money to pay for that kind of endeavor. The circular logic is that there has to be enough work to justify the project up front. A customer needs to have the schedule of work or an easy finance plan to enable payment to be paused when the machine is not working. The bank or finance company for a potential purchaser needs to see a business plan that works to a time frame of years. The bank or finance company for the rebuilder needs to see a market larger than one or two customers before lending money on the real estate and facility costs. The profit margins on both the purchaser and rebuilder has to be such that both make money enough to pay the interest on the costs. You have a catch 22 here in that the risk to any of the parties is not actually controllable in this day. Labor and environmental factors just make this beyond a safe bet. The only way a rebuild works in this day is for an end user to do their own rebuild on machines intended for their own use. They most likely won't be able to borrow money on it which removes the other two players and those profit margins. My thoughts are for someone to go to that end user with a business plan to do rebuilds on an individual basis on the end users property. I don't see any other way financially that a rebuild could work.
You make several valid and very good points John. We have actually looked into trying to do a rebuild on our own. As you stated, the cost factor of doing a proper job is cost prohibitive - even at that level (doing your own). The majority of us using this size machine are small contractors who do not put much more than a couple hundred hours a year on - at most. I know for us, we are going to keep what we have going as long as we can, and when that is no longer a viable option, find other ways to accomplish what is needed. That is what inspires a lot of us anyway - the challenge to accomplish a task that seems difficult or impossible.
Seen 2 brand new 613 g in the last month around here and I know they were not a c series to much plastic