I need to add an excavator to my fleet for removing small trees and mowing hills and rocky terrain that we can't access with our ctl. I want to keep my investment under 30k, and I want to keep the machine weight under 9k pounds so that all our truck/trailers can tow it if needed. Cat, bobcat and Deere are all local and have decent service. Kubota is TERRIBLE here and not an option. My primary concern is reliability and operating cost. Any insight on these machines?
Meant to say the mower head is only 450 lbs so not too heavy for the lighter excavators
What brand of CTL do you have? What is your area as far as dealer service? We've got 2 Cat 303's, they have been good machines.
My ctl is a bobcat and I'm happy with their service but I have never owned another brand. My bobcat is rough on pins but has been ultra reliable. Holt cat is based here in San Antonio and they have a giant service department. The 303 looks like a nice machine to me and I've always been curious about them. Deere has a much smaller presence in south Texas for their mini x but I do see a few. I am impressed with the deeres hydro flow but I read on here about swing bearings and it got me a little worried.
I`m told Cat is very aggressive for ANY business...If they are close by with good service, check them out...Tony
I don't have any experience with the Cat machines. Had a Bobcat 331 (2000hrs) from 2002-2004. Blew lines under floor in winter, not fun. Rebuilt the cylinder on the boom, twice. I owned a Deere 27 zts ( 2000Hrs). Had that machine from 2004-2010. No issues. Very little maintenance on my part. 2010-2015 owned two new Bobcat 425 minis after opening a rental store. Rebuilt the top cylinder on the boom twice. Had a valve leak in control block. Rebuilt the swing motor carrier at 1400 hrs, then rebuilt again at 1800 hrs. Sold it with the leak at 2000 hrs. Cracked the main boom at the point where the stick is pinned on, this was on the long arm version. Bought two Deere 27D minis in August 2015. No problems with both around 350 hours now. Fuel, oil and air filters are easy to access. You can tilt the cab to get into the back of the engine, starter and hydraulic lines. 35D is very similar. Both made by Hitachi in Japan. Good quality machines in my opinion.
Unfortunately I have had the opposite experience with Hitachi (ZX35)/2013 model, 3.8ton, at 13 months old with 860hrs on the meter it was showing signs of slew/swing bearing wear (greased as per manual) and my dealer didn't want to know about it, have since found out they were monitoring a few with the same problem and had already done 2 warranty replacements of slew bearings but were under 12 months old. I have a 2014 Bobcat E35 now, it to has had minor issues that our local Bobcat dealer has been more than happy to sought, but on the upside it OUT-DIGS the Hitachi and my previous Takeuchi by a mile, and is more fuel efficient with it's Kubota power plant, but it is 5 more horsepower to be fair.
Diga- Your post was actually what had me worried about the 35d. A slew bearing failure would be a bad deal for me! I'm planning to rent a Bobcat e32 this week to try out. After that I'll try the Deere and Cat and compare notes. If anybody has had problems with the models I'm considering please share!
Slew strength is important and never really measured in these minis. I understand the engineered limitations of cranking up the power on slew strength (bearing wear, boom to body pins and knuckle design), but so often I find slew lacking relative to other movements. Pick up a heavy item and can barely swing it around.
I know it's not on your list so you probably don't want to consider it, but I have to mention this... I have a 2004 Takeuchi TB135, which meets all your other requirements. If you happen to come across one in your search, I can tell you that it's a tough little b*****d and punches above it's weight. Just, you know... something to keep in mind.
How many hours on the TB135? Any major issues?
Just a little note on that, they're not actually built by Hitachi. They're built for Hitachi and Deere by a company called Airman in Japan. Not that it really matters, but just making sure the correct info is out there.
For what you're describing, if I were in your shoes my only option would be the 35d. I ran a cat 303 for years. Wasn't a bad machine but it gives up about 800lbs. in weight and about 6" in width to the JD. It was a little tipsy over the tracks. Assuming the E32 would be about the same plus I'm not a big fan of their excavators. For running a pretty heavy attachment I think for stability perspective the 35d would be the best machine. comes in handy working on slopes or in soft conditions.