I rented a brand new John Deere 270D LC to dig out a utility tunnel. The machine was one of the nicest I've ever run. Quiet, strong, quick, smooth, everything you could ask for. I'll post the pictures Monday.
I have also spent some time in the new D series machine, Deere has really upped the ante when it comes to Excavators, but a few things baffle me still. Why did they switch to those stupid little stainless exhaust stacks instead of the classic black with the 45 degree cut? Any of the machines older than a year that I see has rusted up and looks like crap. Another is the cab.... why is it still so cheap looking? The brand new machine we got had shaking panels that rattled like crazy whenever you tracked anywhere, it drives me nuts, and why aren't the control consoles independantly adjustable from the seat? My biggest pet peeve of the C series has carried over.... I can't at all get comfortable in the machine, and JD still refuses to put even a half decent radio in there that will last more than 6 months without getting messed up. Don't get me wrong, they care a great machine, but it seems like their cheaping out on the little things.
This machine had no shaking panels or anything, real tight and seemed pretty nice in the cab. I bought a Cat 320Bl brand new, and it would overheat all the time. Cat couldn't figure out the problem, changed everything. I blew the motor at 8000 hours and put a new one in, with the upgraded cooling system. Seems to me as Cat realized they messed up. As far as I am concerned I'll never buy another Cat machine, nothing but trouble with service, cooperation from the salesmen after. It was like a taillight warranty. I have quite a few Komatsu's I haven't done anything to, but change the oil.
MIKEF87 Did you buy that machine when the dig was going on? We had trouble with the "BIG" dealer getting service on a few of our machines. Now that the dig is over there service has gotten better to the smaller companies. JMO
The 320 was bought back in 98 when the big dig was starting to spike. We were working on the dig as rental equipment to a few companies. That's almost all I did during the Dig was rental work. What sent me over the edge was when a sensor went wrong in my 966G so I called my salesman to see if I could rent a machine or something I'd send the lowbed or whatever I needed and he calmly said he was to busy. I've got a few Komatsu's, but I think pound for pound the Cat has the best dozer around. Depending on what work I pick up in the spring I may be in the market for a large excavator.
We just bought a 450 dlc the begining of february, and man is she ever a sweet machine. Doesnt have any of the shaking and rattling problems that you mentioned. This machine can dig ! Il post some pics soon.
In what ways has Deere upped the ante over say, Hitachi? Or even Komatsu for that matter?
Deere is made by Hitachi Deere dealer now is only way to get hitachi parts. here
Burnout, You can move the controls independently of the seat, I have on the C-series. Thoe sometimes they don't move quite to the extent that i would like.But still good enough to be plenty comfortable. As far as the shaking and rattling I don't know what the deal is there. They all do it to some extent.Most of the time the radio antenna gets broke by not pushing it back in and during transport or by trees they get broke. We have a 270CLC,120LC, And 200DLC and all the radios work(besides the 590D,doesn't have one). And you pretty much have to group Deere with Hitachi when it comes to upping the ante. The cabs have changed as far as integral strength. Next look at how thick the corners of the cab are. And Deere is not so much maid by hitachi, Deere pretty much says this is the machine we need and they collaborate on getting the final product they both agree on. B/c I guarantee that if Deere was not happy with their final product someone would know about it.
I will also agree Deere is not made by Hitachi, they are in a partnership of equipment design. The Deere machine has the better engine in my opinion. I have always been a fan of the Deere engines especially the 6.8, its a rock solid engine and the sound is like no other excavator. I believe they have upped the ante on excavators when it comes to reliability, speed, precision, visibility and overall quality of the machine. Yeah I have my gripes about the cab being a little noisy and having a cheap radio, but realistically if thats all a guy can find wrong with a machine... thats a good thing isn't it? The speed of the D's are impressive, I have got to play with a couple of different models now and they are faster than the C models, and definately faster than Cat. Relibility wise, I have talked to a few owners of the 200D,240D,279D and a 450D and they have nothing but good things to say about them. They have minimal downtime, better on fuel than the previous models and the production is on the up and up. I also found with the new smaller joysticks it's easier to do finesse work. I never liked those long slim things Deere has been using for the last 20 years, I always tend to grab them down towards the boot instead of the tops, but these new ones, they have a nice feel to them, their shorter, fatter and something about the rubber doesn't make your hands sweat after a day of sitting in it. And that brings me to my gripe about adjustability.. the forward and back movement is ok in them, definately improved over the C series. But there is still no up and down adjustment to them. Most guys like their joysticks down low from their body, I like them up high and close to you. I like to have my hands up high and closer to my body, I tend to cross my legs a lot when im digging to get comfortable and with them down low my hands hit my legs, also during normal operation when im just sitting ahead I rest my feet on the pedals a lot... my hands once again touch my legs. And I find you still can't move the seat far enough back from the pedals on the new machines so tracking backwards is difficult for me. Today I went to Ritchie Brothers, pics will be in another thread. But I always jump on the different excavators that I don't normally get to run. Today I repeated a jump in an old 790D LC, they have always been my favourite along with the 892 and 992 D series machines... heck basically all the old 90D series machines were awesome. The cabs were well thought out, the pedals were a nice distance away, even the joysticks were in the right spot.... and I don't know about you but I LOVED the old hand throttle compared to the little dial nowadays. Deere does have a great machine with the new D series, but I have my issues with it. But I have never jumped in a machine I liked enough that I didn't want to change something in it.
Are you saying they upped the ante on themselves or have you spent enough time on the new Hitachis, Komatsus or any other machines to form this opinion?
I am lucky enough to work for a company that last year tried out nearly everybodies rides last year. I was one of the operators that got bounced around early last season at Sureway before I got stuck on the backfill crew. I had a Link Belt 210LX for 300hrs this was my favourite machine. I also got a PC200 LC long front with 60ft of reach that we used for sanding pipe I had it for 3 days, a 330D for 2 days, a PC400 for a week, PC800 for a day, a 345CL, Case 240LX for 2 weekends, Hitachi 350 for 2 days and a beautiful Cat 245A for 2 weeks. We tried out a ton of difference machines, we bought the PC800, a few PC400's, the Case 240 and already had the 245 since 1977. I have also run a few Daewoo machine, a ton of Cat excavators old and new from a 307-385, a few different Komatsu's up to a PC1250 they bought in 2006, a few differenct Hitachi's up to our 1100EX, and almost every Deere excavator since the late 80's. As of now my favourites are the Link Belt 210, Cat 245, all the old Deere 90/92 series, and the PC1250 just because its massive.
For some reason the 992dlc loves to go through the engines , rebuild after rebuild. And our 450dlc has the izuzu engine in it and i have nothing but praise for it.
Burnout, what were your impressions of the 330D vs. the Hitachi 350?
The 330D was a slow dog of a hoe. I found it to be a bit of a pig to move around site, and it lacked the multi function ability that the Hitachi had. It's sad to say, but I was working beside a 330B pulling away from our Deere 750 and the D got buried where the B was having no problems keeping up. The D is stilla nice machine, but I am not a fan of that particular machine. The tracking power on the Hitachi was excellent though, actually turns without having to pick up the track and use the swing. The Deere's and Hitachi's have always been nice for that. T.S.S.... the Deere 992DLC and the 450DLC engines are nothing alike. The 450 has the 15.7L I-6 Isuzu, while the 992 had the good ole 6619A 10.1L engine. And a 100hp difference between the 2. The later model 992's had the 6101A engine which was just the updated version with 10hp more. I know quite a few people in Ontario with 992's both the early model and the later model and the engine is one of the most reliable components on the machine. They just need some lovin... a nice warm up in the morning, a nice cool down at night and eventually they will be all thats left of the entire machine.
I also was lucky enough last fall to demo the Cat 330D, Hitachi 350, Kom 300 I'm not a Cat excavator fan, but I was impressed with the 330 very fast and smooth hydralics. Kom 300 is alright machine but the hydralics are very jerky. Now the winner the Hitachi 350 that thing is bad ass, I personally like the new seat and short joystick controls, very comfortable and very fast and smooth for a machine that size. That thing will flat haul ass when you get in the cycle loadin trucks
dirthog28, I am looking to upgrade my Orange ZX270LC to a ZX350LC-3 in the near future. Thanks for the comparison-I think Hitachi is the best you can buy! Sincerely, ZAXIS
I would agree the Hitachi is probably the better machine of the two between Yellow and Orange. But those people like me that like that big heavy, loud, fuel sucking Deere engine.... love our yellow paint. I'll take a Deere over Hitachi anyday.... I might be wrong in my choice. All I have said about the new Deere's and against anything else..... if it starts, moves the bucket through the ground I'd say its a decent machine.
Burnout, I don't have a problem with that. I have owned a 690 and currently own a 555GWT crawler loader. Deere's are great and they would be my second choice since they are so closely related. Sincerely, ZAXIS
Zaxis 160 While were on the subject of Hitachi's Heres a pic I took especially for ZAXIS a few weeks back. Couldn't start a new thread for one lonely pic
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ATLAS ROB-THE ULTIMATE COMPANY TRUCK!!! Sincerely, ZAXIS
By the way-love the luggage rack on top-that's where I could put my four boys!-ZAXIS
Ha ha that Hitachi does look pretty cool. But is it just me or do you still think the later 595D's still looked a little better? Even though they were a rough unit to run.
I have always liked the "D" style cab with the simple controls and the hand-lever throttle. The cabs seemed roomier and wider to me. Maybe because there wasn't as much electronic "technology" in there. I have never been in a wheeled excavator-looks like a lot of stuff in your way for digging? ZAXIS
Burnout, don't get me wrong I'm a big Deere fan also but both Deere/Hitachi are the same thing and it usually comes down to Hitachi's being cheaper than Deere that's why the guys I work go with the Hitachi's. Zaxis I've run Hitachi's from the 35 mini to the 450 and the new 350 is my favorite orange excavator to run or any color as far as that goes. I've also found the bigger the excavator the slower it gets, but I would say the 350 is just as quick or not faster than our 200-3's.
dirthog, I can't wait to get some seat time under one of the new -3's, preferably the 350. I think it would be a perfect upgrade from our 270 we have now. Thanks, ZAXIS
orange As you like the orange ones so much, heres a big one, a demo rig. A moving pic with the phone on the motorway so not quite as sharp as it should be. First go with the new resizer, it says it loaded so here goes OOPs wrong pic, but its still orange
Lets try again
AtlasRob, Thanks a million, I can never get tired of looking a orange excavators! The ones from the UK look different in some ways- that makes it more interesting to look at. Thanks again, ZAXIS
I forgot about these pictures I took last summer. Just so you know....that isn't mud that they are flinging there!! Think more in terms of :shf
I learned on a 690B years ago and now I own a 490E... John Deere excavators are tough, rugged, and reliable! I have 6,200 hours on my 490E and haven't had any real issues with it yet. Hopefully, I've got another couple thousand hours worth of work in it before I have to do any major work!
petersfamilytru, I got to sit in a 790ELC today that had 13,600 hours in it-I had to move it, it is a friend of ours on a joint project we are developing-the inside was soaking wet because the moon roof was left open and we got about 2.5 inches of rain last night-needless to say that machine dosen't look near as nice as yours, but it purred like a kitten (not a cat) and still seemed to have plenty of life left in her. The way it appears you take care of yours you are in good shape.
Zaxis and p, I spent my fair share of time on both a 790ELC and more then enough time on a 490E. I still prefer it over the 120C. Mine was a 1995 model i think and I loved everything about it besides no a/c or radio. I would love to have a brand new one today. The 790 was ok just a little week on track power. But I'm with Burnout, I love my deere engines!!!!!:notworthy I like the 6068 but feel in love with the 6090 and the 350D when they came out. I would say the 240D and 350 are what i would prefer to run any day of the week besides the ol 750J to break it up a bit.