Ok, looking to buy one of these to maintain roads and other light work. some have advised get the H with the joysticks, others advised get an G, so it would be easier to repair. some have advised to not get anything earlier than a G, due to different problems . whats the pros and cons comparing these 2 units. ?
You will get a lot of opinions, mine is I do not care for the electronic machines as they are sensitive to everything, can keep it stored covered but too much cover(in dirt floor barns) they get a lot of moisture, mice like wiring to chew on, electronics takes some special gear to troubleshoot. That being said, electronic controls are smooth, they tend to be less demanding as to throw, or having to reach from one control to another. I still like hard pipe systems, straight hydraulic controls and control spools with levers. You get back further into the Deere line parts are still available but getting harder to locate in a need hurry, they will become obsolete in due time and then you are at the mercy of salvagers or stockpile holders. I like the G units new enough to have decent parts available and easier to work on.
I put a lot of hours on both models and they both had angle blades. They were my favorite brand small angle blade dozer that I ever ran. I have put in time on Cat, Case, Komatsu and John Deere's. You can't go wrong with either the G or H in regards to versatility. I would prefer the H any day over the G. I never had to do any repair work on one, so I would say DMiller's opinion is a good one in that regard. The ones I ran never had to be repaired while I was on them except for an alternator replacement once.
thanks to both for good opinions, the cost to repair or work on the newer ones is a con, but everyone i speak to likes the way they handle. now to find one with low hrs. usually the ones i see with low hrs are too far to go look at , and lots of them are govt dozers, i expect forest service , appears they do not bring as much on resell, any opinions on that?
I forgot to mention that depending on what you will be using it for the LGP tracks are an added bonus. I wouldn't want one without them regardless what I would be doing.
I had this same issue when I bought a dozer. I had trouble choosing between a Case G and a K. Since I do all my own repairs I went with the G however if I was paying someone to fix any issues I would've probably bought the K as they would have the needed software and such and they are easier to operate. Another thing I looked at was the older dozers just seem to be built tougher. Every K I looked at that had been used in trees was bent up, the G series seems a to have a tougher body. Not sure if this would be an issue with the Deere.