KATO IHI Parts Information Clarified

Hello everyone, I just wanted to post to clear up some common misinformation people get about the IHI now KATO brand of excavators in the USA. I work at KATO Compact Excavator Sales in KY USA as a parts specialist and just hear calls from people about others saying parts are hard to get, some machines are not USA spec, etc. Here's some of the correct information I would like to share with you guys. CES is the North American distributor for the IHI (ISHIKAWAJIMA HARIMA HEAVY INDUSTRIES) now KATO (pronounced KAH-TO not KAY-TO it's a Japanese pronunciation) Compact Excavator Sales has always been the same company in the USA, family owned business. The IHI line was the brand we distributed, until IHI was acquired by KATO WORKS in Japan. Same people in Japan we had dealt with before, same plant just a new name, and now yellow paint and terrific people to do business with. KATO Japan build excellent machines, and we are proud to distribute them in the US. Getting on to the parts... Since being the North American distributor we are set up with equipment dealers all across the USA to sell our parts. These range from rental houses, mom and pop hardware, corporate rental chains, heavy equipment dealers, etc. These dealers buy new equipment and support the parts for the general public, and have the rights to sell parts in the areas they are in by state. There is not a dealer list, but give CES a call and we are happy get you referred to a dealer. 800-538-1447 Generally, people can call us, and we will be happy to send a manual, answer questions, and fully back and support the equipment. There is no place with our manuals online, but we dont mind emailing a PDF. We have a very large warehouse of OEM parts located in Kentucky. However the pricing of parts, and the sale of parts needs to come from a equipment dealer, and that is something us parts guys have no control over. If you run into something we don't stock, it will have to come from Japan or Italy depending on the make of the machine. IH IMER is a partner company of ours in Italy that also makes mini excavators, skid loaders ETC. We support IH (KATO)-IMER, KATO full size excavators, and mini line of excavators and crawler carriers. KATO WORKS made and makes full size excavators as well, we are supporting them but since it is still so new to us, we dont have a lot of the manuals yet, but we have contacts at the factory that can help us get you what you need. We also distribute the Canycom brand of buggies for the east coast. Models of IHI mini excavators with "IS-__" generally indicate a gray market build excavator (one not intended to be in the USA but got traded for etc) we can support these machines but parts for them are more limited than the USA spec stuff we keep here. The J series was first in its line, it then moved to the JX, N, Z, NX, VX, V4 etc. NX machines are zero tail swings. The Z model such as 40Z are also a gray market machine, they are typically distinguished by the offset arm located up top. The 70Z however was the only model we imported to the USA that was USA spec with a offset arm. The machine serial numbers for every IHI KATO north american excavator is stamped on the tin tag on the front of your turntable RH side if you were sitting the machine. If your tag is missing, the factory also stamps it in the machine frame just below the boom swing bracket on the LH side if you were sitting in the machine. Please always get your serial number before asking for parts, as there are lots of serial number breaks. Serial number breaks and design options are noted in our manuals, and sometimes are on the following page if you are in a breakdown. A special tip for the older JX series of excavators. The factory used many different manufacturers for the cylinders, so there is stamping options we or they make ask. Look at the Barrel of your cylinder for S or S+Y stamping on top of each other. S Type Cylinders= S stamp Y Type Cylinders= S with Y stamps on top of each other T Type Cylinders= T stamp Most all the hydraulic hoses on the IHI excavators are BSPP (british standard parallel pipe thread) and can be had made at any parker store. All the grease zerks are a 1/8 BSP Thread with a 28 thread pitch as it is a Japanese piece of machinery. IHI Paint Codes are noted with the Munsell color system, which is what is used over seas. Munsell color codes for the following colors can help a good paint store cross over to a PPG number I have gathered this over the years. IHI GREEN 2.5 BG 6/10 IHI DARK GRAY N-3.0 JXBLUE 5PB 3/9 LIGHT GREEN 1.7GY 7.7/9.7 BLACK N-1.0 My service dept has also found some ~close crosses to PPG colors, which are BLUE 18445 GREEN 45473 DK GRAY 33946 Just wanted to help someone if they have an older IHI or KATO mini, or if they are looking to buy one some of the facts about the equipment line. The machines are commonly thought of as Takeuchi but they are in fact not related whatsoever as they are a competitor of IHI such as Ford and GM are in the USA. Give CES a call for any more information about the line. Thank you all!