Hi there, this is my first post so, be nice please . I work with a small trail building/earthworks place in outback australia, and recently was tasked with looking at a new fleet of compact excavators, ranging in size from 1.7t to about 6t. We have narrowed down the choices to Bobcat, Caterpillar, Kobelco, Kobuta, and Volvo. I have experience with Volvo, Cat and Bobcat and they all make awesome machines. Anybody got any experience on these machines are the ups/downs of them? Thanks.
Update: Thanks to all the people who have shared their thoughts on the poll! So far it looks like Kubota are in a lead, and so they should be, after thoroughly checking out there excavator lineup i really like the look of them. Anybody got any info on the Kobelco excavators? Ive seen them around doing highway safety fixes (always noticed the destinctive green colour) but most of the time they are 12-60 ton excavators.
Update: Did some more research today and im liking the look of all the excavators other than the kobelco ones. Not alot of people seem to dig them (pun intended). So ive taken them off my shortlist, but ive kept them on the poll to see how people think they compare to the others.
This is my first post and I hate to start with an opinion, but it's hard to beat Cat. Good machines and great support. I have only owned small stuff but I have very little down time.
Bobinpa, Thats what i hear aswell. Everyone ive asked, wether civil engineeers, operators or owners love all of cats equipment and attachments and say they never have any problems with them and they all have almost zero downtime.
I have a friend that has a 303.5 D. and another friend that has a 308 E CR. I had a 304 E CR that I just traded in on a 305.5 E2 CR. Nobody ever has problems. I can't speak for the 305.5 because I just got it on Friday, but if it's like the 304, I'll be happy. You pay more for a Cat, but to me it's worth it. And lately, Cat isn't that much more. If you get competitive pricing, they'll try to match it.
When you look at the dealer network and parts availability that Cat can supply its worth it to me.
Yeah I agreee with you both. My nearest Cat/Westrac dealer and Kubota dealer is about 40km away. But compared to my nearest Bobcat dealer (280km) its a really short trip. That and the fact that Cat/Kubota/Volvo all have excellent track records and well priced attachments and equipment and its a win in my books. Ive taken bobcat off my shortlist, so its down to Cat, Kubota and Volvo
i have a cat 304cr and had it 9 years and the the only problem was a battery and a couple of hoses. looking to up date in the near future and it will be a cat.
Wow, proof that they do last a long time. Im heading out to my kubota and cat dealers this week to demo both companies 1.7t and 3.5t minis.
I have had 4 kubotas in our rental fleet with no issues . A set of tracks and grease and oil . I don't think i have ever replaced a hydraulic line . The one thing I have to say about the kubota line up is they make there own engines as well .Plus my dealer is only 20 minutes away
True. We have used kubota zero turn rentals and had no problems at all with them. One thing i will mention is that Cat also make all their own engines for 90% of their products, and all their engines are really good. On another note, my main issue with the kubotas is what about if we end up expanding our lineup to incorperate cat excavators as well (excavators over 8t). Having to go to two different dealers, using two different sets of parts and even in some cases making use of two different sets of attachments would be a pain in the arse.
Bill I get what your saying . But what if the dealer pisses you off .We have a saying don't put all off your eggs in one basket .
True, true true. But if the dealer pisses me off id probably either find another one or do the servicing myself.
What is your experience with Cat's part availability? Have heard Cat customer service is a nightmare, interested to hear more about OEM support?
Cat has many of their engines private labeled for them. Not really Cat engines. They had Perkins for a while. Now they have Kubota branded as Cat in many of their skid steers. http://www.forconstructionpros.com/...rces-skid-steer-excavator-engines-from-kubota Many of the Cat mini excavators are built by Wacker-Neuson in Austria. http://rermag.com/headline-news/wac...-strategic-alliance-mini-hydraulic-excavators I vote for for Deere/Hitachi. Second choice would be Kubota. Just my opinion.
Dealer service should be an important factor in this decision. You could have the world's best machine, but you might not be happy with it if you have to wait in line to get overcharged for parts and service.
We have two 308crE2's not really minis but small to us. They have mitsubishi engines as well as there ctls that we have. A few problems we have had have been track sprockts coming loose, bad hydraulic cylinder on stick of boom, ac fan switch melted twice, flimsy gard on blade cylinder breaks off easily, bucket shims wear out fast, both are on there third alternator belt in a year. Other then that they will dig a hole I guess. We rented a bobcat e85 that dug circles around the cats, then we bought a new e42 bobcat and love it. We have had poor service out of our 20 cat machines, but never touch our 7 bobcats. I know everyone loves the cat but for us they have been an overpriced P.I.T.A! Good luck with your search.
After re-reviewing my options ive but Kubota U series excacators back on my list. I went out and drove both the Cat 305.5E and the Kubota U55-4 and both perform really really well. I guess it will be down to parts/support/servicing and some furthur testing closer to purchase time. Thanks for all the help though guys!
iHi there billman, I to live in OZ (Brisbane) I run a 3.5 t excavator for my business (plumber/drainer/general hire), have had from new TB138fr Takeuchi, ZX35 Hitachi and currently an E35 Bobcat, I have just been and test drove a brand new 303.5e Cat this morning. I think the Cat looks the goods and appears to be well built and is probably better built that my E35 maybe, BUT without a shadow of a doubt the Bobcat is way faster digging and felt like it had more breakout, the Cat people didn't like it when I told them that,even though the specs say different, I am not biased in anyway as I was hoping it was going to be noticeably different but was a little disappointed to say the least, and the air con was about the same as my Hitachi was (average), the Bobcat air is near freezing, I was a bit bummed out as I thought I might be buying a Cat later this year but I am very doubtful after this morning ! I would need them side by side with the same bucket on both, you know when you jump in something what it's digging like, 30 odd years behind the sticks and you know what it's doing within minutes, the only explanation I can think of is unless the Cat was in Economy Mode but I sure as hell never noticed anything on the monitor to say it was, I would need that confirmed I guess. I too was very keen on a Kubota U35 originally but it had a lot of bodywork hanging over the tracks at certain points of rotation which was disappointing given that a mate had Kubota KX121(4.2t) that did over 7000hrs, it will be interesting to see if the new replacement he got KX040 is as good. Cheers,diga.
Hiya Diga, About the body work hanging over the tracks during rotation, i had a look at the specs and info for it and it says that the excavator should have no body hanging over the outside of the excavator. What model year was the one you were looking at? Thanks Billman
Ha mate, it was a 2014 U35 and when you rotated in a anti-clockwise direction with the cab facing to about 10 or 11 o'clock there was bodywork hanging over the L/hand side track. Don't get me wrong I think Kubota are a great machine, everybody I know that has them gets huge hours without many faults, I just ended up going with the E35 Bobcat as I was fortunate enough to be able to put it up against my 2012 ZX 35 (800hrs) side by side in the same ground getting from one machine to the other and it just totally out-dug the Hitachi with speed and digging power, but it is another 4 or 5hp but you would never think there could be some much difference.
Alright, ill look into that a bit before i buy/choose. Thanks for the help mate