I'm looking at buying either an 05' Bobcat 334 (2000 hrs.) or a 04' Caterpillar 303 CR (1400 hrs.) I can get either one for $17K. Both machines have been well kept and maintained. The Bobcat has the Kabota engine, Mitsubishi in the Cat. I hear Cat parts are higher priced. How's labor run? (I'm in North Carolina) Does anybody out there have a feel for the cost difference in owning the 303 compared to the 334?? Your time is greatly appreciated! KJR
Not sure how many hrs you plan on putting On these machines, but the extra 700hrs on the bobcat is a high difference to me. At 2000 hrs I would expect bobcat will need tracks soon. Where the Cat at only 1400 should have potential for a good year or 1000hrs to give you value before you have to drop $1500 to $2000 on replacement tracks. Plus other wear over those 700 hrs. FYI I am a Bobcat guy....but money is money....
These are good questions to ask the dealers where you would be paying for service and buying parts. Ask what the labor rate is in the shop and price out your filters for regular maintenance. You can also ask for other prices like track motors, swing motor, throttle cable, etc.
Interview the service department at each of the dealers. In our area, Bobcat dealer is extremely friendly and willing to work with you. Compact equipment is there business. At Cat, the compact equipment is a small piece of their equipment. As a result, the Cat dealer gets a little impersonal. If you don't have a D6, or 320, they don't seem to give two craps about you. Also, the Cat dealer gets 20% more for their labor. I would go with a more personal friendly atmosphere, cause when you have a problem, you want them to accept and own your problem. That's what we pay them for.
I have a cat 303 cr that's a 2005. Getting up to 2800 hrs. Has been a good machine. Not great, but good. Chasing a few leaks around from time to time but no major components have failed. I think the CAT is a better quality machine to a bobcat. (but not to some other brands) My biggest thing would be to find out the service history on both machines.
That's my advice as well. I have an '01 334 I bought new, it has 1800 hours on the clock. It's been a great machine with very little downtime but one can see from the hours it doesn't get used often. In my area Bobcat parts are very expensive for what they are. I run Cat on all my heavier iron and their parts can also be expensive depending on the machine, anything that goes a 953 is $$$.