ic the local dealer has about 25 new skid steers in stock. kubota, terex, case. i was looking at them all. the kubota looked awesome in comparison to the others. that sweet soft high back seat; decent seat bar. big cab with good visibility in comparison to the terex. the fit and finish on the kubota was impressive compared to the case and terex. the terex is very crude in its design of the cab (for example, the heating and air conditioning appeared to only come out a few vents at the rear of the cab. i was impressed that the boom where the bucket pins attached appeared to be made of solid steel at least 2 inches thick. visibility, ergonomics, and size of the cab were sub par. not sure on the case why the cab lift system digs into the side of my leg when im in the seat. did case do away with the 400s3 control system? cuz that would not be strategic. ic i had to lean forward a lot just to move the control levers all the way ahead. i would love to be at the factory to give my opinion to the engineers when a machine is being designed. if case and new holland were creating an all new skid steer, y would they keep the split front door new holland had? that would be at the top of my list of things to change. it makes entry and exit harder, and it hurts visibility.
I did not find the Kubota near the machine that I was expecting it to be when I actually ran it. Your mileage may vary. I was very dissappointed in its performance. It was the 75 sized machine maybe the larger machine runs harder. I agree the Terex is crude. I have never run one though. The hyd ports on the tilt cylinders are in a terrible location. Right where the top of the bucket rotates up to the tilt cylinder. The ports are sure to get sheared off. The controls on the CASE machines are fully adjustable at least on the E/H machines. The 400 S3 is pilot and that is no longer available. I think (although I have not been told this) that the reason for the notch in the door is to add rigidity to the door. CATS's door vibrates away from its seal (at least on the 279). That is not the issue with the CASE CTL even though the CASE does not have the benefit of the torsion suspension system. It does not affect entry and exit, in fact its easier in this machine than most others due to how wide the door opens. I will say that impedes visibility a little. I have gone to the factory (or testing facility) a couple times for CASE. Its a cool experience, they take what you have to say seriously. Doesn't mean your sole opinion will change things. There are a couple things I have been able to influence, so they said.
I haven't spent much time with the new Case skids but do think that cab lift thing is really lame, there has to be a better way to do it. I also think Case(and NH) screwed things up by getting rid of the pilot controls. The E/H controls are a mess here.
so what now?? you are saying they are having problems with electric controls on the new machines already?
There has been some skids that were really bad and are waiting for the updates. Every brand has had problems with this, just Case/NH's turn. I still haven't found a new Case with the 'regular' controls to try.
Since you are looking at CTLs, not wheeled SSs, perhaps one of the prime questions is how well does the undercarriage hold up? Ken