What a sweet machine Nice looking machine. YOu're gonna enjoy running it. Plan to do any demolition with that puppy?
i dont get the priveledge to run this new machine. no the will not do any demo with it. strickly a truck loading machine....
loading dirt? rocks? why don't you get to run it, just for fun?
you have to be practically on top of the list to run that thing.. i do run hoe but we just got that machine yesterday... maybe down the road ill run it.
How long have you worked for Allan Myers ??? I see you guys all over the interstates.
You guys sure love the over priced Caterpillar equipment in the US. Its pretty hard to beat a Hitachi or John Deere 450LC.
I'm a Cat man myself and i'll never own a piece of JD iron. :bouncegri
X2 You don't know what your missing
cat is over priced but for many companies like ours...parts and service trumps all, so we buy Cat....oh yea don't forget you have to work the salesman dowwwnnnnn.....so its not that big a differnce
The 345C is a great improvement over the B model, much faster, we have two already. The one runs a shear and the other has been loading trucks mainly.:bash
No problems getting service here from Deere and Hitachi dealers they bend over backwards can't say that about Caterpillar. I guys because Caterpillar has you guys financed to the hilt they have you under their thumb. When you see Komatsu pushing Caterpillar out of the gravel mining market it must say something about Cat's attitude people are getting sick of it.
The 345c is looking good, who does get to run it? Just got it and the paint's already off the bucket (and in AI fashion... the numbers are gone:laugh ). What job is it on right now and is this machine gonna get the GPS put on it? Cat's aren't all bad, and I believe AAM is certified by Cat to do our own repairs. Hey Pullpan... if you get the chance, shoot me an e-mail. I got some housing questions about the area. -Jim
Nice looking machine. I was wondering where it was built if anyone knows and is it me or are those tracks a bit overtight?
My bet is, since it is brand new, that the tracks just need some time to loosen up. I've looked through my photos of some other 345 LME's and their tracks don't sag much more than these... course I could be wrong, it's been known to happen:bouncegri
Looks great! Keep us posted on how she runs. And hey now, take it easy on us Cat lovers... :crying
Yep, I thought we didn't have to put up with p**sing contests on this forum over which brand is what. Get serious!!! Hey Pullpan...Great looking machine...does it have a coffee perculator??? How long/hours do you guys expect to keep a machine like that??
guess it all depends on the dealer cat dealer is the best around here
Just teasing you guys :bouncegri Caterpillar isn't contractors first choice in the lower corner of B.C. . You can get the same amount of hours out of a Hitachi or Deere why buy anything else and far far better dealer support. When your digging in severe conditions like we do here where you snap teeth off shanks and bend the lugging on the buckets you know your digging in tough conditions. Excavator buckets last 6 months to a year before rebuilds and repairs. When ever you do any excavating in rural B.C. mainly here on the West Coast 90% of the jobs requires blasting. A job I just looked at a contractor friend is working on requires probably up to 15,000 dollars worth of blasting to flatten a area the size of average city sized lot. It will be about 100 ton of rock being moved.
wow i didnt expect to get that many replies. first i love the JD 450's i love the comfort and performance. also we have around 25-30 345B's and none of them run the same as the next. there is one 345 ME that will keep you on your toes. the operator had cat come out until it was at peak performance. the John Deere dealers around here can not compete with Cat. We got rid of some komatsu 400's and they looked at the 450's and 345's. it all came down to the bottom line. we bought at least 20 of them some pipe and some ME Cat threw in all the quick disconnects in for free and a free 345 as well soo deere couldnt keep up. but deere said that if the part wasnt on the self it was free. here is a pic of the machine that smokes all of our other 345's. it also has trimbles GPS system as well. we have 2 GPS hoes out there one pipe and this one ME..... here is another pic in the barrow pit on the RT222 bypass job near trexlertown.. enjoy
reply to rino1494 i have worked for myers for 3 years....
Of course you get a lot of responses. These are awesome photos and awesome machines. Keep them coming.
One thing to keep in mind the one gravel mines here has a 345 they were quoted 500,000 dollars to rebuild the machine so when that machine in the picture needs rebuilding hope they have a big bank account I think it got replaced with a bigger Komatsu :bouncegri
gps Pullpan, I know in a previous thread you said that one of the new 345c's was gonna get GPS as well, is it this one? What job are they breaking it in at? You'll have to get some action shots of the new machine if you can.
Are any of the GPS units used for pipe?
yes 1 345 with long stick and quick disconnect head is used for pipe and has GPS..
i believe that they might take the Gps system off of the 385 and put it on this new 345C but i dont know for sure
Good Luck! CAT ALL THE WAY!! Unbelievable...if you dont mind can you give me an idea of the payments? or the lump sum? congrats and may the (digging) force be with you!!!!!!!
Cat All The Way! I SECOND THAT MOTION...CAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO!!!!!
How does the 345C compare to the 345 and 345Bs?
meyers sure has come a long way
here are a few pics from the plant where the excavators are made in Belguim and im still diggin up some more
very nice My gf and I went for a Sunday drive yesterday, and by pure chance drove by the jobsite. IT is a very impressive machine and compared to the 345b, seems bigger:notworthy , could just be the ME front, but I'm not sure. At any rate, it makes me itch just a little more to start working...:yup 52 more days... http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3194/aicar345clme15kr.jpg -Jim
. Love the UC on the 345C ES. All you currently operating or owning a 345C can u please post some figures of the fuel consumption. Im in the market of buying a 345D and a fellow-contractor went on and on about the excessive amount of diesel it drinks. THX
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums Eknab! :drinkup
I don't believe that Cat has release a D-series 345 as of yet... I could be wrong, but I believe the 330 is the largest of the D-series so far. I've heard (from our own operators) that the John Deere 450's have a lot more power. This leads me to ask, are you exclusively running Cat or have you been shopping around for your next 45-ton class excavator?:beatsme :usa
Great pics... and that's awesome flooring material that doesn't get chewed up by those double grouser pads
The production of 345C has stopped so I ordered a 345D. My dealer is giving me a 2006 345C to use until delivery will be made, but there are so many ordered so it will take until late of 2008 until I get it. I live in Finland but work also in Sweden and JD is not carryed by any dealers here. We have the farmtractors of JohnDeere but not much else... And what comes to the shopping around part, yes Ive asked for offers from other brands too, but CAT has the best overall package with financing and service and sofort... I used to be exclusively a VOLVO man, but they have sold so many units in reasent years that the service don´t keep up. So I´m still waiting for someone to give me figures on the consumption...
I didn't even notice your location before I asked if you'd looked at a Deere, Sorry, my bad:Banghead As far as fuel consumptions, I can try to find out the difference between our 345b and 345c's, but I don't know of any 345d's over on this side of the pond yet.:notworthy No garantees, but I'll do my best to get you some info.
. No problem JB. If you can sort out some info on 345C consumption I´m gonna be one happy camper:drinkup .
loading trucks all day with a new 345c we burn about 7/12 of a tank. i got the number from the number of bars on the gauge. i think it has a 186 gallon tank. We loaded 5800 yards in a 11 hour day...
crazycajun, are you sure about that 7/12 of a tank in an 11 hour day? By my math - 7/12 = .583 * 186 gal = 108.5 gal/day / 11 hrs = 9.86 gal/hour. My 200hp 235 burns more fuel an hour than that, now I know that they have come a long way in the last 20 odd years, but this is still a 345hp machine. Maybe I just need to upgrade. What size bucket, stick & boom are you using?
12'10" stick and 4.08 yrd bucket 74" wide. it burns same fuel as my 330C. If i were stockpiling dirt it would probably burn about 125 gallons. but can usually run two days loading trucks. had a jd 450d lc on rent. i just stored the diesel tank on the counter weight. some days wouldnt even run all day on a tank... My 324 burns less fueel than a 320.. i think the acert engines make the difference
:drinkup WOHOOO!!! Thats something I liked to hear. Im going to drive over to sweden and kill the b*****d friend of mine that claims it consumes almost twice the diesel his VOLVO460B does... Thx CC the beers are on me next time we walk in to the same bar
345c > 345d Nice to know that a D series is just around the corner. - Christopher
the 345 cl is a nice machine i got ours last year and im the only operator as far as the d series goes there arent any plans as of when its coming here and for your fuel consumption i do 10 11 hours sewer excavtion and roads i burn about 250 litres a day thats loading 10 trucks or casting in the fields either or its about the same,any questions let me know
. There is now a 345D up and running in Spain on the CAT test site.
Seen some alan meyers work outside of baltimore this weekend. Seen a bunch of looked like d5/d6 m's cranes, and john deere excavators. Think i seen a cat 325. is that you? pullpan? -Michael- Looked like a great site.
Where at is this job? Sounds a bit like the norther part of I-95 widening. As you get closer to the 295 (or 495?:beatsme) interchange I believe that is a seperate company, as far as I know there aren't any JD excavators in our fleet any more.
North towards jersey. I was traveling i-95 souths going into baltimore towards virginia. I may have mislooked, i was from a distance. -Michael-
Michael, I think I may have misspoken. AI-MD is indeed working on part of that 95 job, so you did in fact see some of Myers equipment. I just do not htink ALL of it was belonging to AI. Last time I drove through it (ironically on my way to VA as well) Most of the equipment we had there were ADT's Komatsu 228's and dozers and 963's and I'm sure some of the cranes.
345d Here's the PDF for the 345D: Specs - Chris
I know we (LANE) were working on the I-95/I-495 interchange, not sure if that is all finished or what. We just got phase VIII of it (they call it the Springfield interchange) and that's about to start this spring. Wish we had an all CAT fleet, but our JD Dozers work really well compared to CATs, just hate Hitachi excavators.
we just got a used 2006 jd 450 dlc with 900 hours and man is this ever a sweet machine. Rips through the frost like nothing .Bought from Bo Ross equipment in florida whom i highly recomend to anyone by the way.:drinkup
Hey T S S, there have been a lot of new DEERE DLC machines showing up now in Ontario. Do you mind if I ask who you work for ?
nice
T S S, is that short for Total Site Solutions....? or am i crazy.
Yeah the new D series definately seems to be making inroads into the market. We just had our 200D delivered today with 4hrs on it. I was offered the machine since their 3 digging operators quit, but I am sticking with my 953 until I go back to Sureway. Hey TSS how do you like the Cab in the 450? I spent some time in the new Deere today and it feels cheap inside. I will admit the joysticks are a thousand times better than the C series, but all that grey plastic that is so flimzy and that craptastic Deere radio blows my mind. But that boom side window......:notworthy I am in love!
yes tss is total site solutions, and i am a business partner in a total site solutions and Mada Holdings venture. Mada holdings is former RomNeg . The d has incredible visability . Very powerful machine . Loads the t800 kenworth tri axle in 3 cycles. Mabee im biased but the 450d is the machine to have . We got it for such a good deal it was hard to pass down . But yes i have been seeing more of them in Ontario.