If you guys where gonna buy a new wheel loader brand did not matter. The job of the loader is loading, unloading logs, wood chips, and other general plant work. all brands around offer great dealer support it just comes down to what would you rather own.
Up until recently I would have said Volvo, now probably Komatsu, but others will have more recent and relevant experience.
We load wood chips, mulch and compost daily. Owned and ran most brands, we only have Volvo! L90's & L70's
we have two Volvos and two cats but they don't about brand they just want a machine to work and make sure production does not stop
Well, there is running today and service tomorrow. Lots of great running Clark and Michigan stuff out there, but I opted to go with Deere so that parts will keep being available. I would go with Deere new as guys that own multiple brands say the Deere is faster
Work on a early k model 544 & late k model 624. New k models are over priced compared to Volvo & hydraulics seem to be very noisy. Seems to be good loader so far but would take the time to try out others.
well the machine would be new no matter because of its the company's money and they want new or almost new but its gonna come down to who wants to offer us a better price truthfully
I wish we could get a older model anything then maybe if something happens soon that money that the company saved would give us a nice holiday bonus
If they are buying the lowest bid you get what you pay for if interested in uptime they would buy a Cat
Cat all the way. Volvos and komatsu have too many unsecured hoses and just flat out too much going on. Our Volvos develop many hydraulic leaks our cats are always dry and run and run.
We ended up with cat anyways but john deere came very close the thing that ended up the deciding factor was resale value and how close the dealer was for us
Give Case a look...no DPF on loaders, which is a huge PITA on any diesel. Heavy built with ZF transmissions and axles. Deere has a lot of wiring issues and new T4 finals are fuel pigs...there is literally nothing JD I'd own right now. FTR I've never been a Cat fan. The resale argument is gone as you cannot export T4 final machines hardly anywhere outside the US due to fuel quality issues. Most 2012+ US market machines will die here...long before the old ones. Cat has also had some wiring harness rub through issues and parts are not as good as they once were...I've seen people waiting for as long as 1-2 months on Cat parts here recently. Komatsu has a poor dealer support here, but you really can't throw stones at their products. Volvo is so captive on parts and everything they sell is pricey. Although they've typically done well in the WL market I'm not sold on the newest ones...especially their engines which have been a major PITA for users (DPF issues) also the "Red Hole" for fire suppression doesn't inspire confidence. It's a brave new world out there...forget everything you knew as 95% no longer applies. Make sure you've got your air intakes tight and keep your filter clean as it takes little more than a teaspoon of dirt to dust most of these new motors. Also make sure you're filtering fuel WAY beyond anything you've done to date as water oxidizes most of these pumps and systems destroying everything. Injectors are now $1000 each and engines are $25-$40k. Check new machines for wire harness rub through...some are showing it brand new off the truck...and it's not a cheap fix.
we ended up with a new Cat 962m loader another purchase is soon coming up that ill have to ask about due to the nature of the machine
Catwelder bought a Cat, I sense a conspiracy How are you liking the cat so far? New stuff is rather sweet, I notice it jumping between my 70 CK580, to the 90's 644E and then up to any of the spanky new Volvo rental excavators, though I still like my CK580
haha no conspiracy I weld on anything but mostly Cat but so far I got to run it twice it was nice but I wont be running it anymore due to its not my job title but I liked it when I did run it and might be able to run in it in the future
New machines are nice for companies, you can write down the expense and depreciation and don't have to worry about it breaking for at least 4 or 5 hours!
well it don't need to break any for the next month because we are going heavy and its going to be running 22 hours a day 5 days a week