I see some of the Cat track loaders have rear or front engine configurations. What are their pros and cons? Thanks
well, the rear engine loaders, the 943-53-63-73, are better balanced and have much better forward visibility. i am not sure if they still make the 939, which was a hydrostatic, front engine loader. i found the 939 to be an awful loader to run. as for the older front engine loaders, the 941-51-55-77 and 983's, they are great hoggers if you can keep hard ground under them.
yea what he said!
I also agree
At one stroke Cat made every conventional track loader, no matter how good we thought they were, into an awkward old beast. Is that strong enough you think
hahaha i love it komatsu!!!!! i remember thinking that the ole 941b was a great machine and thinking that if you had a rear engine you couldn't feel the grade. when learning to grade with a loader the only thing that my father told me was follow your butt, if your butt goes up your bucket needs to come up, and if your butt goes down your bucket needs to go down. then we got the 943 and wow that was out the window and after a few months that 941b was almost imposable to grade with. rear engine is the only way to go. it is like a diesel pick up, you just can't go back.
The dumbest move Cat ever made was to discontinue the 943, the best house grading machine ever. The 939 was supposed to fill the gap but there is no comparison.
i think they dumped the 939 now, so maybe they will bring it back. but i doubt it, they will just want us to use a 299c to fill the gap. but 299 to 953 is a big gap to fill. i bet the will wait till someone else does first
I would be surprised if cat came out with a new 943 anytime soon. On the bright side, the deere boys are putting the finishing touches on the 605K. I have no idea when they'll start building them. They haven't even put the 755K up on the website yet and i sat in one back in march.
Rear engine is much better for the convenience of the operator. The engine in front as well as disrupt the view, makes the operator's cab much more affected by the noise of the engine and the exhaust gas.