I don't spend much time in smaller hoes but ran a couple days last year in a CAT 305 and I seriously hated that machine! Not smooth, functions were not constant speed, just didn't like it. Just the other day someone rented a Kubota U55-5, which is mostly comparable to that 305 I guess. All I can say is not only was it smoother, even a guy commented that I was running the machine was smoother. I told him I'm the same guy, the machine is just smoother. Now I was doing more precision work, not hogging, so I have no idea if that U55 would be more or less productive, but it was much better tuned IMO, than CAT. I'm honestly finding this with more and more CAT machines. 2-3 CTLs lately, some with 3k hrs, some practically new. They are not smooth! Now, that Kubota cab was built for midgets. my legs needed room and never mind even trying to use the track pedals. That Bota seemed physically more compact. Enough so I questioned if it was comparable to the 305, but I didn't have them side by side to compare. Their all small compared to big steel track machines. I have yet to get in a Komatsu mini yet, but I want to try it! My seat time in Komatsus gave me a good opinion of them as being well tuned and refined...not to mention usually very well built. Any other hoes out there we should take for a spin? Only thing I have against Bota is after doing repairs on their engines, if their machines are the same, good friggin luck ever fixing them. Their engines are pretty much throw away.
I really liked our Vio55-6a. Integrated hydraulic bucket coupler and cab suitable for someone 5'17" and 280#, like me.
There must be something to it. Kubota is all I see, now. The rental fleets and owner machines. The latest hotness. Suburbanite’s are purchasing them as the latest status symbol to pull behind their F-350 DRW King Ranch.
Never really was a fan of Cat excavators. I absolutely hated working on them with a passion. I always found Deere/Hitachi were a lot more pleasant to have to wrench on.
Your CAT 305 machine is not stable. Is it because the engine is shaking when driving and the driving experience is not good? Because the customers I met all reported this problem, replace the shock-absorbing rubber pad
Not to jump on the band wagon, but I demoed a 305 in 2020 before I bought my current Taki 257. I have had 4 Taki's of the same size before. The 305 was weaker in every way. The 305 is a popular machine, but honestly I am not sure why. I don't find the Kubota that impressive either. I rented a Kubota 80 last month. It is capable, but nothing that made me even consider wanting to own one.
FWIW, the largest privately owned excavating company in our area has a vast amount of Cat equipment from CTLs all the way up to large dozers and excavators, except the mini excavators. Not a Cat mini to be seen on one of their job sites. They have brand new kx040's, kx080's, all the way back to older kx091 and kx121's. When I first noticed that it spoke volumes to me. I personally own Kubota mini-ex's, but have run many others, either rentals, demos, or that belong to other contractors. While I won't definitively say Kubota is THE best, it's certainly right at the top. What I can say is the Japanese mini excavators (Kubota, Takeuchi, Yanmar, Hitachi, etc) as a whole are much better machines than the Cat, Bobcat, and Case machines I've been around.
To be clear, I wasn't trying to say the Bota was 'the best', as I have no seat time in many others to compare, only that it was clear to me that what I identified as total BS in that 305 I ran awhile back was not wrong, and that Bota just seemed like a better machine. I obviously had no time to look under the hood and really vet it, but I did on the 305 and was amazed how different it was from the big 300 excavators. Everything was plastic and cheap.
Understood. You'd probably also like a Takeuchi if you ran one, they are strong, fast, and smooth. I've never felt like Cat was really fully invested in the compact equipment market. I think they are trying to improve their compact lines, but it has never been their bread and butter. The Japanese companies more or less invented both the mini excavator and the CTL.
Got an '18 305E and a '24 305. Night and day difference between the 18 and the 24. Bought the 18 used from the dealer and 24 new. The only Tak machines I've ran were Ok however they were all rental units from United so they were probably turned down and obviously abused. Tak makes great machines, actually got to meet Mr Tak at a Conexpo many moons ago. Can't say I have more than a couple of hours on Kubotas so not enough time to really have an opinion however the Kubotas are a solid brand. Our Tak dealer is a 45 min drive across town and the Kubota dealer is more a "gentlemen farmer" type outfit that caters to the wealthy mini-farm and horse folks. However they have built a new building with better service options. Friend of mine in the foundation repair business swore by the minis. Our new 305 is one of the best mini's I've owned and ran. I think Cat really put a lot of thought into the Next Gen. A/C is a beast. Just my $.03 adjusted for inflation.
305E is what I ran. Very little hours. Possible there were some features missing but I could not get over the way you stop moving one function and another takes off. I managed but I didn't like it. That's the only way I can explain it. that and IMO the bucket speed was just too fast. I mean, I got the job done, but not much I liked. The Bota just seemed to behave like big machines, which I am more used to. Obviously just my opinions. I kept digging through the monitor to try to find settings. Since it is fly by wire, it should make adjustments simple. I think that machine was missing some features. But the guy on the ground that watched me run both, and knows nothing about equipment noticed I was much smoother on the Bota. I guess we just got along better.
What exactly are you describing? Our 305E is slower and weaker than the new one. However one more payment and it's ours so it'll be in the fleet for a while. It's nice to have machines you can park on jobs so you can drop in and work a while without having to mob them. Some of our commercial jobs are that way.