Looking for a hoe to get down and dirty with. Forgive me, for being a neebie to the forum, but I brought my own bat to beat this dead horse question some more. What I've been looking at is a Cat 215 and JD 4,5 or 690s or maybe another brand of the 30-45,000lb class that might qualify. It needs to be mechanical so electronic sensors, relays, and selenoids need not apply. If any work needs to be done, I don't need to be NASA certified to figure things out. So far I've been kind of biased just for the fact when I called local pet shop (Caterpillar steelership) and asked the service guy if anybody that works there knew anything about the 215's and he said no, not really too much... but when I called Santa about a Deere 690 and they gave me the cell number to the mechanic who has been there for many moons that knows about the older hoes. I talked to him and he gave me a general run down of what to look for on it, it sorta had me looking harder to the Deere side. So right now +1 for Deere, but as far as doing repairs and so on, is it still +1 for Deere, or should I still keep my eye out for a Kitty, or possibly another brand hiding that I don't know about. So, I'm looking for some helpful suggestions on what's what. I don't bleed any brand specific, just something that is reliable, works, and in it for the long haul. I guess I should mention the personal uses for it....cleaning dams, dugouts, sewer/septic, water line, burrying granite rock bigger than a geo metro that bent Ford A64 payloader bucket, and gravel pit work. Any questions or thoughts throw 'em at me. Thank You for the insight and having me to the forum.
I run a '90 Cat 215C. A 215C is a good bit heavier, faster and more powerful than a '70s 215. Mine is 44,900 lbs. I have had it for 9 yrs, and it has been very good. It has no electronics, just a good basic machine. Here is a link to my machine: You might want to read this whole thread, it has a lot of info on the older hoes:
I didn't realize they were built up in the '90s. It would still qualify though, heck, still might be in my price range too. Have you had to do any semi-major or major repairs at all? Hoses are simple, I'm talking more like maybe rebuilt any pumps, replaced gears, or the like sort of things? Parts still available? Anything that might make a C better than a B? I ran across the "old hoe thread" earlier. Only thing that kinda scares me away is the parts availability to most of the oldy goldies(any of which would be fun to run thought) and most of the older ones loved their screamin' demons. Odd as it may sound, but I might want to selectively hear what the wifey has to say in about 20 years or so. Wearing earplugs is fine for me, but if you gotta put the ear muffs on too, just don't seem quite right. Thanks for the reply
If you look at the next few posts in that thread, I detail the few problems I have had w/ her. Parts are readily available for it, as they are for most if not all Cats. Cat and Deere both used their own engines, neither used Detroits, which are much louder. A 'C' has a few refinements over the 'B' but both are vastly superior to the original 215s. A 690 Deere is a good bit smaller than my machine, and the original 690s had long levers rather than pilot joysticks. You will be more tired at the end of the day w/ the manual controls. A 790 is closer to being the equal of my machine.
The john deeres where not nearly as popular in the "no computer series" which started i think with ?90e's, and ritchiwiki says there was like 7000 215's built, i looked at machinerytrader.com and found 3 215's which companies started dismantling in 2012 which is a decent number for used parts sourcing. Therefore even though i am a little biased to anything cat anyway i second the motion for buying the 215, now if you can handle a bigger machine i would probably recommend the 225 over the 215 even though i think the 215 runs a 3304 engine which is an easier beast to work on than the 3208........................theironoracle
What broke on it and were you able to do the gear box yourself or did Cat have to do it? Same goes for motor. Rough ballpark on price? I'm not affraid of tackling a job, but just if I'm tool-able to do the job. Anymore now days, if you can save money....you make money..... on most things that is, but time is still worth a lot too.
The 225 would be great, but for moving it around, I don't think my drop deck would like the big ole thunder thighs on her. So I have to stick with something in the lighter class. Besides, the lighter the class the cheaper it is to fix...right? ointhead
The lower section of the swing gear housing broke, due to an idiot swinging hard into nearly immovable objects repeatedly. You can't really blame the machine, as that is ridiculously severe abuse. I bought a used swing gear, (about 4500, I think) as that was about a quarter the price of the housing half and all the seals, gaskets, and etc. to repair mine. I went through it and put in new seals and checked it thoroughly before installing it. I have had no problems in the 6 years since. I think the head was about $1100 as a Cat reman. It is a 3304, which is a good engine. I do all my own work, but I worked as a heavy mechanic for over 10 yrs before buying equipment, and at that time I had about 30 pieces of heavy trucks and equipment, so I have a well equipped shop. I have downsized a bit since the economy tanked, but still do all my own repairs, as much because I like to know it was done right as to save money. Good Luck, Mitch Miller
Is it somewhat difficult to get the top half off the undercarriage/tracks? You can use the boom the raise the front part, but what's it take to raise and stabilize the back part? Sorry for all the questions, but being a virgin at excavators, I kinda wanna know a lot of stuff before I get screwed. Definately appreciate the info so far, thanks
The best thing to do is to put beams under the house in front of and behind the swing bearing, and raise the house on jacks and blocks, then roll the carbody out from under it, but you'd only have to do that to replace the swing bearing. The swing drive gearbox just drops in through the top. That does bring up a good point, whatever you get, make sure there is not a lot of slop in the big swing bearing that connects the house to the carbody. If it is loose, it can cause trouble, and an old hoe is usually not worth a swing bearing. A friend had a real nice '92 Kobelco (also a no-electronics machine) the same size as mine. It had a fresh factory reman engine, but the swing bearing let it move enough to interfere w/ the swing drive, and break teeth off the big gear on the bearing. He ended up selling it to a junkyard as a used swing bearing was $14000. Good Luck, Mitch Miller
Hmmm... Good points to ponder over as I continue my search. Thanks for the info Mitch
UH series Hitachi will steer you in the right direction.
I sure can't seem to find much info on the UH series. We the parts compatible with Deere or not until the later EX models? Did they have air controls in them?(not air conditioner)
Oops.. were the parts compatible I mean
I'm a fan of the old Cat 200 series myself. And I think parts availability of Cat is generally very good.
Hi welcome aboard, I'm a new member also , i can tell you that there are so many very knowledgeable people here. I'm an old timer my self and have owned International , Hitachi and now three Cats 315c, 320cl, 330 cl. I can tell you without a doubt if you can find a good , clean low hr hitachi UH series , you will have a great machine . If you can find an old one and check the size of the undercarriage compared to Cat , Deere etc., then you will understand . I wouldn't trade one new Hitachi UH o81 for two New 320 Cats. If you get something with a Hino or Izuzu engine that is in good working condition . you will be trouble free for a long while . I am not saying that I don't like the Cats I got now but just comparing the heavy duty undercarriage of the Hitachi to the dinky toy stuff they have under them now . You said you had to move some large boulders as big as a car ? Get yourself something that can do the job rather than something that is a little too small and you end up straining it all up ............been there and done that . Good Luck .
Thanks for the advise cat_man. Do you know of any sites that give a little more info on the UH series. Maybe some models in that 25-40,000lb range. Machinery trader has been the main place I've been looking, but they obviously only list what's for sale, so I know there's more models that could be considered, but just don't know what they are. Sometimes a person doesn't even consider other brands of equipment especially if they aren't popular in your area. I don't mind bucking the trend. Sorta like we have a Ford TW35 farming/feeding tractor and a Ford A64 payloader, 99% of the time nobody has anything good to say about them, but they sure save us time, money, simple to work on, and best of all they are bought and paid for themselves in a short time. Thanks again
I would go on a search engine like google or msn and type in "Hitachis for sale " and see what comes up . If you could get something from the military auction ,would be probably low hrs and of course decent shape . I agree with you on the grey area machines . I bought a 1972 Fiat allis loader off the canadian military back in the 80s . It was as new with 350 hrs on it . I had it shipped from mainland canada to newfoundland and total price for shipping and buying was under $20k. So there are deals out there but you have to know a bit about what you are buying or get someone that do know to go and inspect for you . Its better to spend a $1000.00 or two to get a dealer or someone to inspect a machine for you than to buy it and find out you have to spend $10k to get it workable and you just spent $20k to buy it .
http://www.machinerytrader.com/list...D=1&Manu=HITACHI&Mdltxt=uh&mdlx=Contains&SO=2 uh machines
I have an old JD 890A for sale. Might be a little heavier than you're looking for but the price is right. It does have the counterweight removal system (cable you hook to the dipper arm) so you could lighten her up easily for transportation. She about as basic of a hydraulic system as you will find other than the pilot system for the joystick controls. The machine spent most of it's life stripping dirt off a sand pit so the bucket is like brand new. She needs a throttle cable since it is seized up, a few head gland seals need to be replaced on the cylinders since they leak some oil and the hydraulic oil filled. There is a solenoid on one of the swing motors that is hot wired to the battery also, so I don't know if the swing brake would work or not configured like. Let me know if you're interested and I can send you some pictures.
:jawdropOh yeah, that's definately a corn fed girl, Scrapper. She's just way more heavy than what I can handle. Thanks for the offer though. I'll just have to keep on a searching.
Hey Mitch I got a Kobelco 909 with a worn out under carriage. It is about the same as a 220 This wouldn't be the same size your friend junked would it?
I think his was a 907, It was the same size as a 200.
The Cat E110b and E120b's were a late 80's early 90's machine, very smooth, extremly minimal electrical, easy on fuel. They are a "gray line" machine but I havnt found a part you couldn't order dirrectly from cat and for the most part they seemed to be the platform the 311/312s were built on so alot of the main components shouldnt be obsolete. The main draw back to them would be the tracks werent over powered.