I've been considering selling my Yanmar B-2 and up grade up a weight class (7,000# to 10,000#) and go with a Cat. Any life experiences?
I tried a Cat 304.5 for a couple of days and it was a nice machine, but I can't say how it compares to others since I haven't ran any. If I recall correctly, I think it was a 2001 model with low hours. The only problem I had related to the fact I'm a big guy. For whatever reason, Cat decided to put the hydraulic thumb control on a foot pedal instead of the joy stick. I found this a bit cramped and difficult to run smoothly. Other than that, I found the machine had plenty of oomph for it's size. If you've been running a smaller yanmar, you probably won't have the same problem I did. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll answer them as best I can.
5 ton choices Take a look at the Volvo EC-55 for a comparable to a 304.5. I did and bought one last March and very happy I did. The hydrolics sold me as I wanted to run a Promac brushcutter that needed 14gal/min to run. Now I have a rock hammer on it that takes 13gal/min as well. I would have had to go up to a cat 307 to get that performance and a larger frame size. The swing boom is useful.That little 55 is busy all the time (550 hours since March). ...dozerman.com
i also bought an ec-55 this spring, great machine.
ec-55 Paul, Does your EC-55 have the hydraulic quick dissconnct by Geith? If so , how is it going?
yes, my machine has the geith quick coupler. so far, so good. right now, i only have 1 24" gp bucket, so i dont really use it too much, although a cleanup bucket is on the way. sometimes i take the bucket off, when i use the machine to crane stuff around the job. when you have to swap attachments frequently, the coupler will then be a big timesaver.
How is the price? I think Cat (of course) is way over priced. Kobota has decent pricing in my eyes.
ec-55 price John, I found the price to be very good compared to Cat. With Volvo most of the bells are included. The resale on the EC seems to hold its value. When I was shopping for one the used (700hrs) machine was only 8K less than new. ....B
Geith coupler Paul, The jury is still out on my Geith stuff. The coupler sticks and needs a hammer to release it (2 man job). This has been going on since new, Geith is "working" on it. Hope they get right as I have 3 buckets, hammer, mower and change alot. The thumb bent on the first day. Geith did fix it by adding gussets. The travel on the thumb needs a longer cylinder (sorry no fix) to reach full arc on this direct link unit. STRONG is the word for pinch on this thumb. Their cleanup bucket what we call a ditching bucket (small cheeks). Tell em you want a standard bucket the width you want. I ordered a 42" cleanup some time ago, have not seen it yet. The 42" ditching bucket I must admit is a handy tool, just not large enough for truck loading. I like the stuff when it works. I don't like the service (8 months and counting on the coupler). ....Brad
hey brad, make sure you keep an eye on your track tension. yesterday i peeled one off my volvo. i just broke 250 hours. i definetley did not have a good time putting it back on in the cold. after releasing the tensioner, it took a little aligning with a pinch bar to get it on the sprocket, and a push with the skid steer to get it over the front idler. and i will soon be buying one of those cordless grease guns, after having to adjust the tensioner with a pistol grease gun, what a pain.
derailed Paul, Yeah, I know what you mean. Mine went off at about 300hrs on a clearing job. I lifted the offending side with the bucket, made slack and used the thumb and a 4'x6" log to guild the track back on the sproket as I turned the travel sproket. Now the tention gets checked every 50 hrs. No problem. Did you hear the EC-55B is available? I am told it has a few more bells and whistles, but most needed is foot control to travel in BOTH directions. They tell me I can get the parts to do that to mine. Later-Brad
Re: derailed Boy that Volvo looks nice!, do you have AC in that cab? I'm getting tired of open cabs I've only lost my rubber tracks when I've been doing real rough work in deep mud. I use a big digging bar to aligned the rear sprocket. Yes, it is a pain to put back on. I considered steel tracks when i bought my last set and I would definitely get steel tracks with rubber pads next time. Best of both worlds.
Re: Re: derailed Yes, for the two days a year we need it. The yellow jackets get pretty mad trying to get in. The heat and radio is nice for the all nighter fire watch. Payments are a little higher, and it burns it's share of fuel. One advantage the rubber has, in my perception, is better drawbar pull than steel on mud. -Brad
Brad, that's a nice looking excavator, what model is that? Is that yours? Don't see Volvo too much, they're sharp looking units. Blake WA
Brad, never mind the model, I found it by searching the archives. Very nice machine. I like it a lot! Blake WA
It has 1100hrs on now. Geith last week sent me version 3 to replace v.2, a pin grabber style hydro coupler that is working as advertised. Time will tell. Oils/fuel/grease is all I have to do. I bought it from Clyde west in Seattle
Well it's been a while since I've been here but, I got rid of my B-3 Yanmar and bought a Kobota KX121-3 with rubber tracks. It's been over a year since I bought it and it's been great to own. I'll post pictures soon.
I just thought I'd mention that if you are having to adjust the grease ram often, there are seals (packing kit kinda like rebuilding a hyd cyl) that can be replaced. And use high quality zerks, any leakage loosens the tracks. I am going to rebuild mine once I replace this danged freeze plug hiding behind the injection pump on my Tak.
I bought a JD 50D. It has a full cab w/ a/c and heat. It is a zero turn machine. it has a manual q/c on it. The best part of the couple that I like is that it doen't change the geometry of the bucket. I have a vib plate compactor, a 36" smooth bucket, a 24" toothed bucket, hyd thumb, and a hyd breaker. The excavator just sips fuel. I feel that I would buy this machine again. I have run an Kubota KH 161-2. It was a good machine but very crude, and the lift capacity was week. I have also run the Komatsu 35. Not a bad machine but I like the advancements in the JD such as the auto idle and the q/c
Is the coupler the same as the prevous machines? The wedge type, unscrew the bolt coupler. If it is they should remove the quick part and just call it a coupler, it is anything but quick. I am sure it holds up as it is wear compensating unlike a pin grabber style. However I am probably a little impatient, but that coupler was a waste of time.
yes it is the same coupler as before with the wedge and bolt. I understand about not being quick enough. I mostly change between a bucket and a hyd breaker or a hyd vib plate compactor so I have to get out to unhook the hoses anyways. so I can take the 30 seconds it takes to undo the bolt and wedge.
Yanmar Safety Anyone have any trouble with the safety pin on Yanmar bucket coupler?
Stay with yanmar There the best in my book