We have had the thread of top excavator manufacturing companines. But how bout WHAT brand you use and WHY you go with it. Was talking to my boss last night and we were debating on what to go with for our next machine. Got it down that CAT for dozers, and Volvo for our haul trucks. But still kinda in arms about a digger. Have a Komatsu 220 LC right now, thinking on going bigger. They have had pretty good luck with this machine, although there have been a few high dollar repairs on it, before my time. The only other excavator I have been on from new to 7000 hours is our old 312, which is now owned by the company I work for. We have never had much go wrong with this but that is definately not big enough for most of our quarry stripping. So WHAT BRAND for YOU and WHY? Thanks Trbo
Cat everything. Reason: Parts and service. -Michael-
Deere/Hitachi. They run forever and very rarely have problems. We maintain our own equipment and order any parts online.
JCB 360's JCB Backhoe Loaders, Volvo ADT's Cat dozers and JCB Telehandlers Oh....... and Terex 6 and 9 tonne dumpers Joe
I've put a good bit of hours in a Deere and we own a Volvo. I like what Deere has out, i like the throttle in that machine, it runs about 3/4 until you need full power then it idles up according to how much throttle you need. The cab is very nice, the seat is comfortable and cab in general is just very user friendly (that was a 2005 Deere 120)...we own a Volvo EC150...the power is great, handles our 4' bucket with ease. can lift a 1250gallon septic tank too. The cab is a little more rugged then a Deere, Volvo gives you the gauges you need and nothing else, track speed is good, the "strong man mode" is great as well for heavy lifting. Hydraulics are responsive and not jerky. Its just a really good machine to operate, very easy on fuel too.
I've had experience on many different brands. I really like the volvo excavators for the midsize use Ec150 - Ec360 machines. For a mini excavator I would go with takeuchi. Very rugged little machines that can take a beating and keep on going. It really depends on how long you paln to keep the machine. If your going to trade it or get another machines every 4-5,000 hrs then there are plenty of good mahines out there that are cheaper than lets say a cat or deere. But If you want somthing to last alot longer then I would go with a more well known brand name.
We ran hitachi until last year.we went to Kobelco and have had very good luck.they run very fast,they start even when the temps are below 0,good on fuel,every thing seems to be very well made on them,cabs are very simple,and did I mention they run very fast?
I was a diehard Cat man, but after the salesman who I bought quite a number of equipment wouldn't help me out when I needed something screwed me, I swore I wouldn't buy another Cat machine. I've been switching over to Komatsu lately. Might trade my Cat M322C in for a John Deere 210CW. Komatsu' has been very good to me anything I need. I bought 2 machines from them, and called my salesman on a Saturday night to see if I could rent a machine after a snow storm for removal and he said to send the lowbed up and he'd meet me at the yard. that's dedication. I originally called my Cat salesman and he told me there was nothing he could do. I've heard good things about Volvo loaders, haven't tried one yet.
My dad runs Cat because the Deere/Hitachi dealer is worthless. Other brand dealerships are 3 hours away and Cat doesn't screw around, gives him an honest price and the service is superb. I know some folks have a bad taste in their mouth with Cat dealers, but the one we've spent money with is top notch and will continue to buy from them.
Cat in my area won't even open a door for you and they will really won't go the extra distance to keep a customer happy. The local Cat dealer brought out a new Cat excavator for the company to try were I used to work to compare to their Deere 200 they had that had over 5,000 trouble free hours on it. They said the one they brought out would destroy the Deere and what a laugh we got when we compared them. The dealer said we turned up the Deere to make it work as strong as it did. We just laughed at him and told him to pick that piece of scrap metal up what they called a Cat excavator and get it off the job site. Their Deere out lifted it, out dug it, all while having over 5000 Hrs on it. Cat may make some good machines but it is not Excavators. Even with saying that the dealer in my area are about the most worthless, sorry excuse for a dealer ship I have ever seen. They only work with the company's that buy a million dollars or more worth of equipment from them a year. Cat has gone down hill due to their stuck up pride in thinking that they make the best machines for excavating which they don't. Like I said they make some pieces of equipment that cant be touched( Track Loaders,and Dozers Only) but many of their machines the competition has surpassed them years ago at building.
Cascade? What kind of issues have you had with Pape?I just bought a used 580 ffom George,and he is a great guy.The seem to get a bad rap around here,but I think it is unfounded.
I forgot, Case backhoes all the way, have a Cat can't touch the case.
we currently have a 690 deere, 210 case, 210 hyundai. all great machines, no problems with any of them. they all perform very close to each other, but the case is the fastest of the bunch. i'd go with best purchase price/dealer support. i've never owned cat because i'm too small for their likes.
I like Cat excavators.. I like Deere excavators.. and my newest love has been a Link Belt 210LX. I love the old Cat 200 series machines, and last year I got to spend a good amount of seat time in a 385.. and they are a beast of a machine. But I have also found that cats are lazy on their feet. They move around too slow, have no track power and don't multifunction well... oh yeah and you can feel yourself getting older while your digging. I got to run a demo 345C a couple years ago with under 200hrs on it, and it still couldn't outdig a 1992 John Deere 992D LC. I grew up with Deere 690's, and have had some serious seat time in 992's and 892's and love them to death. I have also been on a few of their newer hoes and got to run a 800C alongside a brand new 385. The 800 lacked the grunt power the big Cat had at times, but when it came to moving the machine around site... the 800 left the 385 in the dust. I also love their smaller hoes 160-270's, I have run a few of them and they always have the power when you need them, the response and a nice cab. But like I said my newest love has been a 210 Link Belt. I got her with 400hrs when I moved to Edmonton last year. The company bought it at auction to try it out and they/I loved it. It's blazing fast compared to a 320 cat, faster and more power than a 200C Deere, and even quieter than a 200 Hitachi. But most of the other guys that jumped in it complained the second they closed the door. The controls are a bit jumpy in that machine, they don't have the finesse as easy as a Cat does, and the swing is so fast you have to run with the door shut, or with the seat belt on because your liable to be thrown from the beast. That thing tracked like crazy, turned great, tons of swing power, a nice cab, good engine, and was incredible on fuel (I honestly think that engine ran on hopes and dreams). That machine made a believer out of me with Link Belt/Sumitomo. I always heard great things about them but I was a die hard Deere man when it came to hoes. But a lot of people were right, that machine is a weapon. The only bad thing about it was when the guys runnin the 385's and 375's would come up to me and ask me what it was going to be when it grew up.
oh yeah we run case backhoes, just got a 580 super mII with pilot control I have ran deere,cat etc.and they are all good machines but man you just cant beat a case backhoe.We have never ever had a problem with our case backhoe. Dont no much about their excavators.(case/linkbelt/sumitoma) or their dozers(case/newholland).Cat gets so much hipe but sometimes I cant help but wonder if people by cat because of their ego.You know what I mean "yeah I run Cat" I am not saying there a bad company,hell they have been around forever,I am just saying I see no proof they are better then any one other machine.I would personally run as many machines as you can before buying.
Case backhoes are amazing. I do love them but I do like the loader in the Deere's better. As for the Ego thing with Cat... who knows. I do find it odd though that I work for a company with a mostly Cat fleet.... but they don't own 1 Cat backhoe..... just a bunch of Deere 710's!
In the mine we run everything caterpillar, except for the shovels. And one pc2000. If we call CAT with a problem before SIX pm. Our parts are at the mine BY noon the next day. Or no later than 48 hours later, or they wave delivery fees etc. That doesnt seem bad to me -Michael-
I agree with a lot of the recent posts. You can't beat Case backhoes. I've runs some old case backhoes and they just go! NO problems. I didn't notice too much difference between Deere/Hitatchi excavators 120-200(not that there would be too much except engine noise I guess). I didn't like the mini Deere hoe's, just didn't like the feel of them. I really like Kubota mini excavators. They run great, nicely designed (could use some work on hyd. flow when traveling and using the hoe for example or the thumb and something else), and never broke down. I've been on some old beat up kubota mini's and they ran. I here a lot of good feedback about Tak minis', I'd like to try one out. Kobelco's mini's didn't seem too bad. I loved the button on the joystick to control the backhoe swing of the hoe (180). That was cool. I sometimes wonder if the CAT name causes people to become arrogant and pompous. I kind of get the vibe from some that this might be the case. Like some have said, there are a lot of well made machines, and to be so quick to say that CAT or any other brand is superior over another w/o hearing other opinions is just stupid. Yeah some may be in the lead in machine quality, like Case backhoes, Cat dozers, Deere Excavators or Link Belt or whatever, but it's not like back in the day when one company was superior over another like with Case in the old days with the TLB when that was a new concept; it just isn't like that anymore. But whatever, I can go on. My personal choice based off experience and knowledge and seeing various dealer reputation and parts availability. Backhoes: Case (Deere 2nd choice) Mini Excavators: Kubota (Kobelco 2nd choice maybe? Taks sound interesting) Excavators: Deere
Yeah but you're mine spends $$$ and from some testimonials flying around some branches of CAT don't look at you unless you spend large amounts of $$.
Have you run a John Deere 240DLC? I have a 320BL i might trade in and am torn between a deere 240 and a komatsu 220.
I think the Cat thing has a lot to do with your dealer. Most of my Cat equipment is older, but my dealer will still bend over backwards to get me parts when I need them, even if they are for a 42 year old wheel loader. I am a small operation and most years spend less than $3000 at the Cat dealer. Now when I call for parts for my Hitachi they tell me to buy a newer machine. :Banghead. Around here Komatsu, Hitachi, and Deere are all the same dealer (they have "separate" brances for Deere) and are actually fairly good, but not up to the standards of the Cat dealer. Also I know a lot of Deere guys that have worse attitudes than Cat guys, that can happen with any brand. I would never buy a Case or Cat backhoe, have tried servreal through the years, but none had the power of a New Holland. I know some people here have horror stories with NH backhoes, but I have always had good luck with them, and very few repairs (we have been running Fords since the early 60s). I would say that the early Cat 300 series excavators (A and B models) were definaly lacking in performance compared to the other machines, but every C series Cat I have been around was equal to or even a little better than the newer Deere, Hitachi, and Komatsus I have been around. Haven't used a D sereies yet. I still don't know why anyone would want an excavator with a Deere engine when they can get the same machine with an Izusu (15,000 trouble free hours with mine, it did get overhauled sometime after that, but it got overheated badly a few times too. ). For loaders I still stick with Cat, I don't know if they still build them as good as they built the old 944, but so far so good, I hear good things about Volvo too. Dozers I would stick with Cat too, the small Deers and Komatsus are nice, but I have always had good luck with my Cats.
Deere diesel engines are actually some of the highest rated engines on the market for performance, longevity, and efficientcy. I consider them as the best Diesel engine manufacture in my opinion.
Cat jerked my dad around all the time with his 416's. The 416's were problem after problem after problem. We'll never go back. As for a rubber tired hoe in my mind there are only 2 backhoes out their. John Deere and Case. Forget the rest. Im not a big fan of the M series Cases but I wouldnt trade my Super L2 for anything. Hey Mikef87, I heard a company over in Marboro set a 345 Cat against a Hitachi 450 for a week. Long story short, they bought the hitachi. Better fuel, better cycle times, better breakout.
I think more in what i need as a owner/operator because it is not about just running it and how great it is ,it is also about having to pay the bills also. What an operator like for running and operating is his choice,which if he was actually paying the bills he might not chose the one he likes to run all the time ,because dependablitity,service ,and parts availablitiy. Also if you have a brand and you opt to trade for different brand that is either tuff or easy to do.There is a lot of varables to the why and why not the way i see it. Everyone needs to change shoes with each other to get a different perspective to why he likes operating this machine, and the owner doesn't like owning that machine. Always is and always will be two sides to the story,or you can just set on the middle of the fence. If your fliping your machine over every few thousand hours one brand might look better then the other,but the same machine if you was in it for the long term it might be the worst machine to own,depending if you was the owner. Just something to think about other then brands and whats nice to operate:beatsme:usa
We buy our equipment that way. Reliabilty, quality, and best value. Rubber tire backhoe is the only machine we buy without research. Case or Deere no questions asked. Anything else we have has been researched and bought because it most likely outspec'd the competitors while still giving us the most for the money. We take parts and service into consideration but with today's day and age a quick trip online and your parts can be shipped to you next day.
I think regardless of your brand loyalty, SERVICE is the most important factor! If the equipment is getting the production and the service team is there for you, you can't ask for much more. We run a fleet of Komatsu excavators and I don't have too much bad to say.
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums Special K! :drinkup
Dear EZ TRBO, We are a Utility Contractor and we run the following: Hitachi Excavators(smooth,fast,dependable),Case Backhoes (reliable,long lasting),Case Dozer (because it's just what we have),John Deere Track Loader (very reliable, hard working),Morooka Crawler Dumper (what was available-only grey market machine we have ever owned). I demoed Case & Komatsu back in 99 when I bought my first Hitachi & in my opinion the Hitachi was the best of the three. My .02, ZAXIS
The company I work for, we have Komatsu and Deere Exc, 3 Cat D6 dozers and Deere 650's for smaller dozers, deere backhoes, as for the excavators I think the Deeres are smoother and not a jerky as the Komatsu's, you can't bet a Cat dozer, but the 650 deere's are a nice finish dozer and a little cheaper. Around here the Komatsu's dont have as good as resale value as the Deere's. And I see some you guys compare Hitachi and John Deere, Deere's are made by Hitachi.
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums WildMan! :drinkup
All Case We have all Case equip. (580, 550, CX-160). Main reason is parts and service. We have two dealerships within 30mins of our shop. Never had much problem with any of our equipement except for wear and tear items. I like keeping our equipment line the same. Easier when order parts. As far as CAT is concerned....MARKETING...MARKETING...MARKETING. They have done a great job in marketing and positioning their equipment. In acquiring Battlefield Equipment Rentals, they put their equipment out front to all contractors, large or small. Plus everywhere you look, you see the CAT logo and think...Everyone is running CAT. Doesn't make them the best, just good brand recognition.
We run Kobelco's, theyre a great product and we have very little down time with them, We have two sr-115's the newer short tail swing ones, and a sk-160.. With the last sk-115 we had we got 4800 hours out of the first set of tracks which is pretty good for it having a blade. We also used to have a Hitachi ex-120 but it spun a rod bearing at about three years old with 4000 hours or so. Its nice now too because CAT sells alot of after market parts for other brands too.
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums xalexjx! :drinkup
CASE Equipment I'm just a small-time guy who uses his equipment around the farm and to do small jobs for others. When I was interested in getting a dozer, I talked with a lot of guys and heard a fairly common theme. CASE equipment may not be as sexy as CAT or DEERE, but it is a really good value. The dealer in my area is a real gem. They will help me with whatever comes up and even recommend ways to save money on repair parts (which are less expensive than CAT or DEERE repair parts in the first place). I have had a 450C and now have a 650G, a 1150G and a 9010B. I try to buy them right, fix what ever needs to be fixed, use the machine for a bit to do what ever work needs to be done and then sell them. Anyway, in all fairness, I guess I should say that don't really have that much experience with any particular make of machine. CASE is just all I know. :my2c
Nice looking dozer.
I still love my old Dresser dozers, when you run them the most you get used to them, but I can push more and burn less fuel that a newer D6H and enjoy it better(even though the boss likes the cats the best). Excavators, most of my time is on a CAT and I have always liked it, never any major problems(7000 hours). Alot of the machines we have were bought because of the long record we have had with different dealers on machines, or location. Kinda hard to buy a CAT skid loader when the nearest dealer is an hour away and the BOBCAT dealer is only 5 mins up the road. Dealer support, parts, and machine function are big keys as to why you buy, $$$ mean alot too. Even after good luck with one machine, when it came time to replace it we looked very hard at all the different companies had to offer. Trbo
I like Cat because my local dealer's parts dept. is open until midnight during the week days. If I need a part, I can get it late in the evening and be ready to go in the morning in many cases. This works good for a small operation like mine where the owner/operator/mechanic, (must wear many hats), has to get out of the machine, go get the parts, then fix the machine. It also helps when the parts guys out the extra mile. Most dealers would do well to realize this fact. I've bought 3 cat excavators based on a particulars parts mans extra help, (not the salesmans bull).
*parts guys go the extra mile*