Hi everyone. I have a small grading and utility outfit and we are growing. I am glad to be growing but unfortunately that causes some issues. We need to purchase some new equipment to keep up with our upcoming work and I am having a tough time making a decision on what brand to go with. John Deere is normal my go to but someone recently turned me on to Sany. I have looked at Sany and its not a bad machine but I am just not sure. The Sany has very competitive pricing at roughly 50-70 K cheaper than JD and cat on a 210 size machine, and if that doesn't get you interested then the 5 year 5,000 hr warranty might help. On the other hand I have been looking at a cat 305.5, 320, 323 and a D5 K2 and although I haven't liked cat in the past, I am starting to open up to them. I really liked the d5 K2 and the 320 and 323 are crazy with all the features they have. I am planning on getting Topcon gps on what every I buy. I just want to see if yall have any opinions or info that might shead some light on the machine's I am about to purchase.
Dealer support and parts availability should be of big concern if they are not running they are not making you a dime. Just something to consider.
One get's what they pay for. I for one am not sold on Sany or any other Chinese brand. I've been to China twice and not impressed with the manufacturing process or quality of product - everything is a copy made to look like a quality product built the cheapest they can build it. In time that may change but my hard earned credit is going to be leveraged against a known brand that has a local dealer presence with excellent parts availability. Just my $.02, your milage may vary.
From mechanics stand point - if it’s possible find older pre emission rebuild machine! On the new ones, whatever you buy you’ll be screwed! Any money you save on fuel and better speed will be eaten up many folds the first time you will have major problem!
2nd the rebuild if possible The last 2 cat machines I have rented had nothing but emissions problems I can't say I have had a bad experience with deere other than an egr cooler but there not perfect I was raised cat but the deere dealer has won me over with service and I like the backhoes and excavators better probably just preference Some guys are running Hyundai and dooson here no sany but I put them all in the same group they are cheap for a reason the Hyundai dealer has 4 mechanics for the state the dooson dealer is a ditch witch dealer trying to carry big iron the results have not been great Neither dealer has the ability to carry any real parts or can get them overnight trouble free so I dont see an upside and if it goes down hard how fast can they get another machine under you Growing pains suck and they add infinite amounts of variables equipment only adds to those in my opinion the time to reach on unproven equipment is when your not stretched on work when your dead if the equipment is dead