Case Graders

[Cam7775]

Hi guys

just wanted to know if anyone has run a case grader?

our city will soon be in the market for a new grader

any thoughts would help....

thanks

Cam

[Grader4me]

I have never operated a Case grader before but if your city could not afford a Cat, it would probably be okay.:wink2
All the new graders seem to be very nice, reqardless of the make. When ordering it just make sure that you have everything in it and on it(attachments) that you will need. Here is a link that has some specs on the different makes. Case seems to be right there with the rest of them.
http://obr.gcnpublishing.com/articles/NewProds/feb06bid.htm

[plowking740]

I had the chance to try a case grader this week and I can sa that I was not all that impressed. It was only for 30 min, but I was happy to get back in my 160 H

It felt a little clumsy to me. the weight was good, but it just wasnt smooth to run. the forward consol with the steering wheel was too big, and wide, blocking the view of the circle. The cab was not bad, lots of room and the seat was comfy, but it had a huge air breather behind your head that blocked a fair amount of the view behind.

Still not a bad machine though, quite and warm to run considering the weather. and likely half the price of some of the other brands out there.

[JBL]

Plowking, What did you think about the front articulation pivot point versus the rear pivot on the CAT?

[plowking740]

I m not a big fan of that. I prefer to sit behind the blade and look down at it.
with the front articulation, you have to pay a little more attention, and do a little leaning to see every thing. but it is something the operator would get used to after a while I guess. its kinda like loaders that have the steering behind the cab or in front of it. takes some getting used to
.

[nedly05]

Holy Crap, Tyler's lost his mind!

[plowking740]

:eek:
I think there is an exaust leek.

[KSSS]

The new CASE blades are selling well here. I have not heard any one have anything negative to say about them, other than guys that were used to running a blade large than the one they were demoing. The CASE dealer here has moved 5 of them so far. Not bad for such a small market. Each machine he gets in goes out on RTO and has not come back. My dad is county commissioner in ND. They bought a CASE and CAT at the same time. The CASE blade does everything the CAT does on less fuel and at least to those operators, more comfortable to run.

[Deas Plant]

Hi, Folks.
Hmmmmmm!!!!!!!!

Didn't even know Case had tried to get into the market. I'll reserve judgement until I've had my ample rump in one for a while.

I have run a couple of 'Kummagutsa' graders with the operator sat on the rear and the front articulating and I LIKED it far better than the vague, 'fly-by-wire-and-watch-indicator Cat/JD system of articulation. So, Case would possibly score some points there.

I'm not a great fan of Case stuff in general but, as I said above, I won't make a judgement until I've tried one - or three. Now how about some photos?

[928G Boy]

I recently heard an extremely bad review of some brand new case graders, they were purchased by a rural municipality out here.

New case graders=total pieces of crap according to my source. This is third hand info though so take it with a grain of salt.

[alco]

We had a contractor using a Case on one of our jobs and we had to do the maintenance on it as per the agreement they had. The operator was a very good blademan, and he seemed to like the machine just fine. I did find it was more difficult to service and get access to everything under the the big fiberglass tilt up hood. It looked to be a bit flimsy for hard work, but I have to admit, I wasn't around it too much and it didn't break down while he was there........he worked for us for about 3 months. The machine was brand new when it rolled onto the job site.

Brian

[Tn Bulldog]

I Herd Case Fiat allis & Newholland are the same graders anytruth to it yall ? :confused:


later yall

Bulldog

[Cat140G]

Hey Cam, I work for the County Government. All in all we have 12 Motorgraders, 11 Cats and 1 Case 885. Our Case has less than 1500 hrs on it. I can tell you from my experience in the Case, I'm not impressed. The visibility is O.K, horsepower is good, but it seems light in the rearend. I don't like the front articulation, the cab is noisy, hydraulics make a high pitched squeeling sound, and we have constant overheating problems. We've gotta clean the radiator about twice a week with regular use. Another problem we've had is in the tandems. Case has replaced both axles from the diff to tandem boxes, along with the sprockets and chains, twice! The flip up fiberglass hood makes it hard to service. In the winter time, pushing snow, we had to make a bracket to stick on the back so we can put 2000 lbs of tractor weights on the rear, just to get traction.

This is just my experience being around the machine. I've also heard my fair share of comments from operators that like the machine, but for me, I'll stick with a Cat. Hopefully I didn't make anybody mad.

[kyle]

I can tell you there are a ton of improvements made in the Case grader from when they first came out. I have heard very few if any complaints about the newest versions (865VHP). One thing to keep in mind is that many Case dealers are fairly new to the grader market and may not have the graders set up properly. I have heard the comment before that the Case feels lighter in the rear end from some operators, this can be fixed quite easily if the machine is set up properly. We have sold approximatley 10 graders to municipalities, and a few to contractors. I have not heard any complaints from operators once they have gotten use to running them. It is different and takes some time to get use to if you have been running a Cat or Deere. With the front articulation and the involute curve on the moldboard, there are a few tricks to learning to operate the Case properly. For us they have been reliable machines, and our customers have been satisfied.

[John C.]

I haven't seen a Case grader yet but I have to say I am a bit leery about them just because of past experience with the line.

Usually municipalities do OK with the lighter machines. Out here we see lots of Champion graders plowing snow for the state and Deeres working on light road work and fine grading of building sites. These machine work fine for awhile. However where heavy work is done for long periods of time, I've only seen Cat graders in use.

I usually don't have a preference for any machine in any type of service with the provision that a knowledgeable and professional company could make money using it. With graders though I have always preferred Cat.

Since what you are looking at is a relatively new machine on the market I would suggest some performance parameters be put in place in order to protect your tax paying shareholders. I would mandate the machine has a minimum percentage of availability and the supplier is responsible for, meaning pays for, replacement machines should yours be down. Parts availability should have a time limit or the supplier pays the cost of freight. Maintenance items such as cutting edges, ripper teeth, light bulbs, window glass, hoses and filters should have a guaranteed stocking at the dealer's site.

Most machines now days will run three thousand hours without any problems at all. After that wear and tear starts to show up with loose circles, damaged drawbars, articulation hitches needing repair, front axles and steering joints getting loose. Electrical connections get loose and switches in the cab start to break. That is also the point where fluid leaks seem to begin. Engine, transmission and hydraulic hoses and connections will start to leak if overheating is a problem as has previously been mentioned about this manufacturer's machine.

Good Luck!

[JBL]

Since what you are looking at is a relatively new machine on the market I would suggest some performance parameters be put in place in order to protect your tax paying shareholders. I would mandate the machine has a minimum percentage of availability and the supplier is responsible for, meaning pays for, replacement machines should yours be down. Parts availability should have a time limit or the supplier pays the cost of freight. Maintenance items such as cutting edges, ripper teeth, light bulbs, window glass, hoses and filters should have a guaranteed stocking at the dealer's site.



I Like the way you think John.

[Cat140G]

The problem we are having now is getting service work done. Case says there are upgrades for this and upgrades for that, but the work is only being done as a "when needed basis". Filters are hard to come by, because many of the filters are made by Case only. You don't even want to know what the trade-in value is on a 2004 885 w/ less than 2000 hrs on it. It's less than half the trade-in value of a 94 140G w/ 10,000 hrs.

[Northart]

1st time I ever seen one, was last year, the Alaska RR had one. I spoke to the operator, and he said they had engine trouble already with it, only 900 hrs on it if I remember. He was not to impressed with it. :beatsme

[Grader4me]

Welcome to the forum Northart! Good to see another Grader operator on board...I will look forward to you posts!

[RonG]

Nice to see you here Northart.Ron G

[Northart]

Thanks, Grader4me, RonG for the welcome.

A most interesting site for sure. :)

Later, Northart

[roadrunner]

Hi guys

just wanted to know if anyone has run a case grader?

our city will soon be in the market for a new grader

any thoughts would help....

thanks

Cam

Cam did you get your 140M yet or are you still waiting?
You seriously aren't considering a CASE grader are you?:eek: