Thinking of moving over to Cat mini from my Yanmar

[Super Duty John]

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?

[DKinWA]

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.

[dozerman]

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

[paulsoccodato]

i also bought an ec-55 this spring, great machine.

[dozerman]

Paul,
Does your EC-55 have the hydraulic quick dissconnct by Geith? If so , how is it going?

[paulsoccodato]

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.

[Super Duty John]

How is the price? I think Cat (of course) is way over priced.
Kobota has decent pricing in my eyes.

[dozerman]

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

[dozerman]

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

[paulsoccodato]

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.

[dozerman]

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

[Super Duty John]

Originally posted by dozerman
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 sprocket as I turned the travel sprocket.
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 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.

[dozerman]

Originally posted by Super Duty John
Boy that Volvo looks nice!, do you have AC in that cab? I'm getting tired of open cabs ;)


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

[coopers]

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

[coopers]

Brad, never mind the model, I found it by searching the archives. Very nice machine. I like it a lot!

Blake
WA

[dozerman]

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

[Super Duty John]

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.

[totalloser]

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.

[PipeGuy]

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

[KSSS]

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.

[PipeGuy]

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.