Mini Exc......Cat,Volvo, or Bobcat

[2004F550]

Ok so its down to the Cat 305 CR, Volvo EC55, and Bobcat 435. Whatever the machine it will have a hydralic thumb and a coupler of some type. Also an enclosed cab and A/C. I am renting the 435 right now and it is a strong machine. I haven't tried the other 2 yet, but does anyone have any input on them? This is our first compact excavator so were tryi ng to see what other people like. I see that Volvo has a hyd. coupler, anyone have experience with this? Anyway just looking for some help from those who have used or bought these machines.

thank you

 

[badranman]

I don't have the 435 but I do have the 430. I've had a hose burst and that's about it. I love the zero house swing, I know it's saved me a few times..and the thumb is something I wouldn't be without. The machine is easy to work on and grease which I do every 8-10 hrs. Actually I have broke the cutting edge twice, not covered under warranty. As a whole I do like the machine though.

 

[Nac]

mini excavator

Just woundering why ot consider a Komatsu I have a pc45 and it is great. I have done everything with it from digging for retaining walls to install underground strom systems to digging additions and also demo work. I love the machine it has a thumb witch is very handy and just bought a 900 ft/lb atlas hammer for it.

 

[DKinWA]

I spent about 30 hours on a 305CR this week and it's a heck of a machine. If I was in the market to buy a machine this size, I'd buy it without hesitation. Everything was smooth operating, and the engine is really quiet. If given a choice though, I'd much prefer a real suspension seat for those long days. One day I ran it for almost 12 hours straight without a break and was a little slow getting off it

 

[2004F550]

Well we have had our Bobcat 435 for about a month now. We got the cab w/ HVAC and radio. Hyd. thumb, 24" bucket, B950 Hammer, and 53" grading bucket and twist-wrist. Great machine and very capable, except the O ring on the swing motor failed twice, they fixed once, only to bring it back and take it off the trailer to have it fail again. They again took it back and gave us a 430 to use in the meantime. It came back and seems to be fine now except for a blown heater fuse. But overall it is very impressive and a joy to run. The grading bucket and swing is also a great feature. The bobcat salesman is top notch and transported the machine all those times free of charge and always made sure we were being taken care of.

 

[badranman]

Glad to hear it. I forgot to mention the same seal failed on my machine, it had about 40 hrs when I bought it. They replaced the whole pump, weren't taking any chances. I came back from a job one day and found the glass in the door had shattered. They replaced the whole door for free saying they had heard of a few instances where the door frames were a bit crooked. The second door does shut better. I have 450 hrs on it now and I still like it.

 

[MrBobcat]

The Fasttrac system on 430/435 is one of the best innovations ive seen in a long time in a mini. One of the most frustating things on the minis is the travel speed.

 

[Tigerotor77W]

Glad things are working out. Gotta keep your eyes on those new machines... never know when some untested area will screw up.

Seeing as you've already made your decision, not much left for me to add. I'm a personal fan of Bobcat but am quickly realizing it might turn into a Dell or Boeing -- one of Case's bigger selling points against Bobcat now is that Bobcats are a "cheap" machine. They're meant to be put together as quickly as possible, not as well as possible. Of course, that's Case talking... but all in all, I still think the purchase was sound (as is the company and its other products). Keep us posted on how she holds up.

 

[catbrown357]

I've operated both the Bobcat 435ZHS, and the Cat 305CCR. The Bobcat definately has some issues, such as hydraulic pump seal, final drive seals, and lack of power. Both machines are turbo charged, but the Cat has way more power. As far as track speed goes, the Bobcat is definately faster. Who cares about speed when it won't track up a hill without having to pull itself up with the boom. The Cat is all around a superior machine.

 

[2004F550]

Wow just happened to see this, 2.5 years flys by. Both finals were replaced in the first year, under warrenty. But other then that it has been good, we use it everyday, a lot more then we thought we would. See we tried a 305, not the C model, and I have heard that the C model is a better machine, but like Said, its not what we had to use.

 

[atgreene]

I've put 1100 hours on my Takeuchi 135 in 20 months.

The only real issues I've had are:

Track frame bent, was easily fixed (finally warrantied, cost $310.00 to correct)

A throttle cable let go (warrantied).

A reoccuring anti-freeze leak (warrantied) finally narrowed down to bad clamps.

Other than that, the machine has been bullet-proof.

 

[jazak]

I personaly like the CATs. I've ran a 303, 308 & 315. Very simple to use & very comfortable ....


(The 303 was a C model. I know two guys with 303's & 305's they love them. Here CAT service is the best to so....)


Never mind I see you got the Bobcat....

 

[KSSS]

I really liked by Takeuchi TB53. I just recently got my new 153 not much different than the older model performance wise.

 

[SouthOnBeach]

we just have an older hitachi ex50urg. runs great for us. i haven't spent much time on the new ones, i know they have made great improvments in the last 10 years over what we're running.

 

[danregan]

we just bought a 304, after renting a 305 for a month this summer. I got prices from Volvo and Milton, and Volvo had better pricing (though both dealers prices were teh suck). I did a little research, and seem to like the way volvo looked on paper. I never got as far as a demo on the volvo, but I do love the 305 and 304.

 

[John C.]

As a mechanic I like the C model Cats better than the older units. The hydraulics are moved to the side of the operator instead of underneath the floor boards. I haven't looked too much at the other manufacturers yet but accessibility to the things that make the machine work are real important.

 

[danregan]

As a mechanic I like the C model Cats better than the older units. The hydraulics are moved to the side of the operator instead of underneath the floor boards. I haven't looked too much at the other manufacturers yet but accessibility to the things that make the machine work are real important.

Never a truer statement......
just tightning a aux hyd line on the 301.5 turned into a vulgar swearfest that took about 3 hours and my nephews little 12 year old fingers. not to mention when the throttle cable broke. The way the 304C is set up is great.

 

[CATmandew]

I am in the same boat, but I am down to the cat or bobcat......

 

[Crete Buster]

We have a 435zhs that we remove concrete with . We did a side by side test with a Komasu pc45 using a test block furnished by the Komatsu dealer the 435 easily outlifted the pc45 . The Komatsu dealer had a service tech spend 4 hours making adjustments to the hydraulic system to no avail. They tried to convince us that the pc 45 was the best machine ... we were not convinced.We are happy with our 435 with 850+ hours.

 

[DarrylMueller]

Looking for a used Mini Excavator for drilling, and tight work.

I am looking for something in the 10,000 to 17,000 class for drilling and tight excavating work. Would like good oil flow to run the drill.