Yeah, if you didnt have GPS finishing would be almost impossible on the M, because you are right you cant feel the hydraulics, and if you are cutting hubs, you can feel when you are hitting them in an H you cant on an M!
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Old meets New
- Thread starter Grader4me
- Start date
I agree with you there. I don't mind the Ms (with the exception of their considerable downtime), but I would choose an H over an M pretty much any time. I just wish John Deere made a grader to compete in our operations. Unfortunately, Cat stands alone there.
Grader4me
Senior Member
Well..I'm doing finish work with the "m" with no gps. I have the blade controls switched to "fine" mode now so that it isn't as fast. Doesn't really matter that I can't feel the hydraulics so to speak..as long as I have my slope meter and a good eye..I'm good to go..
grandpa
Senior Member
bwah ha ha.... who's eye ya got?:laugh
Grader4me
Senior Member
Just have one good eye gramps...the other one is a little blurry...lol
rsherril
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2009
- Messages
- 264
- Location
- Far West Colorado
- Occupation
- Geologist, Retired from teaching sciences
My JD dealer sent me this "We received an independent market study on North America market share for 2010 for motor graders. For the first time JD surpassed CAT. We sold 900 more graders! Our product is gaining significant recognition." Apparently he thinks CAT isn't so lonely.
Nige
Senior Member
Ask them what their world-wide grader sales figures are compared to Cat ............ and that isn't an attempt to knock John Deere.
I'd be more pro-JD if they had an engine that was compatible with everything else in the market, maybe a Cummins. IMO they don't do themselves any favours sticking with their own engine when they are trying to sell to customers for whom the engine is a one-off.
Is that really a fair comparison considering JD doesn't market their machines worldwide, at least not on the same scale Cat does, or compete in every size class Cat does?
Nige
Senior Member
OK, ask them to state what their sales figures are, model for model JD versus the equivalent Cat model, in all the different markets of the world where they do compete with Cat.
I'll say here and now that we are having so much trouble with 16M's (we have 3 here) that we are seriously contemplating buying JD for our next grader purchase. JD are quoing us a price for an 870G not much more than half the cost of a 16M although in truth the JD is more like an overgrown 14 than a direct replacement for a 16 IMO. The 870 may prove to be too small for us.
I'll say here and now that we are having so much trouble with 16M's (we have 3 here) that we are seriously contemplating buying JD for our next grader purchase. JD are quoing us a price for an 870G not much more than half the cost of a 16M although in truth the JD is more like an overgrown 14 than a direct replacement for a 16 IMO. The 870 may prove to be too small for us.
Grader4me
Senior Member
Well, after spending all last week on the cat "m" I'm in the seat of the JD. Nice to be back to the steering wheel and levers again. Very nice machine..lots of power..nice to operate.
Grader4me
Senior Member
The company that I work for would have no problem purchasing JD graders, but parts and service is the key. That is why Cat stands alone in that area. In this operation waiting a couple of hours for a part compared to waiting 2 weeks...
Danial Doherty
Well-Known Member
Your killing me peter!!! J/K Glad to see everything is going well for you!
Grader4me
Senior Member
Well, finally back home as the job is soon shutting down for the season. Had a great time. Looking forward to doing it again next year. Weather turns cold fast up there. Here is a pic that I took on Sept. 23rd...lol
Nige
Senior Member
Unfortunately only one manufacturer makes a 24-size machine and that's Cat.
I'm speaking with fingers crossed here but we seem to be getting on top of our 16Ms now that we know more about what's what with them, So much electronics interfaced with mechanical linkages it's difficult to know where to start.
As an example we had a machine throwing Level 3 alarms on the steering. Backwards & forwards on the electronics until we discovered the root cause was a very slightly worn ball joint on a steering cylinder. Quite honestly I would not have replaced it if it had been on a 16H. But we replaced that and we were good to go.
The Service Manuals (at least the Troubleshooting & Test/Adjust modules) appear to being written on the fly as information comes back from dealers & customers about problems they had and how they were solved. Problems the designers never even envisaged. The manuals seem to be updated online pretty much every month.