Any Advice on buying a CAT TH 360B

[ireland_ plant]

I am thinking about buying one of these telehandlers maybe 2005 or 2006. Would like to hear from anyone that has one and if they have any good or bad points about this machine..

Thanks

 

[Speedpup]

They look awfully tall to me. Never ran one. What would you be doing with it most of the time? Settled in on a CAT?

 

[ireland_ plant]

How do you mean tall? Mostly commerical construction lifting roofing material and general fork lift work on a construction site. Not settled on a CAT but i like to look of them. Do you have any experince on any other makes ?

 

[AtlasRob]

I am not against the Cat or any other make of Telehandler.

My only comment would be that there were / are some big fleets of JCB handlers in the UK that were servicing the housebuilding market. That market is struggling as I am sure you are aware, there might be some better deals to be had on one of those. :my2c

If you are not in a rush there is a big Euroauction in Leeds at the end of the month it might be worth watching what they fetch. :drinkup

http://www.euroauctions.com

 

[ireland_ plant]

Thanks Atlas Rob, yes there is lots of everykind of equipment going cheap in ireland now as wel. Its a buyers makert for sure.

 

[cps]

I've had no experince of these, we had a cat th63, which was the model before this traded in to us were i used to work. it seemed like a good machine! Have never herd any thing bad about the th360!

One machine I worked on recently was Dieci 16 meter telehandler. I was very impressed with the spec of this machine, it has a Iveco engine and very straight forward electrics and alot of extras on this machine.

Id be looking at one of these machines myself if i was on the market for a telehander, was worth the money (s/h) and the help from the dealer was top class!

 

[Speedpup]

How do you mean tall? Mostly commerical construction lifting roofing material and general fork lift work on a construction site. Not settled on a CAT but i like to look of them. Do you have any experince on any other makes ?

cab seems very high. I like the Lulls with the horizontal movement. I like all the JLG line and now they make a few models for CAT. TH series is made in England I believe that may be a help parts wise or JCB if I am not mistaken.

I have to like the look of a machine also, I like the look of a Gradall and will probably get one of those for visability and a toy.

I would see who is a strong dealer in your area for parts and service also.

 

[Lugghead]

The last time I was certified, this is the rig I used. There are two GREAT aspects of this machine. The reach (a whopping 44') and the outriggers. Outriggers give me an added sense of security and stability.

This would be a GREAT machine for roofing. Whether you're lifting ISO, sending up rolls of EPDM or even putting a bucket on it and sending up aggregate.

I would say two things though. One, drive it first. Don't count on the specs telling you the whole story. And when you test drive it, pick up a load the equivalent of your maximum intended load and see how she handles.

And two, get an ENCLOSED cab!! We all know that just because you're doing roofing doesn't mean that all work is done in fair weather!! Plus, it will extend the life of the cab by protecting it from the elements.

 

[ForksNI]

Speedpup - the earlier CAT TH360B model had a lower cab mount & the visability to the right hand side left alot to be desired. The high cab mounting was definatly a change for the better with the visability. I used a MAC Rental one a few years ago for the company before who I'm with now they are a good strong machine, comfortable & easy to drive, hydraulic attachment change & only thing I could fault it on is lack of storage space in the cab - there is a lockable storage box below the cab but it was a bit small for two slings & two sets of chains. As a fan of telehandlers in general I would rate it a very close second to the MRT2540P I'm on now.
Bryan

 

[AtlasRob]

- the earlier CAT TH360B model had a lower cab mount & the visability to the right hand side left alot to be desired. The high cab mounting was definatly a change for the better with the visability.

Thats very intresting, I spent a bit of time on a Cat tele a good few years ago dont know what the number was I didnt think it would be important in later life .

All I remember reading over the years is about the boom pivot points on certain makes having been lowered to aid stability and vision but its the first mention I have ever heard of the cab being lifted a bit, a very easy way to aid visibility to the offside. :notworthy

 

[crane operator]

Place I'm working now has a cat th62 and a cat 460. The 460 (newer cat) was made in Belgium I think, before cat teamed up with jlg, I don't think they even make it any more. The 62 is older and was made in england. The 62 is rated at 6000lbs, and the 460 at 9000lbs. The 460 is much smoother riding, and has a really nice cab, but no storage in the cab at all. The 62 has at least a little room for your lunch box, grease gun and some other things. Both rigs have a low mounted boom, compared with lull, jlg, skytrack. I think this improves their stability, but with a bad expense, the visibility stinks. If you pick up something, say 2-3' off the ground and want to drive, the boom blocks all visibility to the right. I mean it really blocks everything. It is also harder to see the teeth on the mast, because the "neck" portion of the boom is so short, the boom blocks the view of the teeth unless you telescope the boom out. I would go test run several different brands, try putting the teeth in a pallet, and driving around with a load. Ask someone who has one, preferably someone who has owned some different brands for what they like about each one. I will say that the controls on both Cats are very smooth, and the larger one rides very well. They are also a little more "refined" than the jlg, lull versions, namely nice cabs, glass doors, the bigger one also has A/C. But I prefer to see whats on the right side of me, without having to lift and carry the load 6' off the ground. If I had to run it myself, the nice cab and ride are great, but if you're turning it loose to a bunch of carpenters or brickies, I would buy something more durable/ rugged, they would destroy the nice buttons/ switches, glass cab, in short order.

 

[CM1995]

I had an '05 TH460B with outriggers and a hyd quick connect. It was a very strong machine and a D series Cat front loader bucket would hook up to the IT, which made it nice.

There are some visability issues as previously stated. The machine was comfortable to operate with quick and responsive controls. Service was very easy with the transverse mounted engine. The main negative I had was the instrument cluster. We had several problems with the guages malfunctioning and the cluster unit is one piece, you had to change the whole thing out. Luckily it was still under warranty during this time. My work changed and I traded it in on a trackhoe.

As far as tele's go, I prefer simple and non-electronic, like my old Blue Gradall 534D6. I still have it and ran it side by side for a time with the 460B. Of course the Cat was the most comfortable and most popular but ol' Blue is still here.

 

[ForksNI]

AtlasRob - the two pics show the difference between the two TH360B builds. Since going on to the 'Big Lady' I didn't get a chance to get on the JCB 535-125 Hi-Vis the company trialled but the driver that was on it reckoned it had 'slightly but not much' better visability - his main gripe though was that he couldn't see the level marker on the ram with the arm up any way. JCB should maybe have went the same way Manitou went with the new Privilege series & used a linkage with put the leveling ram indicator in front of the cab. Our older Manitou telehandlers (MT1740, 1440) had a forward facing mirror on the rear mudguard for forward visibility on the right of the machine - the principle was that the forward facing mirror was looked at using the rear mirror & showed the front right side including the full area of stabilizer spread on that side so that the whole right hand side of the machine was visible in 1 mirror. I don't know where the idea came from but it worked well & certainly in my opinion alot better than the convex mirrors.

Craneoperator - the TH460 would have been built in Belgium. The low mounted boom is a typically European thing, with Merlo (I think) being the first to change away from the 'European style' high mounted arm - ie it still had the short neck & bad right hand side visability ! I would definatly agree with you on the cab storage issue - the spill kit had to be squashed in (along with the hi-viz coat, chains & slings) beside the seat as it was to big for the storage drawer below the cab

With the CAT-JLG Alliance the American range of CAT telehandlers is now the JLG American 4 wheel steer range reliveried as CAT. The European range has also changed - the TH360B & TH460B have been replaced by the TH414, the TH560B replaced by the TH514 & the TH580B replaced by the TH417 which is downrated from 5 tonne to 4 tonne.

 

[Speedpup]

So with the lower boom for more stability you then need to raise the load up to see so what is the real gain? I jumped in something once with the low mount boom and it was horrible to see. I think the Gradall has the best view looking back.

 

[crane operator]

Yeah, speedpup, the low boom stinks. I'm constantly worrying that I'm running over stuff with the right front tire or hitting something with the load over there because you just can't see anything. The guys always wonder why I sometimes hit pallets with the right fork, well its because I just guess where the tooth is and shove, and sometimes miss! to see your rear corner with the right mirror the boom needs to be almost on the ground. If you're picking up something long 20-30' and wanting to walk with it 4' up and over things stored on the ground, you aren't going to see a thing to the right exept the boom. To see over to the right you've got to get the load about 8' off the ground, and then you can see under the boom to the right. I don't like lifting unstable, long stuff that high and then driving around the job site. If it gets loose on you, its a looong way down. Also forksni, thanks for the pics. That storage box under the cab makes me laugh. I think the engineers designed the whole thing, built it, then the 1st guy in it that has ever worked out of a forklift climbed in it and said "what the @#%#, where do I put anything?" So the engineers slapped this little storage box 5" tall and 10" wide and 2' deep under the cab, and put on a key lock! Boy oh boy, that's the nicest little storage spot isn't it. And there isn't a flat spot anywhere on the whole thing to strap a lunch box to. The new jlg, cat teleforks are a durable looking monster in comparason. They are a lot more crude (cab has less fancy plastic more steel), but I think they are much more user friendly/realistic. I'll second cm1995, the old durable stuff is much easier to work on and fix, when someone bashes up those nice plastic panels, they are in the dumpster, if they're steel, straighten them up, weld them up, or make new. I bet that instrument cluster would be a $ item from Cat, and you probably have to have it to make the thing run, not a screwdriver and a Napa parts store fix.

 

[ForksNI]

Ah boys, you get get used to the low boom - in Europe we didn't have any choice in that matter ! !

I know what your saying about the long loads Crane operator - the two 20ft pipe on the CAT TH360B well the height they are at in the picture was (apart from the lifting & setting down of them) the lowest they were at on the whole journey from the compound to there - they were at that height through choice so I could see I wasn't flattening cones & barriers & to clear a few obstacles mainly parked cars/vans & two gate posts & just out of sight behind the machine is a 2 storey emergency pump & generator house which also had to be cleared - pipes about 25 ft of the groud & machines crawling around 4 MPH, the container in the JCB pic was a 'Saturday job' I did for a friend recently, it had to go higher than the 2 portacabins the JCB had to go between, other sights I've have had loads higher but it wasn't due to visability problems. A wee trick I sometimes used for moving long items was to sling them, walk them up between the jacks then move the sling out & lift 1 end of the ground while the other was supported on the machine - the 80ft yellow beam in the CAT pic got to the crane that way.

That storage box is the biggest load of %*$@ I've ever came accross - the box on the TH580B is a stupid brittle plastic slide out plastic box that ends up with a bust front if you hit it at all. The storage is, in my opinion, the only thing that lets the CAT down.

The new CAT-JLG machines are in the States the JLG range with a different coat of paint - if the JLG machines are friendly durable then the new CAT range is to. Some of the later TH360Bs etc were JLG built.

Does the OSHA not have recommendations in the US for blind spot mirrors, cameras etc to improve visability for operator of machines ?

 

[Speedpup]

OSHA only requires backup alarm and it has to be X decibils louder than the machine.

 

[crane operator]

Yeah- osha don't care if you can't see what you're doing, just that someone hears you coming. That jcb looks a lot like the ones sold here in the us as gehl models. Are they a partnership like cat/jlg, or do they just copy each other? The last one I saw (gehl) also had these tires with no air. They have these huge 1" diameter holes drilled in the tire all around the sides, completely through the tire, I imagine to improve ride. Does your cat have the rotator out on the mast? I think that also hurts the visibility on the teeth, that big flat plate in the way. So I take it everything in europe has low mount booms? We mostly in the US see the high mount booms. Nice pics by the way, also I've done the same thing hauling long loads, its always fun to find ways to cheat.

 

[ForksNI]

Sounds like the opposite of the UK then - we have to be heard but also be able to see & be seen from the machine using mirrors/cameras for 360' visability around the machine. There is a tyre system like that available over here - Airboss - it is made up of individual hollow segments although it is mainly found on skid steer loaders. The CAT just had the standard floating forks carriage (apologies for the pic quality, it was took on old camera phone), I've used a sideshift carriage on machines a few times but never a rotator before - they dpon't seem to be comman on European machines. The JCB in the pic is marketed in the States as part of the JCB 'Toolcarrier' range of telehandlers & they do a high boom 'Lift & Place' range & a smaller range as well but not sure what its called - I'm not sure if they are also marketed by Gehl, however I do know that the JCB Teletruk is marketed by Sellick in the States. There used to be a European style high mounted boom (also with bad visability) but everything is mounted low now.

 

[Cathandler]

Hi I know its not really the the right thread to post it but it seemed the closest. We have just brought a CAT TH62 (2001) but after driving it along the road when I got back to the yard and turned it off the hour clock, oil pressure light and load monitor stay on even after the ignition switch has been turned off. Soon as its started the oil light goes out and it runs like a dream.

I thought it was the igniton switch as it was a bit battered and after spraying a bit of WD40 it stopped doing it once so I have changed that but it still does it. I have also looked for loose wires but can seem to find any. The only thing I can think of is if it could be a relay and if not where the loose wire could be.

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of it and what could be causing it. Also if anyone knew where I could get a operators manual for it as I have tried ebay and finnings but they'll take 5 to 6 weeks.

Thanks