Cat Dealers

[Queenslander]

Blew a hydraulic hose on the 140H the other day.
Looked on parts store, and dealer will make one up for $122.47 but it would have meant waiting nearly 24 hours to get it up overnight by courier.
Decided to rip into town and get one made up by Enzed. (national hose doctor franchise)
The price of convenience?... $263.32 plus $2.00 for the o rings.

 

[JD955SC]

I prefer Serviceman, which is what Cat used to call us. I introduce myself as a mechanic. They call me a Technician on my pay stub and in the company directory and that’s about the only two places I hear the term

I try my hardest to be well rounded on both electronic and hard skills.

 

[typ4]

Techs or mechanics I really don’t think there is a difference. I think it’s a play on words. Like custodian vs janitor. Somewhere the world decided to jazz things up to make things seem more important than it really is. I’m not knocking anyone’s profession. Just making a point. But personally I like bad techs or mechanics whichever you prefer. It gets me lots of business and makes people really appreciate what I can do.

Not true, A mechanic can be a technician. A technician can almost never be a true "mechanic".
Pet peeve of mine.
Refer to 6V92 post LOL

 

[typ4]

I have a problem with people changing the name of something in order classify something that isn't true. A mechanic is a repair and maintenance person. End of story. The connotation of a technician seems to me to designate someone who is less which actually is starting to be the case as described above in many responses. I don't know how many times I have been on sites where a tech has showed up and would do nothing because the computer didn't indicate what the problem was or designate the proper repair procedure. The job I did in Hawaii was a perfect example of this phenomena. A tech went out to replace a shotgunned travel motor, tore the machine apart, tweeked all the adjustment screws and then walked away from the job. Left the machine dead with a huge repair bill and then quit the dealership. It would appear at that point that "The Tech" was less than a repair person and shouldn't be paid the same as he couldn't perform the work required. If that is what a "Tech" is defined as, then I'll stay being a "mechanic".

THIS over and over^^^^^^^^^

 

[CM1995]

I am a Cat guy, that's pretty well know on the forums. The reason I prefer Cat is 70% dealer and 30% Cat. The construction/excavation business is basically the same wherever you are located and for the most part modern equipment is all on the same playing field minus a few shady manufacturers.

What makes the end user like myself - the ones that depend on their iron to put food on the table - is the support that backs up the sale. A great piece of iron at a great initial purchase price is very expensive when you can't get parts or service when it breaks down and they all break down.

My Cat salesman, Rental store salesman and PSR have went to the bat for us many, many times with Cat corporate and within their own organization. Most parts are available when I walk in the door or next day from Atlanta. Sometimes we have to wait a couple of days for some odd ball parts on some of our older equipment but I'm OK with that.

Just my local $.02, your milage may vary.

 

[Nige]

I am a Cat guy, that's pretty well know on the forums. The reason I prefer Cat is 70% dealer and 30% Cat.

My Cat salesman, Rental store salesman and PSR have went to the bat for us many, many times with Cat corporate and within their own organization.

And there, in a nutshell, is the difference. Customer support rather than "The Brand" itself.....
Even different branches of the same dealer can have different levels of support because at the end of the days Customer Support is based on people rather than "systems" or "process".
Many times I can recall customers bursting our salesmens' bubbles by telling them it was neither price nor the availability of a suitable machine that just got their business, it was the "Guys who'll look after it after we've bought it"............

 

[CashGhost]

I’ve noticed a few posters complain about the service and and exorbitant pricing they receive from their dealers but I’ld like to tell you about a recent experience with ours.
Hastings Deering covers two states here, plus Papua New Guinea and a few other island nations, so a large dealership, even by world standards.
We are an hour and a half from our nearest town, where HD have a mobile mechanic based, and which is another two hours away from the actual dealership branch.
Their callout fee incudes a generous amount of travel with the balance charged at a reasonable rate with no labour charge.
Despite this, when our 140H developed a park brake issue, (blowing air from the transmission) I floated the grader to town to get things happening quicker, because we urgently needed the machine.
Within 24 hours of the breakdown they had parts sent out and the repair mostly completed.
As the mechanic was reinstalling the driveshaft, one uni joint literally fell apart in his hands.
The company immediately sent someone from the dealership to meet the him half way with parts.
When you live in the bush, you always assume that unexpected breakdowns are going to take a lot longer to deal with, so when a big company goes out of their way to help a small customer, it makes a big impression.

Seems like Hastings Deering provides fair and professional service. I am wondering if you could recommend any firm with same level of service in the UK.

 

[Vetech63]

I walked into a customers shop a few days ago and 2 guys were attempting to put a tune up kit on their forklift engine. Its a super old Yale/Eaton with a 4 cyl Ford industrial engine. I started to head back to my truck and one of them yelled at me to come over. He said "Neither of us has ever seen these before." Then he held his hand out...…………..he was holding the points and condenser. LOL...…….WOW! He then asked me about the plug wires because they had just yanked them off. I told him that they have to go in a specific order, to be timed on #1, and you needed to know the firing order and direction of rotation of the distributor. The look on their faces was priceless. It was like I was talking gibberish to them.

 

[kshansen]

I walked into a customers shop a few days ago and 2 guys were attempting to put a tune up kit on their forklift engine. Its a super old Yale/Eaton with a 4 cyl Ford industrial engine. I started to head back to my truck and one of them yelled at me to come over. He said "Neither of us has ever seen these before." Then he held his hand out...…………..he was holding the points and condenser. LOL...…….WOW! He then asked me about the plug wires because they had just yanked them off. I told him that they have to go in a specific order, to be timed on #1, and you needed to know the firing order and direction of rotation of the distributor. The look on their faces was priceless. It was like I was talking gibberish to them.

At the quarry we had an old Yale fork truck, believe it was a retired Navy machine going by a tag on it, it had a flat head Chrysler six engine. Last time I was at the shop about a year ago I see it was parked out in the dead equipment yard. Have a feeling it is there for some simple little thing like the guys working on that Ford industrial.

Once or twice a year the starter would stick on due to the mud and crap around the quarry. As long as you realized it and shut it off fast no harm was done and a quick shot of penetrating oil and a few taps on the external lever for the solenoid it was good for several months. Either that or there was some simple problem in the distributor, like carbon tracking in the cap causing miss-fire.

If I had room and a real use for it I'd be trying to talk the boss into letting me have it for scrap iron price 95% chance I could have it running in a day for the price of a hamburger and fries!

 

[Tones]

I walked into a customers shop a few days ago and 2 guys were attempting to put a tune up kit on their forklift engine. Its a super old Yale/Eaton with a 4 cyl Ford industrial engine. I started to head back to my truck and one of them yelled at me to come over. He said "Neither of us has ever seen these before." Then he held his hand out...…………..he was holding the points and condenser. LOL...…….WOW! He then asked me about the plug wires because they had just yanked them off. I told him that they have to go in a specific order, to be timed on #1, and you needed to know the firing order and direction of rotation of the distributor. The look on their faces was priceless. It was like I was talking gibberish to them.

Gess they would be stuffed fixing a Chevy V8 then.

 

[old-iron-habit]

At the quarry we had an old Yale fork truck, believe it was a retired Navy machine going by a tag on it, it had a flat head Chrysler six engine. Last time I was at the shop about a year ago I see it was parked out in the dead equipment yard. Have a feeling it is there for some simple little thing like the guys working on that Ford industrial.

Once or twice a year the starter would stick on due to the mud and crap around the quarry. As long as you realized it and shut it off fast no harm was done and a quick shot of penetrating oil and a few taps on the external lever for the solenoid it was good for several months. Either that or there was some simple problem in the distributor, like carbon tracking in the cap causing miss-fire.

If I had room and a real use for it I'd be trying to talk the boss into letting me have it for scrap iron price 95% chance I could have it running in a day for the price of a hamburger and fries!

AH, Ken, Maybe you just pointed out my problem? I have never let "room and a real use for it" get in the way of me bringing a piece of old iron home if I liked it. I can't afford a shrink. I spent all my money on old iron.

 

[CashGhost]

AH, Ken, Maybe you just pointed out my problem? I have never let "room and a real use for it" get in the way of me bringing a piece of old iron home if I liked it. I can't afford a shrink. I spent all my money on old iron.

It's a great hobby. I am starting to liking it.

 

[JohnnyCarcinogen]

My Cat dealer, Fabick, at least at the tech and tech supervisor level, had been great. We’ve had to call out management a couple of times, but when confronted with computer data, they’ve always taken the truthful side. Their parts guys, save one, are friendly, and more than willing to take even 3+ hours to help a noob figure out the vague parts manuals when some obscure part is needed.

 

[Nige]

Finding some of the more obscure stuff in Cat Parts Manuals is an acquired (and marketable) skill IMHO. I like to think I managed to make a career out of it.

 

[kshansen]

Finding some of the more obscure stuff in Cat Parts Manuals is an acquired (and marketable) skill IMHO. I like to think I managed to make a career out of it.

The thing is the hard to find item in the parts book can sometimes be what at least I would think to be a common part. Like a brake light switch for an 87A 988 Front end loader! I actually had a branch parts guy of our local dealer call me and ask for the part number and where it was shown in parts book!

Maybe that's why when I retired in 2015 the local branch gave me a nice winter coat, set of beer glasses and a wall clock for my garage!