JD724 or cat962 or volvoL120

Looking at buying a brand new loader for a concrete batch plant. Trying to decide on which machine. I am leaning toward the John Deere. We have 2-544H and a 544J. Also an old cat 922 still running like a champ. My local service with all three machine would be good so give me your input. Thanks

I'm personally a Volvo fan.(however, I have a Case 521D with a snow pusher and find it works good) Seeing you currently have Deere and like them, in todays machines it becomes more of a dealer preference and the comfort/ control function. They are all excellent machines.

Leroy,

How far are your piles from your batch plant? What's the average distance from the center of of your piles? What is your required production rate? Are you all on level ground or do you have ramps that you are climbing to your bins? What % of the time will the loader be performing other duties (stock piling, clean up, etc)? How fast are your guys running...top of 2nd gear, bottom of 3rd gear, top of 3rd gear etc?

The center of the stock piles will be roughly 120 ft from the bins. Our production rate is 200 cubic yards an hour which is around 320 tons of material for the loader to move in an hour. We will be pushing up material but while batching we will use material at a greater rate than delivered, because we batch 70% of the mud in the morning. Then in the afternoon the haul trucks catch up and we push material. There will be ramps to the bins around 3 1/2ft tall. I would think we will run most of the time in the top end of 2nd gear.

Well I guess this is a boring question to all. Sorry, Just looking for other options and experiences. Thanks

I would call all three of them and ask to demo the sizes you want. Most dealers are willing to do this. Take into account cost, fuel consumption, and what kind of customer service do you get with each dealer. Also, are there better financing rates with the manufacturer. I personally would start with deere. I have had very good luck with all the deere loaders I have operated. This would make service easy also since you have two already.

I'd demo a Cat... but a volvo is just as nice. Not to impressed with the newer deere's.

Volvo

The F-series loaders have had ALOT of issues, ranging from pesky to major issues.
The main thing is to be comfortable with the loader.

This is far out of my comfort level, and let me say right at the get-go that I don't have direct experience with any of the loaders, but the general comments about most loaders being pretty close these days is still somewhat accurate. Your dealer and the deal details may end up being more important than the sheer performance aspects of the loaders.

I have a sneaky suspicion that the F-series Volvos no longer hold the same fuel efficiency advantage the older machines had; Cat's stepped up their game in the medium segment. The challenge, honestly, is the new torque converter from Deere. Those machines can haul ass.

I'm brand-biased, but I don't think you'll find an overwhelming opinion here that'd prove definitively (once and for all) that one loader is best...

i have run all three and i would pick a cat. they are not the fastest accelerating loader but they seem to be the stronges into the pile and the best for pushing up a pile. and, at least around here, the dealership has great parts and service support compared to deere and volvo.

Our concrete batch plant ended up demoing a JD724 and a Volvo 120 and ended up choosing the JD. That being said, i'm not sure why the specific choice since I work for the aggregates division. I've never ran a JD but would love to. I currently am running an 06 Volvo 220E and love the comfort of it. I ran a 08 Komatsu 500-6 all last year and loved it. Lots of power and it could really haul ass when you locked it up. The general consensus between all the loader operators at work are that Cat machines are generally stronger and more reliable. We've had alot of problem with our Volvo's but I think it is in part mostly due to alot of poor operators. Last year one of our Volvo's seemed like it was getting repaired every 2 weeks, however my weapon of choice would be Volvo at the moment.

Mobile Concrete Plant

I'm a loader Operatior with a mobile concrete plant in Minnesota. We currently use a 972 cat and a 966 cat. The 966 seems to be the better machine we beefed up the bucket to hold 5.75 yds and I have fed the plant doing 350 to 500 yds a hr if the piles are close (on 3 ag jobs). My Co is looking at getting rid of the 966 this spring and replacing it with a Komatsu 470 I don't know much about this machine but the few Komatsus I have ran seem to be a good machine.

We currently operate each of the above mentioned machines in a high volume ready mix operation and the Deere seems to be the best fit for our operation.

724K JD is a nice loader. The nice thing about the Deere is you can still get a steering wheel as well as joystick steering. Some old operators dont like the joystick.

LeroyLaRoy said:

Well I guess this is a boring question to all. Sorry, Just looking for other options and experiences. Thanks

Click to expand...

So Leroy, what did you end up with?

We just replaced a 950H that had a bunch of issues and electrical problems with a 962H. Its not a bad machine, we use it for loading screening plants and preparing material. It is a lot better balanced machine than the 950H was. We also have a 950G thats a lot nicer feeling machine than the 950H. The 962 ate about 3 dipsticks in the first couple of months, turns out they had the wrong dipstick in it, and now the hood has a mind of its own and just opens when it feels like it. Came in a few mornings to an open hood, then it started to raise on its own during the day. Unplugged it temporarily while we are diagnosing that problem. The New cats have so many electronics in them, I don't know if its helping them. We just traded a 938G with 14000 hrs on it, and never did a damn thing to it for a Kawasaki 70ZV2. The Kawasaki is a really nice machine. Feels like an F-series Cat. We got it with 23.5 tires on it with a 4yd bucket, the 938H has a smaller bucket and they wont put bigger than 20.5's on it. Its a foot longer than the Cat, has bigger tires, yet turns sharper than the 938. Cost was about the same for the two, I will post some pics of the Kawi (when it stops raining). I'd give the Kawasaki a try also, The 85Z would probably fit your needs.

go with the volvo my dad has them and he realy likes them