ummm..... you do know that John Deere excavators short of the engine are Japanese designed?
Ok... time for the Burnt-one to jump back into this....SPLASH. Wow look at that water go. Maybe I should have got the diet coke today...bahahahahahaha
First off, I will start with Bert's comment about me telling you why Deere machines are better than the rest. Yes I do like JD iron, I do find their line to be very competitive with other manufacturers, especially when it comes to excavators. You can also say the same for their tractor backhoes, wheel loaders, smaller trim dozers and ADT's. They also have their weaker products, track loaders, the 2 larger dozers in their line and I am sure there are others. No company can build the best of everything. I am not a true yellow Caterpillar man either. I do prefer their track loaders to any other brand, as well as their large dozers, and obviously scrapers.
As for your other statement about being Japanese Designed... yeah? So? As was stated above, what isn't these days? If it is going to make the product work better and perform to its fullest abilities... go for it. What are the difference between a Hitachi and a John Deere? You and I have had this conversation before have we not? The Deere most of the time will have a yellow engine under the hood, may have some very different configurations available, different specs and will almost always perform a little harder than its orange brother. For instance, I have run a 350D Deere beside a ZX350D and the Deere was noticeably faster and had some extra grunt. The Deere was a short stick model and had a thumb. The hitachi.. was a LOT better on fuel, I can admit it. I was burning almost the entire 600L a day, he was burning in the neighborhood of 450 per 12hr shift.
We can have a grown up discussion here, its what we are having at least until I throw my bottle of milk at the laptop and cal you a poopy head. As Bert stated above I do prefer the JD iron and yes I am going to believe in my head that it is superior, but that is my thought. I originally asked for YOUR thoughts. What is everyones personal experience with the different brands of hoes? There are guys that will never admit to liking anything but a Cat hoe thats fine that is what they believe to be true. I have my reasons for not liking Komatsu, I feel they are justified for the reasons that I have stated above.
On paper a machine can be superior and that is well and good. I have slowly learned over the years to put down my CPH and look at how things react in the real world. I have also learned that your Kobelco SK485 may very well blow the doors off our 450D LC, what happens when it breaks down? I know I can run to the dealership and they can search me up some parts. I might wait a couple days, but what happens when you own a brand of machine without dealer support and your waiting 4-5 weeks for something simple?
I hope this discussion does continue, I welcome it. I personally have made sure to check this when I get near my laptop to read everyones thoughts. Whether they be close minded, open minded or just no minded they are interesting to read.
And now for my obligatory... John Deere makes the best iron ever on the face of the universe statement. Sorry..... it's in my contract..lol