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case sv185 huge dissapointment

aussie bobcat

Active Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2013
Messages
25
Location
victoria australia
Occupation
Excavation engineering contractor
Has the dealer stopped trying to help you? Its the dealers responsibility to work toward a solution. If the dealer is saying were not going to do anything with it, it runs fine then in my view CASE needs to get involved and figure out a solution for the disconnect. I am sure CASE has product support people in Australia like they do here. That is who should be getting involved, but the dealer needs to start this process. Your post suggests that the dealer agrees with you?

Does the dealer agree that the machines EH controls are not working right?

Does the dealer agree that the machine bogs down easily suggesting there are other mechanical issues?

Again I will ask, have you ran another 185 to compare?
hi ksss yes my dealer agrees with me regarding the issues with machine and as i have said has installed all the latest updates etc however we ar still no further in resolution my dealer is frustrated in the situation and has admitted there is a lot of eh issues with other units as well
i have not been given the opportunity to drive another 185
once again i will say the lack of support or even communication from case is very dissapointing emailing case on monday just meant case forarded the email to my dealer to deal with which frustrated my dealer even more
i have suggested that case or my dealer purchase this unit back i have not even asked for my full purcase price a s a buyback price however these suggestions have been ignored
all of this has been ongoing since purchase in september i know in the us machine prices are far less but this unit without full cabin in australia was nearly $50000 which is a lot of money as is frustrating to have it not working properly
 

Danny Steel

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Jun 12, 2010
Messages
190
Location
NW Ontario
Occupation
Farmer/Landscaper/Welder/Fitter
Aussie, what are your settings set at on your panel for your E/H ?
 

SVTSHELBYGT500

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Joined
Sep 12, 2010
Messages
75
Location
Pa
Occupation
Excavating Contractor 30 + Yrs.
I was a Case skid-loader user for years . started with 1840 . then a 70 . good units. then we ordered a 450 and had so many problems with it that my salesmen said he would order me a new 450 series 2 to replace it . 3 years later after dealer could not fix all its problems and Case totally turning its back on dealer and myself . And it being at dealership months at a time they said take this sv 185 ( new with updates ) and use . in high speed no weight in bucket it would come to a complete stop when turning . my guys would not run it . i tried it . what a piece of JUNK !!! we have cats 279c and 262C s and the crews love them ! I am very satisfied with them . dealer finally payed me for the 450 series 2 and its still on there lot . case hanged them with cases Junk . alot of problems with these new models !!!
 

durallymax

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2011
Messages
666
Location
Wi
recently upgraded to latest sv185 eh machine very similar to new holland l220 have been in industry 18 years owning many skidsteers including several bobcats and 7 or 8 new holland 160 170 175's
this unit is a huge dissapointment patetic ground clearence terrible rear visability THE EH CONTROLS ARE A JOKE DEALER HAS DONE ALL UPDATES AND STILL MASSIVE LAG IN RESPONSE NO FEEL AND TOTAL LACK OF PRECISION CONTROL trying to turn machine on asphalt is near impossible and working unit on soft soil or sand just bogs in terrible alternator bracket broke off unit at 46 hours and the selling point of tilting cab is a joke that might let you acess a few hydraulic lines but any work on or around motor is near impossible digging ability is poor WONDERING OTHER OWNERS THINK

We had an L220 for a few months before trading to Cat (traded two LS170s as well). I will completely agree with you on engine service. I do not see how anyone can think it is acceptable on those machine. Every other machine is much easier to work on. CNH leaves you no room at the sides due to new boom design which allows cab to flip. They also leave no room at the rear due to radiator which is much taller than previous models making engine much harder to reach. The access through the top is restricted due to the honeycomb panel only being able to open so far on vertical lift machines due to the cross bar. The boom still needs to be in the air to take advantage of the cab being flipped up since it flips forward. From underneath the cab the engine is still inaccessible due to the large muffler in the way.

The fan blades broke off on ours and a relief valve was trashed within the first 150hrs. We didn't make it to 200hrs before trading it.

One other big issue the guys had was with the bucket latch. It automatically latches so you have to make sure to hold it open when hooking up. This is hard to do. If you do not do it though, the latches like to move unexpectedly and it led to a lot of nervous operators.

I have heard from several that case really screwed up a good thing with these new ones. To top it off the nh clones are supposedly worse then the pos they replaced. The cabs are nice, really give the m series a run for their money.

We only had a heated cab on ours and did not have EH controls. However it was not a nice cab compared to our C series Cat. Compared to the M series Bobcat, I think BC maybe has the win there too. In our experience the CNH cab was very noisy and very dirty. It was nowhere near as tight as the C series cab is. The air inlet for the cab sits right in a "collection" area for debris on the rear so filters would plug instantly. The door was not as nice to get in and out of due to their little window. I found myself somehow always turning the wiper on. I never figured out why their doors open backwards from everyone else either. Not that it matters much but for us its good because it forces to operator to get out a properly unhook the hoses and stow them away. The radio in the cab was an absolute joke as well. To overcome the noise of the loud hydraulics you had to run it a 30. When ran that high the speakers could not take it and would peak and crackle.

The cab did have a lot of arm room and good visibility but I was very surprised at how much visibility the C series Cat had as well aside from the height of the rear and being able to see the plate.

As for the previous new holland machines being "pos" i own 3 2010 L175 machines and a c175. Our machines are used in some of the harshest environments and i have yet to have a single issue. Sure they arent the best machines in class , but for the price they cant be beat.

Run them on a dairy farm. A lot more issues with the L100 series than the LS series. Mostly engine and pump/drive related.

the eh controls ar not the only problem the machine can hardly turn on asphalt and just bogs in terrible in soft ground or sand ground clearence is a joke visability out back with that huge a--e end shocking maintainence axcess is impossible digging performance is a joke i have a ls170 with over 5000 hrs on it that will out dig unit and is far nicer to use

We could not get our L220 to turn on pavement in 2spd either. All of our Cats do it at idle with no issue. The NH wanted nothing to do with it. At full song you could get it to think about it but you had to drive forward first.

If you know how bad case is and that there haveing a lot of issues with there eh controls
Why did you buy one?
Your whole thread sounds kinda fishy to me, LOL 10/4

It does not sound like he knew how bad they were until he got one and then started seeing all of the issues others were having.

Not everyone comes on the internet. Not many dealers will turn down a sale and tell you not to buy a certain machine.

Enough times you cannot get a demo, or people buy on reputation. I know tons of Bobcat owners that buy new ones every year with no demo because they put their faith in that brand or it is the only brand that works for them.

It would seem fishy due to him being new and only posting in here, however these issues are not new and happen to many people thats why it does not seem fishy to me.

I totally agree with that. We own two Cat skids, a B series and a C series. I prefer to run the B series hands down. The EH controls just dont have the fine touch of the older style. It is annoying as crap trying to work around a building or in tight quarters with the EH machine. I think most have found that after a few days in the seat it does get better but not perfect. Im just guessing but it sounds like maybe you bought a little on the smaller side of the spec sheet or you have an isolated machine that has a ton of problems. As i have always heard from other guys, if there is a problem with a Case machine they will make it right. I would stay on top of them until they do. Nobody needs any bad press these days!

I would agree there. I think if we had all C series machines it would not be an issue. I get used to it pretty quick if I dont think about it. But the Bs are just so much quicker.

They are working on yet another new calibration for the C series. They did an update to the D series controls and it received a lot of positive notes so they are working on a similar calibration for the C series. I will say or series 2 262C seems better than our older 262C

Has the dealer stopped trying to help you? Its the dealers responsibility to work toward a solution. If the dealer is saying were not going to do anything with it, it runs fine then in my view CASE needs to get involved and figure out a solution for the disconnect. I am sure CASE has product support people in Australia like they do here. That is who should be getting involved, but the dealer needs to start this process. Your post suggests that the dealer agrees with you?

You seem to have high hopes for customer service.

From being on here it seems you have a good dealer and get good service through Case. This is not always the case with every brand though. I have been at my wits with Agco numerous times. The Dealer doesn't want to fight them for me, they just swallow the costs which I do not feel is fair to them. So I tried to contact Agco. They just revert your complaints to the dealer. My goal was to leave them out of it. I did talk to an Agco rep but he was good friends with the person who was an issue at the dealer so it was me versus buddy+buddy. You can see how that would end up. He was made because I complained about Agco's product and service on the internet (anonymously for their personal reputations benefits) and that people at Agco do read those posts and it made him look bad. He claimed he did everything in his power to help. Then after more discussion told me to go buy a John Deere. I have spoke with a couple other Reps since then who were decent to talk to but quickly because uninterested in my complaints/suggestions and left.

There isn't always good service out there unfortuneatley.
 

Bobcatdan

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May 15, 2012
Messages
241
Location
wisconsin
I based my opinions of the case cab from trade shows. No real seat time in one I guess I really shouldn't give an opinion on the new cases.
 

durallymax

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Jun 10, 2011
Messages
666
Location
Wi
I based my opinions of the case cab from trade shows. No real seat time in one I guess I really shouldn't give an opinion on the new cases.

I thought they were great until I ran one too.

With the technologies others have in their cabs today, if it is quieter with the door off then its not a good cab.
 

KSSS

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Feb 27, 2005
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4,316
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Idaho
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excavation
Durally

You have brought some of these issues up before, and most I disagree with, but we have gone over this before.

I ran a 279C against the TR320. There was no way that the CAT cab is sealed better than the CASE cab at least in the example I ran which was a new 279. I never considered an M series BC. The machine did not run as well either. There is a shutter in the CAT EH that they cant seem to solve. I had zero hitches in the CASE EH. One year later, still no issues with it. I do believe that CASE will take of the situation. I have had good service from both CASE and my dealer, thats why I have owned so many CASE skid steers. I had one machine that was a POS and between CASE and the dealer they took the machine and I got a replacement.

What I dont get how the dealer cant get the situation taken care of from CASE. Something doesnt flow with this entire problem but we are only going to hear this side of the problem so it is what it is. Hopefully the situation gets resolved to the satisfaction of the OP.
 

dave esterns

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Oct 23, 2010
Messages
597
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madison
well this is quite the interesting thread... one of my buddies had a 90xt, 445, and liked them both. not the 445 as much. then bought an sv250 and hated it. then bought an sr200 with standard controls and loves it. obviously, i myself am not too impressed with the new case machines. but the specs on an sv185 are VERY different than an sr200. seems to me the sv185 was to compete directly with the bobcat s185, and the sr 200 is the machine to try to replace your 430/440.

sounds like i need to spend more time in a pilot machine, cuz for the most part im happy with the eh controls on the jcb. i was not aware they haulted production on my size jcb. i suspect its because the boom bumps the cab from time to time. i love the jcb and it seems to be a great machine, they just gotta get the last bug outta it yet for it to be perfect.
 

aussie bobcat

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victoria australia
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Excavation engineering contractor
well this is quite the interesting thread... one of my buddies had a 90xt, 445, and liked them both. not the 445 as much. then bought an sv250 and hated it. then bought an sr200 with standard controls and loves it. obviously, i myself am not too impressed with the new case machines. but the specs on an sv185 are VERY different than an sr200. seems to me the sv185 was to compete directly with the bobcat s185, and the sr 200 is the machine to try to replace your 430/440.

sounds like i need to spend more time in a pilot machine, cuz for the most part im happy with the eh controls on the jcb. i was n
hi dave mv sv ot aware they haulted production on my size jcb. i suspect its because the boom bumps the cab from time. i love the jcb and it seems to be a great machine, they just gotta get the last bug outta it yet for it to be perfect.

hi dave the sv 185 was a replacement for a new holland l175 of which it is meant to directly compare with we have had 6 or 7 new holland l 160 170 175 macnines which have clocked up a combined total of at least 14000 hrs i am well aware of the capacity and performance of these units yet the sv 185 will not match this as for hand controls i have at least a couple of thousand hours experience with them on other units we also have terex a positrac pt50 turbo which is used every day this unit will also outperform my case sv185 also many other experienced operators have tried my case and have the same opinion thanks
 

durallymax

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Messages
666
Location
Wi
Durally

You have brought some of these issues up before, and most I disagree with, but we have gone over this before.

I ran a 279C against the TR320. There was no way that the CAT cab is sealed better than the CASE cab at least in the example I ran which was a new 279. I never considered an M series BC. The machine did not run as well either. There is a shutter in the CAT EH that they cant seem to solve. I had zero hitches in the CASE EH. One year later, still no issues with it. I do believe that CASE will take of the situation. I have had good service from both CASE and my dealer, thats why I have owned so many CASE skid steers. I had one machine that was a POS and between CASE and the dealer they took the machine and I got a replacement.

What I dont get how the dealer cant get the situation taken care of from CASE. Something doesnt flow with this entire problem but we are only going to hear this side of the problem so it is what it is. Hopefully the situation gets resolved to the satisfaction of the OP.

Can you really say it is easy to work on the engine on a new vertical lift CNH machine? I am not playing brand favorites or haters but I honestly do not see how anyone in their right mind could think that they are easier to work on for every task than a Cat, JCB, Bobcat or Deere. I am not talking regular oil changes. I mean starters, alternators, belts, etc. Things that do wear out. I remember looking at the starter and alternator on our L220 and shaking my head. Maybe I am missing something, maybe you are not as brand nuetral as I thought, or maybe you don;t have to fix your machines, but that is the one thing I do not understand.

The cab issue, to each their own. They can change from machine to machine. Maybe the A/C machines got a better cab. Maybe the EH machines were quieter. I dk.

Do you have a new wheeled machine? If so which one.

You seem to miss the concept of poor service. Re read my experience. With any company there will be bad service areas. One time it will be Cat, the next time Bobcat, the next time CNH. It's the way life goes. Sometimes it is so hard to try and fight and go above the dealer that it isn't worth it. That is why i stopped at the level I stopped at with Agco. It put the dealer in a hard spot and put our future with Agco in jeopardy.

Ever hear the saying dont bite the hand that feeds you. The more you complain up the chain of command, the worse your life will be afterwards. Unless they fire the area rep, you will be stuck with one pissed off area rep that will not want to help you with any of your warranty claims, or issues outside of warranty. Personal feelings on their part should not contribute to the machines service, but in the real world that is not how it works. Then you have to go above them again. Do you know how easy it is to get ahold of people above the rep. Its not. I "aquired" a list of the contacts above him which are not available to the public. They do not answer their phones nor do they return phone calls. I am not saying every company is this way every time, but you need to understand we do not all live in the glory filled world you do. Given the number of machines you have I am sure they like you much better than m,any others as well. Many places treat bigger operators much better.

Sometimes it is not worth it and you have to suck it up and get a different machine.
 
Last edited:

dave esterns

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Oct 23, 2010
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597
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madison
hi dave the sv 185 was a replacement for a new holland l175 of which it is meant to directly compare with we have had 6 or 7 new holland l 160 170 175 macnines which have clocked up a combined total of at least 14000 hrs i am well aware of the capacity and performance of these units yet the sv 185 will not match this as for hand controls i have at least a couple of thousand hours experience with them on other units we also have terex a positrac pt50 turbo which is used every day this unit will also outperform my case sv185 also many other experienced operators have tried my case and have the same opinion thanks

i spent some time in an l175, if an sv185 is less of a machine, they really must have screwed that one up
 

KSSS

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excavation
Can you really say it is easy to work on the engine on a new vertical lift CNH machine? I am not playing brand favorites or haters but I honestly do not see how anyone in their right mind could think that they are easier to work on for every task than a Cat, JCB, Bobcat or Deere. I am not talking regular oil changes. I mean starters, alternators, belts, etc. Things that do wear out. I remember looking at the starter and alternator on our L220 and shaking my head. Maybe I am missing something, maybe you are not as brand nuetral as I thought, or maybe you don;t have to fix your machines, but that is the one thing I do not understand.

Your right, I consider ease of maintaince to be changing of filters, oil changes. I dont look at changing starters, or alternators or belts. I keep my machines to about 1800-3000 hours depending on the machine and the work load. The number of starters replaced is zero, alternators zero, belts zero. Skid Steers no matter what color are not easy to work on. Ease of day to day fluid checks and greasing is very important. Replacing these components and turbos and so forth, I dont worry about and my experience over almost 20 years of running these things has shown its not something I need to concern myself with.

The cab issue, to each their own. They can change from machine to machine. Maybe the A/C machines got a better cab. Maybe the EH machines were quieter. I dk. Agreed

Do you have a new wheeled machine? If so which one. No my wheeled machine is a CASE 465

You seem to miss the concept of poor service. Re read my experience. With any company there will be bad service areas. One time it will be Cat, the next time Bobcat, the next time CNH. It's the way life goes. Sometimes it is so hard to try and fight and go above the dealer that it isn't worth it. That is why i stopped at the level I stopped at with Agco. It put the dealer in a hard spot and put our future with Agco in jeopardy.

I am not disagreeing that good service is can be subjective and inconsistant. I just dont see CASE sitting on their hands if their machines have problem. I am not saying they are perfect, far from it, but if their machines have engineering defects, my experience and my exposure to these guys is that they will fix it. As far as going above the dealer, yea I would if I needed to, but my dealer does a great job of going to bat for me. However I have no problem going above them and finding my own solutions to problems if thats what needs to be done. I am in business to make money. I buy the equipment that I think offers me the chance of being successful. If the equipment is defective or does not produce as it should, I will work a solution that is in my best interest.


Ever hear the saying dont bite the hand that feeds you. The more you complain up the chain of command, the worse your life will be afterwards. Unless they fire the area rep, you will be stuck with one pissed off area rep that will not want to help you with any of your warranty claims, or issues outside of warranty. Personal feelings on their part should not contribute to the machines service, but in the real world that is not how it works. Then you have to go above them again. Do you know how easy it is to get ahold of people above the rep. Its not. I "aquired" a list of the contacts above him which are not available to the public. They do not answer their phones nor do they return phone calls. I am not saying every company is this way every time, but you need to understand we do not all live in the glory filled world you do. Given the number of machines you have I am sure they like you much better than m,any others as well. Many places treat bigger operators much better.

I dont see it like this. I am not that big of operation, I purchased a number of machines but I have been doing this for almost 2 decades. I work hard for my dealer, and I expect them to do the same. I help out the salesman, I have lent them back my machines to do customer demos with, if they dont have a certain machine that a customer wants to demo. I give them leads on guys I know that wanting to add or replace equipment and so on. I have worked with CASE on making improvements and offer suggestions to improve their product. They have included me in customer clinics at the factory and proving grounds. If I have a problem I expect it to be taken care of. Its a two way street, I help them and they help me and the day my dealer or CASE fails to recognize that or live up to that is the day I run a different color. So far its working well.

Sometimes it is not worth it and you have to suck it up and get a different machine.

That should the absolute last resort.
 

dave esterns

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Oct 23, 2010
Messages
597
Location
madison
was it wrong for me to leave my bobcat dealer after 40 years and buy a different brand simply because i liked it better? i have noticed in the farming community people tend to take such things personally...
 

Matt_H

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Jan 8, 2011
Messages
54
Location
Saskatoon, SK
I myself had problems with my last Case purchase(tr320), I am also a small operator 10 peices of equipment or so everything Case except excavators, I've had my disagreements with Case, but they have always made everything better. In my eyes Case stands for Service. I have owned and still own 430's 440's, tr270, and tr320's my first skidsteer was a Case and my last probally will be to due to Service.

I will mention this Case EH controls take some getting use to as there so much better then any other competitors.
 

durallymax

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Jun 10, 2011
Messages
666
Location
Wi
your right, i consider ease of maintaince to be changing of filters, oil changes. I dont look at changing starters, or alternators or belts. I keep my machines to about 1800-3000 hours depending on the machine and the work load. The number of starters replaced is zero, alternators zero, belts zero. Skid steers no matter what color are not easy to work on. Ease of day to day fluid checks and greasing is very important. Replacing these components and turbos and so forth, i dont worry about and my experience over almost 20 years of running these things has shown its not something i need to concern myself with.

That would be why the differing opinions may occur. For regular maintenance, strictly filters and fluids, the L220 was not terrible. The oil filter setup was a little screwy, but it was otherwise okay. The inline fuel filter was not easy to access either but the rest was. Our current partner who runs the 3 Bobcats at the other farm, had an L215 for 1000hrs. It wasn't well liked there either. The air filter was not easy to access they said and it had its share of issues. It was one of the very first ones though which I know had a lot of updates. He demoed a Cat but traded for an S130. I cannot remember what the L220 was like but our older new hollands had a lot of exposed grease zerks that would get smashed off. We built guards for many of them. I like and hate the recessed ones that the Cat's have. Our Volvo loader also has these. If I could find a plug to put in each one it may speed up greasing. I take the time to go around and pull the crap out of them first before greasing which takes a little while but on the flipside I don't have to spend time extracting broken zerks. The lower lift arm pin and lower "pivot arm" pin both have too small of a hole to fit in our large high pressure fittings. We went through Lincoln high pressure fittings every week until I found these 3 jaw ones from some other company for $12 each. They last a couple months. Its not a big deal, i just get those ones with the hand gun.

I will say Cat putting the hydraulic tank fill under the rear of the cab was kind of annoying on the C series. They say you cannot fill the tank without tilting the cab. They reccommend topping off through the fill plug for the cooler. I use a pail pump with a gooseneck on it for filling the tanks on all of them. I can squeeze my fingers up in there and pop the cap off and stick the neck in without flipping the cab but it is tight.

I think most of the machines are easy to do filters, fluids and greasing on. At least the ones I have been around. Some I have only seen opened up at trade shows which doesn't always give the best impression.

I guess I maybe should change my opinion somewhat more towards yours as we plan to now rotate the fleet on a bi-annual basis which will keep all of the machines under warranty and low houred which should result in less need for the more involved repairs. I still do give it some thought though because there are still some things I will need to fix. A blown hose is not going to send me into Cat. I'm going to dig it out and make a new one in our shop. Saves time.

However, when giving opinions to others, I think it is important both you, I and everyone else includes what their point of view is. Until this point I thought you were smoking crack or wearing case underwear by thinking the machine was easy to work on. Not everyone is buying new or trading often and gets stuck doing a lot of the repairs which is when that becomes more important.

Damage protection is another big concern for my decisions. The Big ass on the CNH machines and the amount of flimsy components back there did cause issues for us in the short 280hr stint. A couple blows and everything was misaligned. Our Cat doors have some scratches in the rear door stickers, some paint rubbed off the rear bumper and the "pivot" arm, but the door is perfectly straight and closes like a dream. Our New Holland and Bobcat doors do not last long as they are the first line of defense. The new CNH machines recessed the door, but it is flush with no protrusions above or below it like our Cats have. In addition, the rear end is just too wide and meets its fair share of walls. Again though, my opinion and viewpoint comes from having not very good operators. We never will have a lot of good operators because skid steer operation is just a small portion of their jobs. If we had full time operators making union wage in them it may be a different story.

no my wheeled machine is a case 465

I wonder if that is where some of the differences in opinions are coming from. Maybe the wheel machines are different. IIRC your machine also has a radial boom. The Super Boom has a lot of slop in it even new. We have never had one that didn't hit the cab after a short period of running it and this one was no exception. Again, this could be our environment. Our skid steers spend more time with side load on the bucket from scraping against curbs, or pushing up feed, than they do with lateral forces from digging and lifting.

i am not disagreeing that good service is can be subjective and inconsistant. I just dont see case sitting on their hands if their machines have problem. I am not saying they are perfect, far from it, but if their machines have engineering defects, my experience and my exposure to these guys is that they will fix it. As far as going above the dealer, yea i would if i needed to, but my dealer does a great job of going to bat for me. However i have no problem going above them and finding my own solutions to problems if thats what needs to be done. I am in business to make money. I buy the equipment that i think offers me the chance of being successful. If the equipment is defective or does not produce as it should, i will work a solution that is in my best interest.

My experiences with CNH have been decent. My experiences are from the Ag sector mostly, but compared to my dealings with Deere and Agco CNH is not bad. I never had to deal with CNH construction much because we never had many new machines and the ones we did ran fine. My relatives did have to deal with them a lot with all of their L170 and L175 issues and for the most part CNH was decent. There have been some issues with them on some other products, but as a whole I'd rate them 3 out of 5. Nothing great, nothing bad. Deere was very bad to deal with. They just don't think anything can go wrong with any of their stuff. Agco is too disorganized with too much politics and too many egos in the way of just getting the job done. Volvo has been good to deal with but there again, we haven't had many issues. Cat has really surprised me with their involvement and help throughout or dealings with them. We dealt with that dealer in the past when we had one Cat wheel loader and it was a nightmare, we didn't matter. Now with only 3 skid steers from them, the service from the dealer and Cat themselves have been great. We had issues with our Poly doors not staying in. They didn't know why and hadn't had many other complaints with the newer style, but were quick and helpful with replacing them with glass. They listen to the ideas we have for improvements, and its been good overall. Claas is another company that has been just like that. They are involved with you the entire way. Their engineers sometimes get on some peoples nerves due to being German and having a natural tendancy to never be wrong (my family is all German too so I am used to it) but for the most part they are helpful. You go to their product meetings and its all about updates and new ideas for the machines. Most updates are free or cheap. When we went to the Deere meetings it was all about how awesome they were. Nothing about updates and they didn't listen to our problems, just said they will be fixed with the next new chopper (they told us this in 08, it is a prototype now and may be for sale in 2014). We traded to the Claas after 2.5 years with the Deere. They make the updates to the current and even non current machines. They don't make you buy a newer model.

i dont see it like this. I am not that big of operation, i purchased a number of machines but i have been doing this for almost 2 decades. I work hard for my dealer, and i expect them to do the same. I help out the salesman, i have lent them back my machines to do customer demos with, if they dont have a certain machine that a customer wants to demo. I give them leads on guys i know that wanting to add or replace equipment and so on. I have worked with case on making improvements and offer suggestions to improve their product. They have included me in customer clinics at the factory and proving grounds. If i have a problem i expect it to be taken care of. Its a two way street, i help them and they help me and the day my dealer or case fails to recognize that or live up to that is the day i run a different color. So far its working well.

In my opinion, coming from my area and the way things are with dealers around here. Someone with more than 2 or 3 SSL's is an important purchaser to the dealers. I am not referring to national fleets, just bigger local operators. They have more pull and get treated better than the guy with one or two machines generally. Its natural.
 

durallymax

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2011
Messages
666
Location
Wi
was it wrong for me to leave my bobcat dealer after 40 years and buy a different brand simply because i liked it better? I have noticed in the farming community people tend to take such things personally...

Not sure who this was directed at but no. We left a lot of dealers for better products, not always better service. Agco has not been great to deal with but I would still buy Fendt's all day long because they are a better product.

We didn't have many issues with our older New Hollands and when we decided to switch brands I was worried because our NH dealer had one of the best SSL mechanics I knew and he was on speed dial and always ready to fix it over the phone. But we liked the other machines better and the support ended up being just as good or better. Our NH dealer ended up not selling the line anymore due to conflicting interests in other areas of NH's line, so it didn't work out too bad.

i myself had problems with my last case purchase(tr320), i am also a small operator 10 peices of equipment or so everything case except excavators, i've had my disagreements with case, but they have always made everything better. In my eyes case stands for service. I have owned and still own 430's 440's, tr270, and tr320's my first skidsteer was a case and my last probally will be to due to service.

I will mention this case eh controls take some getting use to as there so much better then any other competitors.

To me thats not a small operator. Compared to national fleets yes. But compared to others in your area it isn't. Unless I am the only one living in an area where it is common for hundreds of people to have one or two SSL's. I know they are more popular in the midwest but still.
 

stuvecorp

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
307
Location
lake wissota, wisconsin
I don't know if anyone is completely 'brand neutral'? All I know is my experience with what I'm running(Case and the little Polaris/ASV). The service as always been great but have not had any luck with the sales guys and run Case in spite of them. I would like to try a Case/NH E/H long term to see how they are.

I do agree with Aussie point on demo's, tooling around at the dealer does not really give you a full experience with a machine. Some machines I've bought with the 'hope' it would work out and mostly they have thankfully.

I hope things get taken care of for Aussie.
 

jwfarm

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
15
Location
iowa
durallymax, do you know what it will cost per hour to trade bi-annual? I had posted this question while back and got no response. We dairy to and I really think that will be the cheapest cost of ownership. Just curious what you think it will cost per hour. sorry this doesn't really pertain to this thread.
 
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