Bobcat e50 vs e55?

Hey guys,

I am about to buy me a new excavator and I am down to buying the e50 or e55. If I buy the e50 then it will have the long stick on it so I can get the best digging depth out of it. When I'm comparing the two machines the e50 (with the long arm) still specs out better than the e55 when it comes to arm force and lifting capacities. I know that you can't always go off of the specs but I there are no e55s around for me to demo and run to compare it to the e50. Bobcats own specs spec the 50 better. I thought that the whole reason they came out with the e55 conventional tail swing was to make the lifting capacities and what not better? Im lost on making up my mind and wanted to see if I could get some of your inputs!

I currently have a cat 303.5 that I push to its limits every time I use it. I do retaing walls (natural rock, block, rail road ties), clear lots, dig footings, rip up concrete and asphalt, drainage work, grading, patios... Ect. I'm wanting to start getting into septic work and demo work with the added reach, digging depth, and lifting capacity of this size machine.

I have priced both machines and they are practically going to be the same price! The minimal tail swing would def be nice but it is not my main concern. Which one of these two machines do you think is going to be the strongest all around machine and open more doors for me?

Thanks for any input!!!

as far as i know the difference is over side lift capacity because of the different placement of slew gear
ive not operated ether in a digging scene but i have had the two parked side by side
the e50 is very central to house
and the e55 is under the mid-front of the cabin
they use same track frame same cab boom and everything its just slew positon and larger counterweight
e55 does miss out on some reach because of the set back slew
cheers matt

I dont now about stronger, but I would defintley go with the an e50. The e55 is nice, dont get me wrong, but that zero tail swing is a beautiful thing. I have a Bobcat 335, i love it, but I would like a zero tail swing.But with a a lot of useful attachments for your application, you cant go wrong, such as a hydraulic thumb, cab quick connect, digging bucket, tilt grading bucket, larger digging bucket, auger, ripper tooth, hammer........

Can't speak of the E s line of bobcats, I run a 435, and the zero swing in NICE. I do a lot of water and sewer line replacements and the zero swing is a godsend in tight back yards when you stuck up next to a fence and house.

I have an e 50, and find it fine for what I want it to do, primarily, and that is to walk on top of a dike for re-building etc....It is a little lighter in weight....I would think the 55 would balance better with a heavier load....I use a heavy rotary mower , and when it is extended out , if you are not careful you feel very tippy....I`m use to it now, but in the beginning it wasn`t pleasant.....Happy with the dealer, and machine......Tony

Thanks for the advice guys! It sounds like most of y'all are recommending the e50...... I guess I also need to take into consideration the fact that it looks like the e50 market is way bigger so it will be easier to sell in the future.

Last year my Bobcat dealer dropped a e50 and e55 off for demo's. He left them both with us for a long time. We all loved both machines but the e55 was much faster and much more of a tractor. He explained to me that the e55 has a different hydraulic setup, the 55 was much faster. Basically the machine was as bad a.. as my best operater, He could work the thing for 10 areas backfilling behind a 210 and basically stay about a day behind. We also used the machine to dig some section of 5' electric primary power and it kept up fine, it was so strong we ripped the floor out or a new severe duty bucket. If the economy would ever stabilize this is the machine I would purchase. The 55 could lift a walk behind even with t







he long stick so I was very impressed with this machine. I think everyone know I am a Bobcat guy anyway, but these 55's are the cat meow. I have never seen anything work like that for that power to weight ratio

Regards, CD

Thanks CD,
So you would highly recommend the e50 over the e50 for straight up power!? You said that that 55 had a long arm on it? They must have did away with the long arm for the extendable arm now cause it says standard arm and extendable arm on the bobcat specs..., I want all the digging depth I can get but I don't want a extendable arm cause it's just more to go wrong. Would you say that it would lift just as much as the e50 over the blade? Thanks a lot for the info and review!!

As far as I know the 55 was the long stick version of the 50. I don't know anything about long sticked 50's. I will ask my dealer and find out more.

Regards, CD

I heard the same thing from the dealer here in NH.

I tried to rent an E50 last may for five days worth of HARD work (big oak stumps, complete regrading, moving a ton of large logs up a steep hill, and spreading 55 yards of loam). They dropped of an E42 due to demand....wasn't happy.

Five days later we had done this with the E42 and an old Tak.



What a beast. TONS of power and the only thing on my wish list was a bit more reach. I would go with the E55 unless you are doing serious pulling. You will like either one.

I sat in an E55 the other day. It was on the dealer's lot with 5 hrs on the clock. I spent about an hour talking to the owner and his head mechanic. They wanted me to buy the machine (almost as much as I wanted to buy it), but sadly it's not in this year's budget. The kicker was that it was optioned exactly as I would have ordered it.

All that to say that the E55 is exactly the same as the long stick E50 with the addition of a bigger counterweight and a different hood. All other components are exactly the same. Compare the digging force to the long stick E50, it's the same. Only the short stick E50 specs a little higher on digging force than both the E50 and E55.

He also had some E60's on the lot that were already sold. I asked why they even make the E60. The reply was that the E60 is a rebadged Doosan made in Korea and the E45,E50 and E55 are made by Bobcat in the USA.

I had a e50 bobcat for a month. I bought a johndeere 60g great machine, fast and strong in a long arm.

Anyone recently purchased a Bobcat E50? If so what price did you pay and for what options? Looking to pick on up in the next couple weeks with A71 package with 24" severe duty digging bucket.

We run the E55 extendable arm it's a great machine for what we do.

I believe my E55, loaded with all the options was around 76k. The 55 does have a different hydraulic package on it by the way.





Regards, CD

I own a e55 it is a well bal. machineyou can effortlessly swing a fully loaded grading bucket180 degrees over the tracks no problem the counter weight on the back has been around for years as the sales person told me it is Bobcats premier modelit comes with a long stick and is still perfectly balanced

e55 is a great machine. We have our second one now and for a mini its great.

we are downsizing our fleet so contact me if you are looking for a bobcat e55, t750, hydraulic breaker, hoepack, or 8 tonne ampliroll hooklift truck and bins. We're not a dealer just a construction company reducing our fleet.

cheers