TR270 vs 259D

Gday Guys,
looking to upgrade my New Holland C175 it has been a great reliable machine but its a little under nourished, so Im chasing a replacement to better suit the steep country I work in and mow. How ever I want to stay in the same medium size chassis, and not more than 6' wide. So I'm looking at either the Case TR270, New Holland C227 or the Cat 259D all 3 are $77K with air cab and the normal options with a brief chat Ive got the Case and N/H dealers down to $66,500 still waiting to here from the Cat dealer.
I guess Im looking for some long term ownership experience/info, whats good, whats bad, reliability, etc. All 3 dealers are rubbish for after sales service, however Warrantee Case/New Holland offer 3 yr/ 3000hr, Cat offer 1yr.
So whats the feeling out there??

Cheers John

The CNH machines are radial lift and the 259 is a vertical lift machine. I am not sure if it does not matter or an oversight, but the machines are not quite apple to apples. I have an early 2012 TR320 and have put 100 hours on a SV300 2014 model. The Tr320 had some EH controller issues. They went through several handles and upgrades. The latest EZ/EH update is very good and I believe provides a very good responsive control system. It is the system the machine should have come out with. I have about 1000 on it and have replaced a front idler. The power on the TR320 is excellent, cab is clean and the HVAC very good. I have been overall happy, there are some things that certainly could be better (the remote oil drain being one of them). However the experience with the 320 has been overall positive which is why I just bought the 300.

If I were you I would check on a Bobcat T650. We just bought a T770 High Flow after trying Case, Cat, Kubota, and the Bobcat. My opinion the Bobcat has as good a cab as the Cat, the hydraulics are absolute perfection, has roller suspension, serviceability it by far the best of all of them. My dislikes of the Case were the cab was noisy, and the hydraulics were too slow when trying to multifunction loader operations. This was still apparent even after all the setting were maxed out. I also dislike the door design. The Kubota was a good, solid machine but in the end the shortcoming of the cab pushed us toward the Bobcat. Cab is big enough, and we really liked the sliding front window, but after running it awhile the controls such as park brake, heater, and radio were just not there for us. If the Cat had been only probably $5000 more we probably would have a Cat.

Shimmy I don't get the inability to multifunction. I have never seen that in any of these machines. Perhaps the machine you demoed was not right or settings were not optimized but I have not seen that.

Yeah we were not at all impressed with the hydraulics on the TV380. It had several updates to the controls, the salesman even told us that most guys complaints were control related. We just did not care for the machine. My dislikes went further than the controls though. Cab noise, door design, and serviceability were also factors.

Yeah I don't mind radial or vertical lift my intention was a medium frame and more horse power, I bought a brand new T190 before the C175 and although it was a honest little machine it was rough as hell to run and the dealer burnt me on warrantee work so I won't line up to be screwed again i did test drive a T650 but between the suspension seat swaying around and the "suspension tracks" if felt sea sick after 10mins. My reason for looking at the Cat was due to the dealer having a 2nd hand TR270 i went to see and the sales rep threw me the keys to the 259D it was quiet comfy responsive etc but the way the suspension bobs up and down was had to get used to in the 10 mins i played with it. Im sure that its something you get used too and being comfy 10hrs a day will definitely be a bonus. The reason Im looking at the Case N/H machine is that I have had a great run with the C175 and am familiar with the running gear and quality of the brand. As i said all dealers in SA leave a lot to be desired but warrantee makes that not my problem. After warrantee there are many excellent interstate dealers i can use for parts.
So has anyone run or owned the machines i have asked about to give me a fair appraisal? Or am i just gonna have to Test run them and go with my gut?
Cheers John

Also does anyone struggle to fine grade with the Cat due to the suspension? I do a lot of pad prep for concrete and trim to +/- 8mm or 5/16" and am concerned that the suspension movement will increase prep time. Or is there a lockout to make the frame rigid when required like the old positracks?

No, it has torsion bar suspension. It's going to be absorbing no matter what your doing. As far as your concerns about grading, I'm pretty sure it only comes into play when you're getting trying to excavate a hole and operations like that. I was messing around with my 770 yesterday and I thought it works great for leveling and smoothing operations. You get less bounce on the hard bumps than a rigid frame.

I would demo the 259 and see if the torsion system negatively effects your ability to hold grade. I demoed a 279C back in 2011 and I liked the torsion suspension but the job I used it did not require fine grading. The machine will settle some under load. Whether that causes issue with your ability to hold grade may depend on your technique of operation.