Well of course, these machines were like ~$125,000 new (I think) in the mid 70's to early 80's. Of course some of the new parts will be out of reach in terms of cost for a individual land owner or very small business, but the parts are all pretty much still available unlike many other makes except Deere, and you don't have to import them from Europe or Asia for incredibly silly costs like New Holland and some other makes.
And yes, for the larger parts like sticks, booms, rotex bearings you could never afford to buy new and have to find used on Machinery Trader etc.
What I find nice with CAT is, over the 10 years I have owned a D6C and a 225, they have never told me a part is not available. Small parts, gaskets, you name it, ALL of them are still available. I have balked many times at their prices and went and sourced used, but it's good to know that if I really really need some stupid little part that is holding me up, I don't have to scour the internet for months to find one.
I own a Ford (New Holland) 575D TLB, a Ford 4610SU and a Ford 1620 HST. All of those Ford/Hew Holland machines are much harder to get parts for than my D6C and 225, and when the dealer does have them, the prices are way more outrageous than CAT. The parts either come from Belgium or Japan, huge money...
