Choosing a new 13 tonne Ex

I have been really happy with my Case CX130B for 1600 hrs. The lease is up and I need to replace it.
Contenders are Kobelco, Doosan, Case, Hitachi,

No blade, all close to 30,000#. Basic trenching work where speed and power is important. Track speed important.
Long tail.

Anyone care to weigh in on favourites?

If you really like the CX130 cant you just buy out the lease? 1600 hrs is pretty low.

Farmerlund, doing the math, a straight buy is cheapest by far.
However, I own a ton of iron, and I really get sick of buying, owning, fixing, taking the depreciation etc.
I am basically treating myself to one machine that asks nothing of me, starts and runs perfect every day, never any issues at all, and has full machine warrantee for the time I own it.
Also, the cost of repair has gotten to the point where major failures equal the value of an older unit. I've been there and it sucks so bad I never want to do that again.

I scoured the local dealers and finally found the deal I was looking for on a Hitachi 130. I visited every brand, was underwhelmed by them all until that Hitachi. Plus they had one unit left in stock that had aged, and they were interested in getting it gone. The price and extras they threw in really moved the needle, so to speak.

Compared to buying new, the lease payments are comparable to a straight buy. If you can resign yourself to always having payments, then you get to run a new machine, with new warrantee, forever.
Its worth it to me.

Ya we do both, straight buy or lease also. sometimes its a tax decision and sometimes its strictly about the numbers. Sometimes it has been cheaper to lease high HP tractors instead of buying them outright. A few times we have bought a piece of equipment at the end of the lease.
Glad you found a deal that works for you. Let us know how you like the Hitachi.

I tested a jcb 141 and was concerned with the hydraulics response. Pull the stick, and count to 2 before the stick moves. Boom same. Worse yet, let go the stick and boom and stick keep going. I wasnt sure whether it improved with operating temp or not. For sure you couldnt do precise digging until that lag went away.

The hitachi dash 6 did the same thing. Dash 5 didnt.

Maybe it has to break in or something?
Now the cat 313f applies some electronics to manipulate the engine during digging, which gave me the sense it was second guessing my actions. It likely works well, once you get used to it.

watglen said:

am basically treating myself to one machine that asks nothing of me, starts and runs perfect every day, never any issues at all,

Click to expand...

Your asking alot watglen. A machine that 'asks for nothing of me' would be a dream come true!!! I hope you find it.

Ended up with a Hitachi zx130 with blade. I scoured the marketplace until I found a unit that I liked that the dealer was anxious to sell.

Did you end up with the Dash 5B or a Dash 6 etc?

The -5. They must have wanted it gone. They threw in a bunch of freebies that added up to a big number.

I still want to hear from anyone with a -6 who experiences that weird control unresponsiveness. It must go away with time or something. You couldn't operate it like that.