40 Ton Articulated Trucks

[hargrove]

Anyone had any had any experience with the new Bell or Deere 40 ton trucks.

 

[Desertwheeler]

From an operators point the johndeeres were awesome machines the keypads were cool auto dump and the drink cooler were nice touches. Had good power and the rear end sank before the front unlike the cats we bought that the front submarined in real soft stuff. They were new 400d's in 13'. I'm sure they have changed now tho.

 

[mowingman]

I thought that Bell and J.D. trucks were one and the same. I know that J.D. got in the articulated truck market by rebadging Bell trucks and selling them as Deeres. In fact, I thought Deere actually bought the rights to the Bell trucks back in the early 90's.
Anyone know the whole story on this?

 

[hargrove]

We have some 740 B Cats that have been less than great warranty is about gone and it is time for them to go. EGR problems ,re gen ,oil leaks, track bars, bearings in the front wish bones. We had Deere ,Bell, Volvo, Komatsu, and Cat demos on a job the last week. Operators seem to like Deere and Bell , but I haven't heard what the owners think yet. Had Volvos before Dealer is not much, Cat dealer is pretty good the other dealer have changed ownership a few times really don't know about them any more.

 

[Former Wrench]

I just went to the Bell home page and looked up the company history. Very interesting story.

 

[CDNDIESELMONKEY]

Bell used to make trucks for John Deere till four years ago. Now they engineer and build their own trucks.

 

[Nige]

....... Cat dealer is pretty good the other dealer have changed ownership a few times really don't know about them any more.

One thing that should be considered. What's the level of service support for the various manufacturer options..? It may be better to go with a less-than-optimum machine with better service support than one that fits the bill better but whose dealer support sucks - IMO.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

Well stated.

I personally feel Volvo makes the best articulated truck, but I will not buy any more of them because the local dealer is the worst of any brand available where I am at.

I have had 23 Volvo trucks over the years, and as they wear out they become organ donors for those remaining, but no more will come my way.

Cat trucks are not bad, and the dealer is great, so that is my first choice, and I am trying some Bell trucks with a dealer I have had a long positive history with, and so far they are working out good.

 

[Nige]

TBH based on previous experience even when I worked for a Cat dealer if anyone asked for a recommendation about which ADT to buy Volvo was always the answer. They made the best ADTs 30+ years ago and nothing has changed since then ....... it's a bummer when the support for the best machine on the market isn't what it ought to be and Volvo should be ashamed of it.

 

[lantraxco]

Yeah, Volvo trucks are great, once they become old enough to have aftermarket parts support, lol.

"We can ship that part from Sweden in about 8 weeks."

 

[Nige]

The benefits of being in Europe Don, 8 weeks magically becomes 8 hours with the lack of border controls in the EU ......

 

[lantraxco]

Nige, Indeed, lol. And CAT has a huge parts depot in Grimbergen, yah?

 

[Nige]

I hear you, but sometimes it surprises you where the nearest parts are. We once wanted a complete Final Drive for a 789D and the nearest one according to the Parts System was in Melbourne Australia ...!!
We actually ended up getting one MAO, it was probably an "extra" from the Decatur production line.......

 

[lantraxco]

Yep. I have been in situations where the only one available was at a dealer, and they weren't turning loose of it because they carried it as a spare for a large rental customer. At Deere it was not uncommon to literally steal a component off of a completed machine waiting to be shipped from the factory.

 

[John C.]

I've worked for a couple of dealers who would take a component off a new unit sitting on their lot.

Volvo was the best for years around here. Problem was that the units got old and the dealer got real weak. Now it seems the Cats and Deere have the market mostly to themselves, if you could find anyone who could afford to purchase one.