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8 ton excavator

Snow Farmer

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
23
Location
Central British Columbia
Hey guys, looking for your opinions;
Planning on buying a new 8 tonne excavator, either dealer will take our 420D backhoe in on trade,
and give a great trade value for it, plus 0% financing.
We have narrowed it down to either a Kubota KX080-4, or a Wacker Neuson ET-90 (9 tonne)
Still looking at Cat 308 as well, but they don't have an attractive financing plan.

I am familiar with Kubota , have owned a couple of their larger farm tractors, good machinery for the owner operator.

I know next to nothing of Wacker Neuson, the first dealer for them just opened here last year.
They spec out very similar to other brands, seem to have a good reputation in Europe.

Anybody here have experience with this German machine?
 

JD955SC

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Messages
1,349
Location
The South
I would not be comfortable buying a product with questionable support.

Wacker Neuson is known for job site equipment such as plate compactors, mini remote control compactors, pumps, light towers etc. I see from their website they offer larger equipment too but I don’t see it out on job sites around here. I would be hesitant to buy something like an excavator from them though it might be very hard to get parts and service, especially if this one local dealer doesn’t last.
 

KSSS

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
4,316
Location
Idaho
Occupation
excavation
WN makes a good excavator (it is actually Austrian). The ET90 (8-9 ton machine) is especially stout. During its development, I was asked to come to Austria to provide North American customer input on it and the ET65. Comparing it to the class leader, it gave up nothing, very powerful and very fast. Dealer support certainly is a component of the overall purchase decision. If you have a dealer that covers the compact equipment line, the machine is certainly worth a look.
 

Snow Farmer

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
23
Location
Central British Columbia
Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.
The dealer is a relatively new rental outfit, they tell me that they are stocking common parts, otherwise parts come out of Calgary Alberta, overnight.
The Cat guys are now offering me financing (0% X 48 months) to match Kubota & Wacker Neuson.

Does anybody what W/N resale value is like? Do hold their value like a Cat machine?
 

jamie_aug

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2020
Messages
5
Location
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
I’d find a great dealer first and foremost. In the mini’s we like the Takeuchi’s, the TB290 would be closest to what your looking at. I will say the next gen cat lineup looks pretty sweet 306 to 310’s. Our cat dealer is offering $0 down 0% for 60mo. Might be different in Canada?
 

KSSS

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
4,316
Location
Idaho
Occupation
excavation
WN and Taki don't have the name recognition that Cat does in NA. Cat's dealer ne work and name recognition will allow it bring more on the used market here than either of the other two. However, if you look at percent of resale return on the price paid for the machine, the other two are much more comparative. WN also has a 5 year warranty on their excavators standard, which also has value of course. One little known fact is that up until a couple years ago WN built Cats smaller mini ex's. If you were to run the TB290 and ET90 at the same time you will see they are both very similar in how they run. Both are impressive machines. I have not run the new 8-9 ton machines from Cat to compare. If there is an upside to spending this kind of money, its the opportunity to run competitive machines and see what is out there. Arrange a couple demo's see what you think and let us know.
 

Snow Farmer

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
23
Location
Central British Columbia
Arrange a couple demo's see what you think and let us know.

Well I test 'drove' the Kubota KX-080 and a Cat 308e.
Kubota is a nice machine, I like it, but I'm a bigger guy, and find the cab just a bit tight, wondering where my lunch bag would go!
The boom swing is controlled by a metal foot operated rocker which you have to flip up the plastic dead pedal to access. Tricky, with my big work boots.
There is very little space one could use to carry things, a tiny box outside under the cab, and an equally tiny box behind the seat. There is a place for a grease gun, but I don't know if you could put a spare tube of grease with it. Hyd. & fuel filters are easy to get at, air filter fair, but the engine oil filter is accessed from underneath the machine, after removing a perforated metal cover , 6 bolts.
If I choose the Kubota, I will have to find alternative footwear I think (dancing slippers?)
The Cat has a bit more cab room and only the travel pedals to operate by foot, the boom swing is controlled by a thumb roller on the left joystick. There is plenty of under hood room to store a few odds and ends by the pump and elsewhere, one thing I noticed right away is that all the filters are easily accessible.
The overall build of the Cat is much heavier than the Kubota, but that is reflected in the price, it is 40 grand more expensive.
The W/N price is closer to the Kubota, they claim it is heavier built than the Kubota, but there are none to view or test in our area.
The dealer has offered to fly me to the next nearest dealer who has one in stock, don't think I will accept.
More later, thanks.
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,246
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
Cat currently offers 0% for 60 months here in the 'States. Personally I wouldn't finance a machine for 5 years, if you can't pay for it in 4 years you need to re-evaluate the business plan.

Wow - $40G more on an 8 ton machine is crazy. Our pricing down here in the southeast is much, much more competitive.
 

Snow Farmer

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
23
Location
Central British Columbia
Edit on the price difference; It was actually more like 38 grand, not 40.
I called the Kubota salesman today to ask him to double check the cost of adding a hydraulic pin grabber, because the Cat & the W/N have them as standard. Last week he ball parked it at 2 grand, this week it became just under 5 grand, so the actual price difference between the Cat & Kubota is just under 35 grand. The W/N is just under 5 grand more than the Kubota. I may drive to the nearest machine to have a look, its only 450 miles each way!
Cheers.
 

KSSS

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
4,316
Location
Idaho
Occupation
excavation
Last month I drove 5 hours to run a Takeuchi 2150 (16 ton). Good time of the year for some windshield time.
 

MH110

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2019
Messages
13
Location
South Valley
Keep your 420, those are awesome machines. That's nonsense about financing for more than 4 years. We financed for 5 years because it made more sense and the interest rate is only about 1% vs 0% for 4 years. Thanks to the Trump administration tax cuts, you can deduct the entire cost of the machine in the first year vs depreciating it over time even if you're financing it. Then you can deduct the interest on top of that. Great for guys just starting out or small operations.

I personally like the 308E2 with metal tracks and rubber street pads, it pretty much almost maxes out our trailer. We've tried the Deere 85G which was OK and the Bobcat E85 which was crap.
 

jamie_aug

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2020
Messages
5
Location
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
$35-40k+ for the Cat over the equivalent machine is really overboard in my opinion. No wonder they can finance it for $0 down 0%! Tak, is offering 10% down 0% for 4 years, at least in our area they are priced very competitively. KSSS I’m really interested in how you liked the TB2150. Our dealer has one in stock and we’ve been looking hard at picking it up. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
 

MH110

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2019
Messages
13
Location
South Valley
When I did the comparison here, the CAT308 was within a couple thousand of the Tak TB290, so I think something must be off with the pricing. What were you quoted? I can look at mine from a year ago and compare.
 

KSSS

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
4,316
Location
Idaho
Occupation
excavation
I spent about 3 hours in it. My dealer found a contractor in Montana that just bought one, I contacted him and he was cool enough to let me come up and run it. I came away pretty impressed with it. It was quick, and felt powerful. I was digging in dirt that had already been moved so I can't speak to the bucket breakout. It had a 36" bucket with a thumb and coupler. It balanced that very well with a full bucket at full extension, even off the side. I was real pleased with the stability. The cab was comfortable with a layout similar to the other large Taki machines. It has a Duetz engine, if I had my choice I would have hoped for an Isuzu but whatever. I was going to buy a new CASE CX145D zero swing machine at the end of last year. I demoed that and I liked it, I have a CASE CX160 and its been good, but what sells me on the Taki is the swing boom. It would be very versatile on a jobsite, more so than a conventional boom machine, even with zero tail. I just wasn't sure how well it would move dirt compared to a conventional boom and the demo proved to me that it gives up nothing. I would have liked to have dug down 8' and simulate digging a basement at least for about 500 square feet or so. I couldn't do that, but I think based on what I did do, it would be just fine.

I spoke to my dealer today and he wants to bring a 2150 in and let me spec the thumb and coupler and I can put it on an RPO. I was thrilled with that. There are not a lot of these machines around as you probably know. The fact you have one on your island surprises me, I would demo it if your in the market for a machine that size.
 

jamie_aug

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2020
Messages
5
Location
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Tak mini’s are pretty popular here, our dealer has been selling them for a long time, and the old time operators really like them. For the dealership the Takeuchi has been a winner. They also sell Case machine, and they have not been a good seller. When it comes to the bigger stuff, I pretty much only see Cat and Komatsu, I don’t think I’ve actually seen a large Case excavator ever on any job sites.

Thanks for the review. I’m sure that the 2150 our dealer has is the only one on our island. I know they have a few in their rental fleet on other islands. I may have to take a quick flight to try one out.

I have a TB 240 and a TB 260, we love em. They punch way above there weight. We pulled a 42in lava rock with the 240 the other day. It took a bit of finesse, but we got it out. With the Montabert SC42 hammer on the 260, which we brought in when we realized how giant the rocks were, we’ve been a lot more productive. The 260 with SC42 chews rock, and shears them clean and straight which we then use to build rock walls.

Our ground here is not very friendly to any equipment, dealer support is a must in case we break things, but we haven’t had any problems with our Tak’s, just regular maintenance. If the 2150 is anything like the two that we have, we will be super happy with it. Just need to make sure we have the jobs lined up and I’ll probably pull the trigger.
 
Last edited:

Snow Farmer

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
23
Location
Central British Columbia
Update: We made a deal on the W/N 9 ton, in the end, the dealer and distributor managed to get the price almost 3 grand below that of the Kubota, including a slightly better offer on our 420D trade. It should be here in the next couple of weeks.
Now we are looking for a mulcher, hope to get one for this summer.
Cheers.
 

heymccall

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
5,349
Location
White Oak, Pa
WN makes a good excavator (it is actually Austrian). The ET90 (8-9 ton machine) is especially stout. During its development, I was asked to come to Austria to provide North American customer input on it and the ET65. Comparing it to the class leader, it gave up nothing, very powerful and very fast. Dealer support certainly is a component of the overall purchase decision. If you have a dealer that covers the compact equipment line, the machine is certainly worth a look.
What is the class leader that it was compared to?
 
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