Desertwheeler
Senior Member
On the 570's we have at work the cabs aren't sealed well at all. Cabs are always full of dust.
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Bobcat T770 or Cat 297D
- Thread starter PCL
- Start date
We have an M 650 bobcat since 2010. Controls are excellent especially the switch between ISO and SAE pattern. I am old school H pattern and everybody else is pilot.
Good in snow with 8 foot high capacity bucket and narrow tracks.We mounted automotive rear view mirror in upper front corner of cab and convex mirrors on loader arms to improve rear visibility . When we add a larger machine to fleet ,we will go with 770 or 870. Dealer support has been excellent. Kubota engines have been bullet proof in my opinion. Yes, i would love to have a heated seat.
Good in snow with 8 foot high capacity bucket and narrow tracks.We mounted automotive rear view mirror in upper front corner of cab and convex mirrors on loader arms to improve rear visibility . When we add a larger machine to fleet ,we will go with 770 or 870. Dealer support has been excellent. Kubota engines have been bullet proof in my opinion. Yes, i would love to have a heated seat.
Rentalstop
Well-Known Member
We have an M 650 bobcat since 2010. Controls are excellent especially the switch between ISO and SAE pattern. I am old school H pattern and everybody else is pilot.
Bobcat no longer uses Kubota engines. They are using Bobcat/Doosan engines. 3 year warranty on the engines, but other threads on here indicate issues with these engines. I just bought a T590 with a one of the last Kubotas in December. Trying to decide if I'm buying a rubber tire skid wth the Doosan. Ran Bobcat for years, but now I'm worried.
After reading some of your posts I see you highly recommend the XHP model over the standard 297/299 model. I asked the dealer for more information on the XHP and they told me they do not bring those machines in. Said the additional hydraulic flow is a waste of money comparatively to the XPS model and runability wise there isn't a increase that makes it make sense to own. What is your take on that? Is the machine worth it for a person who does not run a mulcher?
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pafarmer
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2010
- Messages
- 883
- Location
- Somewhere in the woods !
- Occupation
- Land clearing, demo, site prep etc. Ex Pro Motocro
Dealers that don't bring them in normally don't have a huge market to justify the monstrous floor plan costs associated with these expensive machines. That being said they push the stocked units they do have on hand to pedal to the public and that's the bottom line on that salesman comment.
The 299XHP is in a class of its own in terms of raw HP and hydro flow. Others are coming up to their level but none match it even today. The 299 XHP massive flow rates (close to 50 GPM ) are important if you are running mulchers, power rake, wood choppers etc. they offer huge hydro flow and very fast recovery and cycle times, this is exactly why I run these tractors. I clear land, getting in , doing the work and moving to the next job as quickly as possible is my business model. No other machine currently on the market matches the speed in which I can make that happen as with the 299 XHP tractors.
I also own 259D XPS machine, they flow approx 34 GPM and also are good mulchers. The 34 GPM flow rate is on par with almost every other manufacturers high flow machines. I run the disk type AFE mulchers on the 259D XPS machines. It clear trials and small plots with the 259 D XPS units. The have a smaller foot print and are a bit more delicate in certain tasks people are asking me for these days.
So do you need a 299XHP ? Depends on what you are doing and if the extra money is justifiable by you. Only you can determine that. Do you want a 299 XHP, hell yes ! I love the the 299 XHP's and will sing their praises until something else matches it or surpasses it. They are pure animals in everyway and in every category. Their abilities far surpass the published specs. All of my 299 XHP are land management, steel tracked units. They can push on par with a D5 and can out work anything out on the market today with the right guy running it all things being equal. I can out lift , out push and out run hydro speaking all comers ...bar none !
I hope I addressed you're question(s) and that this information helps you in some small way. I did the best I could to provide you with facts based on real world usage
instead of opinions and/or BS...lots of great machines out there today to pick from...for me it's CAT, your mileage may vary.....my 02 ....
Farmer......
Love the snickers comment DH ! it's what I was thinking when I wrote it......
The 299XHP is in a class of its own in terms of raw HP and hydro flow. Others are coming up to their level but none match it even today. The 299 XHP massive flow rates (close to 50 GPM ) are important if you are running mulchers, power rake, wood choppers etc. they offer huge hydro flow and very fast recovery and cycle times, this is exactly why I run these tractors. I clear land, getting in , doing the work and moving to the next job as quickly as possible is my business model. No other machine currently on the market matches the speed in which I can make that happen as with the 299 XHP tractors.
I also own 259D XPS machine, they flow approx 34 GPM and also are good mulchers. The 34 GPM flow rate is on par with almost every other manufacturers high flow machines. I run the disk type AFE mulchers on the 259D XPS machines. It clear trials and small plots with the 259 D XPS units. The have a smaller foot print and are a bit more delicate in certain tasks people are asking me for these days.
So do you need a 299XHP ? Depends on what you are doing and if the extra money is justifiable by you. Only you can determine that. Do you want a 299 XHP, hell yes ! I love the the 299 XHP's and will sing their praises until something else matches it or surpasses it. They are pure animals in everyway and in every category. Their abilities far surpass the published specs. All of my 299 XHP are land management, steel tracked units. They can push on par with a D5 and can out work anything out on the market today with the right guy running it all things being equal. I can out lift , out push and out run hydro speaking all comers ...bar none !
I hope I addressed you're question(s) and that this information helps you in some small way. I did the best I could to provide you with facts based on real world usage
instead of opinions and/or BS...lots of great machines out there today to pick from...for me it's CAT, your mileage may vary.....my 02 ....
Farmer......
Love the snickers comment DH ! it's what I was thinking when I wrote it......
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So Farmer when someone else has an opinion that differs from yours, theirs is BS? Yea that makes sense. Try separating yourself personally from the machine, you may find it much easier to be objective.
A couple issues with your post above. The cost between an XPS and XHP is less than $5k at least here, according to my Cat salesman. So it doesn't have anything to do with Monster flooring costs. If your a CAT dealer, flooring a XHP is like flooring a 1/16 scale model of a Motor Grader. The situation is more like many buyers don't need the extra hydraulic capability, so why pay for it. The 299 is simply easier to sell and still a lot of machine for most buyers.
Push with a D-5? You were just attempting to make some kind of a point right?
I get the passion you have for CAT. Shimmy demoed a CASE TV380 before buying the BC. He said it didn't multifunction well. I have a TR320 and a SV300, I have rented a TV380 on several occasions when we needed another machine and I have never seen that in those machines. I am convinced the machine he ran was not set up right. I may have mentioned that but I am not going run the man down because his day or two demo didn't reflect my experience having spent many hours in them. The man runs a dirt business and came to his own conclusions after a demo. I respect that, even if I may not agree with his overall assessment. This is no different. I ran the 299 and while I liked many things about it, it wasn't rainbows and Unicorns for me as it appears to be for you. The camera works great when conditions support it, but there is zero visibility without it. I cant believe that the camera is an option and not a standard equipment. They are awkward to get into and out of and the floor height relative to the seat was awkward and uncomfortable for me after an extended period. The power was not there in the 299 compared to the TR320, which we discussed. The machine does many things well, quiet cab, EH seemed solid, the monitor set up is excellent and great ride characteristics. The machine could still be viable for my operation (in XHP dress) but I was expecting more for the money. You may not agree with me but that is ok. That's life.
A couple issues with your post above. The cost between an XPS and XHP is less than $5k at least here, according to my Cat salesman. So it doesn't have anything to do with Monster flooring costs. If your a CAT dealer, flooring a XHP is like flooring a 1/16 scale model of a Motor Grader. The situation is more like many buyers don't need the extra hydraulic capability, so why pay for it. The 299 is simply easier to sell and still a lot of machine for most buyers.
Push with a D-5? You were just attempting to make some kind of a point right?
I get the passion you have for CAT. Shimmy demoed a CASE TV380 before buying the BC. He said it didn't multifunction well. I have a TR320 and a SV300, I have rented a TV380 on several occasions when we needed another machine and I have never seen that in those machines. I am convinced the machine he ran was not set up right. I may have mentioned that but I am not going run the man down because his day or two demo didn't reflect my experience having spent many hours in them. The man runs a dirt business and came to his own conclusions after a demo. I respect that, even if I may not agree with his overall assessment. This is no different. I ran the 299 and while I liked many things about it, it wasn't rainbows and Unicorns for me as it appears to be for you. The camera works great when conditions support it, but there is zero visibility without it. I cant believe that the camera is an option and not a standard equipment. They are awkward to get into and out of and the floor height relative to the seat was awkward and uncomfortable for me after an extended period. The power was not there in the 299 compared to the TR320, which we discussed. The machine does many things well, quiet cab, EH seemed solid, the monitor set up is excellent and great ride characteristics. The machine could still be viable for my operation (in XHP dress) but I was expecting more for the money. You may not agree with me but that is ok. That's life.
pafarmer
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2010
- Messages
- 883
- Location
- Somewhere in the woods !
- Occupation
- Land clearing, demo, site prep etc. Ex Pro Motocro
No just when it's you KSSS, it seems to me to be ********, can't speak to why....but it's most certainly you..most other have my utmost respect ..he he he...
A CASE huh ? That's a shame..sorry for the bad luck on that pick...better days have to be coming for you my DH friend...:Banghead
I really could give a crap if I'm honest with you, and I wasn't speaking directly to you at any level ...I was attempting to answer the mans question that was directed right at me. Why you feel the need to say anything evades, eludes and mostly confounds me...
But yeah , that's life and I'm cool with it, I just don't understand it.....peace brother !
A CASE huh ? That's a shame..sorry for the bad luck on that pick...better days have to be coming for you my DH friend...:Banghead
I really could give a crap if I'm honest with you, and I wasn't speaking directly to you at any level ...I was attempting to answer the mans question that was directed right at me. Why you feel the need to say anything evades, eludes and mostly confounds me...
But yeah , that's life and I'm cool with it, I just don't understand it.....peace brother !
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Shimmy1
Senior Member
I usually refrain from adding to the melee, but this kind of irks me. One thing I can always be certain of, if there is a thread asking for an opinion on a CTL, somebody will come on and say "the 299 is the biggest, baddest, best-est track loader out there." We have guys around here like that, too. Some have yellow blood, more have green. Just because a machine has a name on the side of it doesn't guarantee it's the best. That being said, if I were putting 1000+ hours per year on my skidder, I'd probably have a 299. If my 770 is shot to hell at 2000 hrs, I WILL have a 299. All these different machines have a place in the world. But, do not insinuate that others opinions are not valid because you're the only one that makes a living with one. Those kind of views are usually associated with someone who's 5' 7" and 165 pounds. Thank you, KSSS. Right back at ya. Respect is earned, not deserved, and you've never been anything but respectful.