CAT 305 - but what year does this look like?

[subdural]

can anyone by looking at the image know what year or year range. I have tried to look at old auctions to see how configuration changes - and i know a lot of years that it is not. But if someone has a similar unit or knows the year range they made this body style. much appreciated. there is no plate and i think the engine was replaced at some point in the past. no serial number - that would be cake to just lookup. thank you in advance

 

[Nige]

Can you post some more photos from other angles.

 

[subdural]

 

[subdural]

 

[Junkyard]

It’s an interesting setup compared to the 305’s around here. Steel tracks, no boom pivot, quite a bit of rear overhang. It does have the swing open door like the later machines. Most machines have the S/N stamped in them where the tag is on the side of the cab down low by the boom pivot.

 

[Nige]

Does anyone else think that the illiustration below looks more than a little bit like the upper frame on the OP's machine.?

The machine I'm looking at also has a steel track option from the factory.

 

[Junkyard]

Looks like it to me. Do you have a SIS implant in your brain? Lol

 

[Nige]

Didn't take too much searching to find it.......!!

 

[subdural]

so does the info match a year? or model? i wish i had the SIS implant. just trying to figure some parts and im lost.

 

[CM1995]

That's a grey market machine. Just the fact it doesn't have an ID plate is extremely sketchy as well.




Here is what the 305's and 305.5's sold in the US should look like.

MT 305.5's for sale

There are a few 305's on MT that look like that one. Appears more than one re-seller is importing grey market minis and giving them a Ritchie Bro overhaul.


Buyer beware...

Here is a speclog for the machine. No 305 comes standard with steel undercarriage in the US market to my knowledge.

 

[Nige]

That's a grey market machine.

I'm sorry but that's not correct. If this model was grey market aka ISJ (built in Japan and designed only for sale in the internal Japanese market) then there would be no technical/parts information existing in SIS. In this instance that's not the case, all the info is there.

I'm not saying that this particular machine wasn't imported second-hand (probably from Japan) to the US. It most likely was.

It may simply be that this particular model was never marketed by Cat in the US. EDIT: A clue might be that the only other languages (apart from English) in which the Parts Manuals for both options discussed below was ever produced were Chinese and Korean, so maybe this model was manufactured in Japan and intended for sale in the SE Asian market. Quite possible.

To throw another curve ball here, it's not a 305......... To be continued........

 

[subdural]

appreciate the info so far, its sorta wild that a machine can be a cat (thing works like a monster - performs great - runs great - lots of power), but as a cat cant see model or year all that easy once a plate from the front is removed. any info that can be provided will help - i know i will need parts.

 

[Nige]

so does the info match a year? or model?

The answer is "kind of". At this point in time it certainly doesn't identify a year (not necessary anyway) but read on and it certainly identifies a model. Be aware that all parts and service information for a Cat machine is specifically determined by the Serial Number and nothing else, the "model year" means absolutely nothing.

This is going to be a voyage of discovery and it's going to need your input to reach a successful conclusion.

So as discussed above the design of the upper frame is going to be key to identifying the machine.
There were only ever two machine models that ever used that frame, the 305.5 and the 306. I am discounting the possibility of it being a 306 because that model was only manufactured in a time frame from late 2009 to early 2012.

So we are left with it being a 305.5. The unfortunate part of the story is that there are TWO different Serial Number prefixes of 305.5 that use the same design of upper frame referred above. At this point I have no idea what the detail differences are (or even if there are any) between the two. They are:-

1. CXZ-prefix manufactured between late 2005 and mid-2009.
2. DCK-prefix manufactured between late 2004 and early 2007.

Simply because of the OP indicating he thought his machine dated around from around 2004 I would have thought it was more likely to be a DCK machine because the manufacturing dates fit.

but as a cat cant see model or year all that easy once a plate from the front is removed. any info that can be provided will help - i know i will need parts.

Somewhere on the upper frame the Serial Number will be stamped. It's simply a case of finding out the specific location. You could go into your local Cat dealer and ask them to get some info regarding the specific location on a DCK-prefix machine from the factory regarding that. Be prepared to go in with lots of documentation showing that the machine was a kosher purchase.

 

[Nige]

Another issue is that of the engine. From another thread it was identified as a Kubota. Now the 305.5 (of whichever of the two flavours above) was originally manufactured with a Mitsubishi 4M40 engine. So whatever Parts Manual you might get hold of it is not going to cover the currently-installed engine and any modifications that were made (fuel system, intake/exhaust, governor control, etc) to install it.

If you are interested in taking a punt on buying a Parts Manual for a DCK machine I can point you to a couple of sources for genuine OEM documents.

 

[subdural]

was a kosher purchase, id not even risk posting if it wasnt. I found numbers on the counterweight and also was talkn with the cat dealer (limited help there unless i was gonna just buy something new). but i went to corporate cat and they said: "

counterweight was only used on one machine, and this is an FHL prefix 306E machine that was produced between July-2012 and October-2014

 

[subdural]

i found some code on the counterweight going over the machine, was stamped in a hard to see place. - yet, is that the machine or just a replaced/refitted counterwt - is also my thought. Crazy how this is just not such a simple issue.

 

[Nige]

Crazy how this is just not such a simple issue.

I suppose the appropriate comment here is that if someone buys a machine without a Serial Number then this is exactly the sort of situation that can occur. Maybe the S/N is missing for a reason that the seller, or even previous vendors, wanted to hide something.?

I can only suggest at this point that you: -

1. If your dealer is apparently no help then contact corporate Cat again and ask them to supply information regarding the location of the stamped Serial Number on the upper frame.
2. Continue looking around the machine for anything that is cast steel and has any sort of numbering on it whatsoever, then upload photos.

 

[subdural]

it was suppose to have a serial ID, when i purchased it. but when it arrived after auction - "it was knocked off" or something. sighh.. but ran, works. as you say above 1) there is stamped number - that i can search for. prob covered with paint. the only number i found was from the counterweight above.

 

[Nige]

i went to corporate cat and they said: counterweight was only used on one machine, and this is an FHL prefix 306E machine that was produced between July-2012 and October-2014

And guess what.? See below, the FHL-prefix 306E also has a similar style of upper frame (albeit a different Part Number to the early-model 305/306 options I found earlier) to your machine. The reason I didn't chase the 306 option any further was that everything I came across seemed to be manufactured at a much later date compared to your stated 2004-05 time frame.

EDIT: Another snippet is that the FHL-prefix 306E was ONLY ever sold with triple-grouser steel tracks. Rubber tracks were not an option. AND as before the Parts Manuals were only ever available in English & Chinese, again suggesting that SE Asia was the target market.



This answer to this question might be key but I can't find any conclusive information one way or the other.............. Does anyone know if the Caterpillar C2.6 engine is a re-badged Kubota in a similar way to the C3.3/C3.8 engines fitted to the skid-steer Product Line.?

 

[subdural]

V2607 - 8DW2156 (?) or V2609-8DW2156. I found a plate behind alternator on the engine.