Cat 315CL's

[JoeS1989]

Hey Guys,

I have been on one of our Cat 315CL's this week and was just wondering what you guys thought about them.....I kinda liked it although theres not a lot of leg room in there....maybe being 6ft 4 doesnt help. I liked the machine over all but it just felt like it lacks a bit of pulling force. Dont know if that was due to the machine being 3 and a half years old and i was digging out very heavy clay.

Anyway what do you guys hink about them?

Joe
:drinkup

 

[CM1995]

I really like the 315's. I had an '04 that we put 4000Hrs on it and did not have to turn a bolt. It's a good size hoe, big enough to load trucks, clear and grubb, etc- yet small enough to be transported on a tag trailer.

I sold a 321CLCR and I am looking at another 315C to replace it. I have a 325DL for the larger stuff buy I need a hoe I can move around easily behind the tri-axle for the smaller jobs.

There are some good prices right now on some late model 315's with low hours, I will probably purchase one in the next few months.

 

[mikef87]

I have a 315CL and love it. We use it for doing water main mostly. Nice strong and quick.

 

[JoeS1989]

Why not go for a 315DL?

Joe

 

[Turbo21835]

Ive run a 315B and 315C. Being 6'4" tall, any machine under a 30 ton hoe seems to have a small cab. Other than that, I like both machines. Pretty fast for Cat hoes. Very strong. No complaints about either. I was really suprised in the 315B, and how well it ran, but thats because the machine had been rolled off a trailer 2 times.

 

[CM1995]

Why not go for a 315DL?

Joe

I have not seen a 315DL yet - the local Cat dealer has some 315CL's with the new Power Edge paint scheme but no D's.
New
'08 315CL, 42" bucket with teeth and sidecutters, cat manual thumb, warranty - $143,000
Used
'06 315CL, 42" bucket with teeth and sidecutters, remainder of warranty, 1100hrs - $85,000


With such a big price difference in these two machines it is hard to justify buying new. Although the Fed is supposed to give some nice tax incentives on buying new machines this year.:beatsme The local Cat house has 6 new 315's on the lot - I know they want to move them before the D's get in but I don't like to buy a left-over year model new, unless you get one heck of a deal.

Ive run a 315B and 315C. Being 6'4" tall, any machine under a 30 ton hoe seems to have a small cab.

I don't know what other types of hoes you have ran but the standard Cat hoes have the same cabs - 312,315,320,325,330. Of course the ZTS machines do have a cramped cab.

 

[dirtboy]

I demoed the 315cl was a really nice machine. Ended up buying a komatsu pc160-7 a little faster and a little smoother also had a pc120 prior to this and the komatsu dealer service was very good so was the pc120 so I figured that I would stick with what worked for me so far. Love the cats though

 

[rino1494]

This is our 2001 315CL. It just turned 5,000 hrs and have had no major problems with her. Couple minor things, but nothing major. Still works like she is brand new. I have run alot of hoes and this by far is my favorite one.

 

[John C.]

The Cat 315 is the only one of that size that has a six cylinder engine. I used to like the old Komatsu PC150-5 with the Komatsu six cylinder but they went to the Cummins 4BT in the PC150-6 and the machine gave a ton of problems. I've never recommended any Komatsu with a Cummins since. I think the C series Cats are on par with any other machine made today.

I think the Komatsu and Hitachi were always smoother machines to run but they usually started giving problems around the 7,500 hour mark. Many of my customers trade out before that time so that issue doesn't make any difference.

 

[tylermckee]

The Cat 315 is the only one of that size that has a six cylinder engine.

hyundai 160 has a six cylinder :beatsme

 

[CascadeScaper]

I've spent a lot of time in a 312CL, but I've run a 315CL a few times. I rented one once that was brand new, she had 8 hours on her. I liked it for what I was doing, I was ripping out orchard and I liked the grunt it had. This was before we bought our 312CL and I was in a tough block of larger old growth trees. More horsepower and reach was defiantely great on that job, but a 315 would have been too much machine for most of the work we did, so we opted for a 312 when we went to buy.

 

[John C.]

I don't believe I've looked at a Hyundai for quite a few years. I don't even know who the dealer is anymore.

The first ones out I've heard were just rotten so I didn't mention it with the most common ones.

I'll have to look into them soon.

Thanks Tyler

 

[95zIV]

I've never been on one but spent some time around a couple, they seem to be a popular sized machine. I do know that they will just get a thousand gallon septic tank with no lid high enough to track with.

 

[rino1494]

I've never been on one but spent some time around a couple, they seem to be a popular sized machine. I do know that they will just get a thousand gallon septic tank with no lid high enough to track with.

I've set a 1,500 gallon tank with no lid with ours.

 

[PETE379]

CM1995, you may find you like the C better than the D good deal or not. The D probably has a lot of upgrades that these days arent always better, you should definatley demo a D if you can. I have a 950H I got a year ago i wish I never bought, would take a G any day.

 

[bobcat ron]

I find it very odd that you complain about lack of leg room, you know you can pop the cover up behind the seat (lunch box holder thingy) and you gain like 8" more seat slide room, I'm 6'1 and if I slide the whole seat and pilot control tower back, my toe's can't even tap the glass. I measure all excavator cabs against our 320CLU's and CL, no one comes close.
All Cat 315C - 330C's have standard cabs, very little variations in structure and interior space.

 

[CM1995]

CM1995, you may find you like the C better than the D good deal or not. The D probably has a lot of upgrades that these days arent always better, you should definatley demo a D if you can. I have a 950H I got a year ago i wish I never bought, would take a G any day.

Yep - I agree. The newest models are not always the best. Although I do have an '06 325DL that I RPO'd for a few months and then purchased it. Have not had any major problems with it - all the minor stuff was covered under warranty.

The used equipment market is down right now - which puts a few good deals out there on used equipment. I have always had the philosophy of buying new but if you can save $40K worth of financed money at 6-8% for 4-5 years and still have a good machine - that is hard to pass up. Buy low and sell high.

My classic example of "new model" heartburn was when I sold my '00 7.3 powerstroke and bought an '03 6.0!:Banghead Or decided to trade-in an 853 Bobcat for a T190 or the ultimate brain fart of all time - Thinking that an International 7600 would be a good truck!

 

[brian falcone]

weve got a 315l and a 315cl at work. at first i did not like the c, it was more comfortable but it felt under powered and light in the rear, now ive got about 1500 hours on the c and i dont even think about the older machine. the c is very maintainance freindly. you can change the oil with ease as the filter is mounted in the right side compartmant and the drain plug is now a simple lever that opens a valve, the computer lets you know if any fluids are low before you start the machine,,,the air intake heater gives easy and quick starts even in 5 degree weather, the only problem with ours was cats setting on the injector pump led to a serious smoking problem on cold days. the feild mechanic came out and plugged his laptop into the computer and it was fixed in a minute, nothing has broke or fell off . the only thing we replaced is 1 set of teeth, .its better in fuel than the older model...i still dont like not being able to change the work settings...the computer does it for you...and its still light in the back, but all in all its proving to be a very reliable tool. brian

 

[tylermckee]

I don't believe I've looked at a Hyundai for quite a few years. I don't even know who the dealer is anymore.

The first ones out I've heard were just rotten so I didn't mention it with the most common ones.

I'll have to look into them soon.

Thanks Tyler

Dont mean to hyjack, but, Jet City is the big hyundai pusher around here. Our 160 just hit 3,000 hours without a single problem, we have a 4,000lb hammer for it too. 90% of our work is in sold or shot rock, pins are still tight, undercairrage is still in good shape. :beatsme I'm really impressed with these machines. we have a 140 as well but if it were up to me we wouldnt have it, its a little too jerky/bouncy, its held up as well as the 160 though.

 

[Reuben]

does cat have pattern changers in them?