Help a business grow!

[ARPlante]

Hey guys,

I currently attend business school with the childhood dream of starting my own excavation, utility, and grading company. While my status as a fulltime student would preclude a year round operation, I possiblity have the opportunity to start my business on a limited basis during my four- month summer breaks and possiblity my one month winter breaks! I have currently been working for a contractor that has taught me a lot and allowed my to jump on a Komatsu 220LC excavator and a Komatsu 380WA wheel loader my first day on the job with no previous experience operating anything larger than a Bobcat! This all occurred summer of '05 after I passed the test for my 2A operator's license so I've been operating equipment for roughly 8 months. Needless to say I've been learning alot and look forward to learning alot more!
While I am certainly on the bottom of totem pole in terms of amount of time on a machine, my boss has been impressed enough with my operating abilities on his D61 dozer, Cat 236 skid steer, and the above mentioned loader and excavator that he has offered to let me rent his equipment for my own contracts next summer. So sorry for the long post but I thought I should explain a little about where I am and what I want to do in life so you guys can help me out with the many questions I'm sure to have in the next several months as I start my business.

Back to the topic of the post, while I like the Komatsu equipment, I have done a lot of research on other manufacturers of equipment that are common in my area which are Deere, Cat, Komatsu, and Bobcat. I have found to Deere equipment to be more fuel efficient overall and generally well built machines. While I have heard alot about Komatsu excavators and have personally spent a few weeks in one, I would prefer to work with John Deere equipment so I could build a good alliance with my local dealer, Schmidt equipment and maintain a one make equipment fleet. I know there are many on this forum who support John Deere equipment and have written several posts on John Deere equipment. I was wondering if anyone could share more information about what they think the pros versus cons would be of operating a John Deere fleet (versus say a Caterpillar fleet) and what I might expect (good, and bad) from the JD brand. Thanks guys, and sorry for the long post!

 

[Steve Frazier]

It will amount to how elaborate your dealer's facility is. In my area the Cat dealer has a number of yards, and the local one is set up for full service. They have numerous service bays, a full service welding shop, a full service machine shop and a number of field repair trucks. None of the other dealers can come close to matching what Cat has to offer.

Check your local J/D dealer vs. the other brands. There is nothing more costly than down time and the dealer who is equipped to get you digging again the fastest is will make you the most money.

 

[cat320]

Well for me the deere dealer is just a little on the pricey side as far as cost for me .I like case brand for the backhoes. I see more case ,cat near me only the towns or state ajencies have the deer brand probably because they cost more. The only places for deer here on the east for mass is in billerica or down off rt 395 on the connetict border oford i think .

 

[ARPlante]

Thanks for the replies. Cat320 your right, the Deere dealer is in Oxford and I recently just visited their facility to talk with a sales person about equipment rentals, insurance, etc. I didn't get to inquire about their service abilities which is something I will most certainly do before continuing further with them. I also used to have a Case dealer 10 minutes away from my house that has since stopped selling Case brand equipment and started selling New Holland construction equipment- too bad in my opinion.

Cat320, you mentioned that Deere in MA is pricey compared to the local Cat dealer which is Milton Cat. Did you mean they were more expensive overall than Milton Cat or just in terms of equipment prices, parts, service, etc.?

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[ARPlante]

In people's experience or from what people hear, how do the Deere and Cat brands compare on such issues as reliability and fuel consumption?

 

[dayexco]

we have a 690 elc deere, and 2 544-G deere end loaders, nice thing is they share many of the same filters, and the same lubricants. many parts can be ordered through an ag dealer if you don't have an industrial dealer nearby.

 

[cat320]

WE had try to buy a used piece of equipment from them when they had a place in wilmington and they where very high in price could of been that it was a used piece of equipment, but i think in general cat and deere are more $$ I know a friend of mine was buying a backhoe looked at cat and case the cat was 10K more he had always had 580 case machines but wanted to try the cat this time . well spec for spec they were more by that 10K he said he would go get the case because it was cheaper and they lowered the price to match the case .I really do not know about service at either place .Gordyo on here could tell you more about the deere people as he just got a 310g in and has a 344 loader .

 

[ARPlante]

Ok, thanks for the responses. I just got a business project assigned to me and I have to follow 2 U.S. based companies with my project group. We'll see if I can convince my team to follow Cat and Deere

 

[jazak]

CAT is nice because of the joystick controls + near me they have several big shops (Foley CAT) which is good because like what some of the guys above said downtime kills you. Deere is big here to but They aren't as close to me so it really depends on the dealer location, prices & service + what machine works better & is more dependable.

 

[Nac]

Jazak have you delt with Foley Cat? I have had several bad experiances with them. Every time I am shopping for equipment they never call back or call back 6 week later. I just bough a 290CFM air compressor from Binder (Komatsu Dealer) beacause 1. Jesco (John Deere Dealer) does not carry compressors 2. Binder was the only one to call me back within a few days. Foley just called me last week I bought to compressor over 2 months ago. In gersall rand never called me back and they have a few dealers in the area. For me It is John Deere all the way the dealer in my area has gone far and beyound of what they have to do for me and are always wiiling to help. I really cant say that about Cat or Komatsu.

 

[jazak]

Foley always called me back on time. Maybe be they want more business out my ways. The one of their dealers even drove out some brochures for me on the 305, 308, 314, 252B & 914G models; he also brought prise lists and siad he would match JD & Case if CAT was higher then them; JESCO JD did the same. Maybe they just don't like you or thought you where a deadbeat :beatsme :laugh

 

[Nac]

Arent you in Clifton, I am 10 mins from you. Jesco and binder seem to like my money

 

[erthmover]

I personally like Jesco. Great people to deal with.

 

[jazak]

Arent you in Clifton, I am 10 mins from you. Jesco and binder seem to like my money

Nope I'm in Rockaway......... not real big yet.

 

[RuskEnt]

Nac- The Foley salesman for your area must bad or something. I bought a cat 246b from them in April and i am more than impressed with the service. I walked in to their building one day and talked to them. I was 19 at the time and they took me seriously. The salesman then came out to my job site 2 more times before i signed the papers. Mind you i am 1.5 hrs from Foley. I even signed the papers on a job site of mine. I am just a kid and they took the time to come to me and make the deal happen.

My salesman calls me every 3-4 weeks to check up on the machine and makes sure everything ok.

Foley cat has giving me great service and i will not shop around for my next peice of iron.

Jazak- i didn't know you lived in rockaway. I live in Sussex County. I am about 30 minutes from you.

Matt

 

[Nac]

I have talked to two seperate saleman from Foley one Bob G. he is my area Salesman and the other is Jim T. He is nt my area sales man but was my salesman at jesco before going to Foley. I have called him and he has been very helpfull but said it was nor his area but would make sure to my area salesman and still i have had bad time with them. With Jesco one phone call I can anything i want. Even with Binder when i bought my compressor I need it right away went to pick up the compressor and the paper work was not ready they were waiting on the manufactor my salesman told me to take and came out to the job 2 weeks later to have every thing signed.