Willie B
Senior Member
I can attest to the jerkiness of their BH bucket movements. Figured it was due to en longed pin hole usage & poor maintenance. She was a rental that was well kept but used hard you would think[/QUOTE]A case is a great machine, but hoe hydraulics are very jerky.
Never owned a Cat, but they are HEAVY to be hauled behind smaller trucks.
The two rental companies I have experience with don't do lubrication at all. Machines get sloppy. Only when they won't function, do they get attention.
Case 580K was not exactly jerky, its plumbing gave priority to the first functions in the valve bank. Very common to use three functions at once. Digging, you curl the bucket, crowd the dipper, raise the boom. When the bucket clears the ground, you begin the swing. As the other functions are released, a surge of oil hits the swing valve & swing takes off suddenly. This is not the case with pilot controlled machines & my 580Super N is the smoothest hoe I've ever run. Even 580K (1988) took steps to correct the trait. Later models had flow restrictors in the swing valve ports & some had bigger cylinders requiring more oil to move, slowing the swing. The worst in my opinion were the foot swing models. I wouldn't want to thread a needle or other very dexterity needed activity with my feet. Foot swing requires both feet to initiate, then feather off the swing. I don't like that.