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Made in America

Limestone

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What excavator's are made right here in America? All heavy equipment really? Would much rather support the american worker
 

willie59

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Komatsu excavator mfg plant just about 100 miles from me in Chattanooga TN. They mfg wheel loaders in Newberry SC, and have mfg plants in Peoria Ill and Quebec Canada. Parts distribution hub in Ripley TN.
 

John C.

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The Komatsu plants are for assembly only. The components are just about all made over seas. The designs are all from Japan. This was done as a hedge against possible tarriffs on imported iron. As I recall it mostly goes the same for Kobelco. As I recall the Deere Hitachi is also the same.

The unfortunate part is that there are no US designed and manufactured excavators anymore. I supposed Bobcat might be thought of as built here but I have heard they are rebranded from something else.

As I saw in the paper this mourning in an OP/ED piece. We have forsaken our manufacturing capabilities to cheap labor foreign competition and tried to keep our economy going on houses for speculation instead of shelter and pieces of paper in a shell game.
 

willie59

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Wasn't implying Komatsu was a solely American made product without overseas influence, I don't know that such a thing even exists anymore. True "made in America" is a rare thing nowdays. Bobcat and Ingersoll Construction Equipment is now owned by Doosan.
 

CM1995

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They may not be totally sourced here but I have seen Cat 330 undercarriages and booms being laser cut and welded and complete new excavators rolling off the line in Peoria. That was a couple of years ago, I assume they still make a few models there.
 

Greg

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I was in Aurora, Ill just a year ago. Cat builds excavators of all sizes as well as wheel loaders there.

Frames,booms etc. and the like are fabricated there, engines and hydraulics come from sister plants as does the undercarriage.
 

farm_boy

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The Komatsu plants are for assembly only. The components are just about all made over seas. The designs are all from Japan. This was done as a hedge against possible tarriffs on imported iron. As I recall it mostly goes the same for Kobelco. As I recall the Deere Hitachi is also the same.

Not true for either Kobelco or Deere-Hitachi (at least for 120 - 350). Kobelco's are manufactured in Calhoun GA and the 120 thru 350 Deere's and Hitachi's are manufactured in Kernersville NC. Design for both have roots both here in the states as well as in Japan.
 

CM1995

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Greg your right, it was Aurora not Peoria. I went to the TT plant in Peoria, saw 6's through 11's being built. If I remember correctly :rolleyes:, the smallest excavator made at the time was the 325 there. I believe the 320 and down Cat's are made in Japan. I don't know about the 322's. Of course they are numbered different now.
 

dynahoescott

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Hi gentlemen, I believe the only excavator truly us built and sourced are the gradalls actually. It is a sad commentary on our situation, with no manufacturing base the future is highly in question
 

CM1995

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It is a sad commentary on our situation, with no manufacturing base the future is highly in question

Well if you take a purist form, then no we do not make all of it in the US. At the Cat plants in Aurora, Peoria and else where in the US, they take plate steel and make booms, buckets, blades, frames etc. To me that is manufacturing. True there are alot of components manufactured in other countries but to say we have no manufacturing base is an exaggeration.

We live in a Global society, like it or not, it's just the way it is. Hyundai cars are made in Montgomery AL, Mercedes SUV's are made in Vance AL. Komatsu excavators are made in Tennessee, Sany and Kobelco excavators are made in Georgia. They may not be all sourced from within the US borders but the finished product rolls off the line here. I see Mercedes SUV's in other countries and get a chuckle, knowing they are made in a little town in Alabama.
 
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John C.

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The point gentlemen is that the real money for all this goes to the home countries. The engineers are in the home country. The banks that finance this are in the home country. Some of the most original ideas I've seen to have come out in the last twenty years are Japanese and maybe Swedish. The people that really profit from this are in the home countries. They build some machines here only to preclude us from taxing them coming over the border.

Where are the bright ideas that have a chance on commercial success? What was the last successful machine you have used that was totally financed, designed and built here? A D8 Cat maybe. Early Link-Belt excavators maybe. Possibly a Timbco feller buncher, Drott excavators. The last big crane company that is global is Manitowoc. All the rest have been swallowed by multinationals.

As far as Cat excavators being manufactured in Illinois you should take a look at who made the pumps, motors, control valves and electronics. You won't find any American names there.
 

joispoi

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I don't think there's a manufacturer that builds/assembles all their machines in the same country anymore. Take it on a case by case basis. What size machine are you looking for? Check the tag on the machine to see where it was built if you're looking at used. Ask your dealer where the machine is built if you're buying new.
 

Limestone

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Well assembly is part of the process I guess just wanna try and support people who might use us in the future. I would take a product that is assembled here over one that comes from china or some other 4th world nation. At least it put some money on someones table here
 

dynahoescott

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John C. had a good point about ideas being brought forth from this great nation of ours, I for one cant figure out why I virtually cant buy a diesel vehicle here when they are proliferant overseas, I honestly believe its because the uneducated or IGNORANT people in marketing roles that either refuse or dont realize that a diesel engine is much more efficient for automtive use. It gets me very mad when I see them pushing these (hybrid- gas? - electric ) when my wifes car gets better mileage and performance from a small 4 cyl. diesel with a turbo. if it works here for vw why cant domestic manufacturers do it? I am sick of waiting for a diesel powered jeep.
 

stock

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We have moved on and now were lost....
Most companies are now global and only manufacture parts where it is cheapest they then assemble where they can dodge the import duties in a particular trade block.Now as for diesel only with in recent times has diesel usage overtaken petrol as the most used fuel,but and it is a big but globally we cannot manufacture enough diesel to meet the peak demands and no one wants to invest in new refineries to do so.Hybrids are recovering energy to help reduce emissions and fuelling costs.I believe that to operate in London now one has to have a particulate filter and a additive system for adblue http://www.adbluenews.co.uk/
 
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watglen

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I know jcb has a big plant in atlanta? Pass it on my way to Florida. I wonder if tamrock is still in quelph ontario?
 

CM1995

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, I for one cant figure out why I virtually cant buy a diesel vehicle here when they are proliferant overseas, I honestly believe its because the uneducated or IGNORANT people in marketing roles that either refuse or dont realize that a diesel engine is much more efficient for automtive use.

The problem is not with marketing but with our emissions standards. Most of the small diesels meet the "tailpipe" standards but a majority do not meet the cold start standards. Which means, upon start-up they emit, albeit for a few seconds, above the allowable level of pollutants.:rolleyes: It gets back to the rules for the new diesel particulate filters and such, how is burning more fuel (in the form of lower MPG) better for the environment?

I wish we could buy a diesel Toyota Hilux in the states. Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, etc make diesels for their cars and trucks for overseas markets.
 
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stock

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We have moved on and now were lost....
Ford Focus

A buddy of mine has one of these and swears he gets 70 mpg out of it
 

CM1995

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The point gentlemen is that the real money for all this goes to the home countries.

In reality Cat, Komatsu, Deere, Volvo, CNH, Etc are all publicly traded companies. Anyone can own a piece of these companies if they wish. The profits are spread around the world to shareholders, thus truly making this a global market.
 

BSAA65LB

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GRADALL hydraulic excavators are still owned by an American based company, designed in the US, and manufactured/assembled in the US.

Unfortunately, some of the major components (engines, hydraulic valves/pumps, and final drives) are manufactured offshore. But there are no domestic sources for some of the high end components... :eek:
 
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