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Parts availability from CAT

DMiller

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Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,436
Location
Hermann, Missouri
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Cheap "old" Geezer
Good luck on another supplier, none of them are in it for the customer anymore, just for sales.
 

AllDodge

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Messages
2,290
Location
Kentucky
Guess I need to be real happy with Whayne Supply, because the only part I have not been able to get is the tooth edge for my 955, everything else has been there the next day. I'm not in construction so buy buy the parts others do, but my equipment is old and they have the parts. When I had them do some work, it was spot on and timely
 

Tones

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Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
3,062
Location
Ubique
Occupation
Ex land clearing contractor, part-time retired
I went to a conference awhile back and heard that parts from all manufacturers was going to be a problem going forward.
The new catch phrase is "Manufacturer on Demand". I've putting up with this BS for over 3 years on a machine thats now 10yrs old.
Berco track chains (OEM) 16 weeks to manufacturer, 12 weeks delivery. Planetary gears from Japan the same. I took the gears to a local machine shop and took delivery in 3 weeks of new parts.
 

Theweldor

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2018
Messages
556
Location
Western, NY
Occupation
The Village Idiot
Parts are becoming an issue from Cat of late. Waited four months for a hydraulic valve section for a 3 year old rubber tired loader this summer.
 

AllDodge

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Messages
2,290
Location
Kentucky
Parts are becoming an issue from Cat of late. Waited four months for a hydraulic valve section for a 3 year old rubber tired loader this summer.

Wow that is bad. Sounds like all the parts they were getting was for the production line.
 

Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
28,985
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
How about this..? Not that long ago I needed a complete rear wheel group for a 789D Truck and the nearest available one shown in the parts system was in the Melbourne (Australia) Parts Distribution Centre - I was in the Caribbean at the time ......... eventually we got one from the production line in the US but FFS, how many 789's are there in the world and someone's telling me there are no wheel groups available..?
 

Theweldor

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2018
Messages
556
Location
Western, NY
Occupation
The Village Idiot
I can see an issue here and there where it might tale a day longer to get a part. A lot of this iron anymore has a lot of model specific parts. They are running a close second to vehicles nowadays. I can remember years ago if you needed a boss for a bolt that was welded on the frame and didn't have a number in the parts book. The parts dept at Cat could still get one and have it the next day.
In my opinion which is worth very little that is what has made Caterpillar over the years. But, Times are changing.
 

check

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
800
Location
in the mail
It seems as though all manufacturers are one big monopoly, or they are all connected at the hip. Not one will step forward and provide a simple machine that lasts and the parts to maintain it. If one did, the rest would lose a lot of business. There is no competition. Isn't that what a monopoly is?
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,436
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
Pretty much dead on, has not been this bad since the days when the first Japanese units arrived competing against JD, Allis and Cat, then the door slipped a little more where Deere and Allis then Cat began using foreign factories churning out rebrands as their own.
 

DPete

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
1,677
Location
Central Ca.
I am disappointed from reading all these posts, as others have mentioned , parts availability made Cat who they are today. The owners and contractors are the ones who suffer, seems like Cats attitude has gone from helping the contractor be successful to we don't care about customers anymore. It's probably a dollar driven decision made by todays corporate executives who never had a completion date to satisfy.
 

AzIron

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2016
Messages
1,541
Location
Az
nothing cat is doing these days impresses me much i cant stand there new backhoes and these hydro electric controls suck they have the attitude of "your so fortunate you get to pay premium dollars to run our cat iron" and they have all the dealers thinking the same way. parts are a joke between the people behind the counter and the lack of parts you are SOL to be back running today. this thing of spending 50$ to overnight a part that cost 5$ that they sell three of a month but wont stock is just stupid. but what can you do there is no after market places to go that will get you going any faster. with all the dealers being corporate with multiple stores now the service you get is only as good as your salesman
 

xr4ticlone

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2013
Messages
113
Location
TEXAS
Occupation
Trusted Adviser to the Construction World
It seems as though all manufacturers are one big monopoly, or they are all connected at the hip. Not one will step forward and provide a simple machine that lasts and the parts to maintain it. If one did, the rest would lose a lot of business. There is no competition. Isn't that what a monopoly is?

There is a tremendous amount of changes that have been forced on mfg's by all this emissions BS. Part of that is making sure it can't be disabled or disconnected. That means that you're forced to have connectivity for all components and make them all dependent on each other. Plus we've made stops at Tier 2,3,4i, & 4 final...each having their own issues, requiring their own parts, and changes.

It's a cluster F that has also driven up costs on everything and made getting enough testing done almost impossible.

On the dealer side it's made parts stocking insanely costly. And worse it's so competitive that the margins in equipment are half of what they were even 10 years ago...under 8% on new...often less. Used isn't much better.

I'm out of that world personally...but I can assure you it's not any fun right now.
 

DPete

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
1,677
Location
Central Ca.
There is a tremendous amount of changes that have been forced on mfg's by all this emissions BS. Part of that is making sure it can't be disabled or disconnected. That means that you're forced to have connectivity for all components and make them all dependent on each other. Plus we've made stops at Tier 2,3,4i, & 4 final...each having their own issues, requiring their own parts, and changes.

It's a cluster F that has also driven up costs on everything and made getting enough testing done almost impossible.

On the dealer side it's made parts stocking insanely costly. And worse it's so competitive that the margins in equipment are half of what they were even 10 years ago...under 8% on new...often less. Used isn't much better.

I'm out of that world personally...but I can assure you it's not any fun right now.
This is a good post, the emission requirements must certainly have been a major PIA for all manufactures engine wise. However the quest for easy operating controls ( electric everything) joysticks and the like has added to the complexity and reduced reliability. It's true the newer machines are nice to operate but it all comes with a cost. I think back to the 623E I owned the hydraulic scraper controls were long levers directly off the valve spools, no pilot valves or wiring. Was that really all that bad? I never thought it was that demanding to pull the levers and they always worked. That is just one example, it is the case across all of todays equipment, they work with a flick of a wrist when they work.
 

Vetech63

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Messages
6,362
Location
Oklahoma
This is a good post, the emission requirements must certainly have been a major PIA for all manufactures engine wise. However the quest for easy operating controls ( electric everything) joysticks and the like has added to the complexity and reduced reliability. It's true the newer machines are nice to operate but it all comes with a cost. I think back to the 623E I owned the hydraulic scraper controls were long levers directly off the valve spools, no pilot valves or wiring. Was that really all that bad? I never thought it was that demanding to pull the levers and they always worked. That is just one example, it is the case across all of todays equipment, they work with a flick of a wrist when they work.
It wont be long before you sit in a machine and operate it with a Gameboy controller.
 

DPete

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
1,677
Location
Central Ca.
The theory behind it is operator comfort and increased cycle times, we end up with machines full of technology and technical problems to go with it. What good are cycle times if the machine is sitting broke down on the job for lack of parts ? How many machines are victims of mice, rats or rabbits chewing thru wire harnesses we never used to have? IMO it's all gone to far.
 

John C.

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Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
12,865
Location
Northwest
Occupation
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
I don't give any manufacturer a pass on having to put all that stuff in them. They worked right along with the university wonks and government administrators who dreamed all this stuff up. Cat, Cummins and Detroit engineering staff were there all along when the rules were drafted and said they could meet the specs.
 

walkerv

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
1,125
Location
wingate nc
My biggest problem is getting little parts for landfill compactors . I have been forced to wait for a bunch off parts as of late 3 weeks or more im assuming im waiting forparts to be built , wastehandling specific parts on the dozers same problem , and most recently triing to fix up our pos 416b backhoe with a 3054 perkins i think that the right engine number had to order a new valve cover had to come from germany and they only showwed 3 in stock i was told
 
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