RANDY ROME
Active Member
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The best Dirt mover ever
- Thread starter CAT D8 N
- Start date
CAT D8 N
Well-Known Member
Just reading thru this thread ironically enough no-one has been able to actually say what goes wrong with the JCBs...other than you need a pile of partsointhead
What sort of project have you got going over there? I am just about 1,500 miles north of you in Turkmen
Well I have the JCB's running now doing about 30 loads each a day and the only problem we've had yet is with leaking seals. We had to change a hose on one of them and ordered the seal kits and filters to do a service for them and all is well.
We are doing a shrimp farm here, on the Red Sea close to the border of Yemen.
CAT D8 N
Well-Known Member
wnydirtguy
Well-Known Member
we end up selling our terex dumps because of to may problems. Last summer we rented from all the different makers to see how they all panned out. this year we end up buying some cats and volvos. so I am guessing the office found them to be the best when it come to dollars and cents.
CAT D8 N
Well-Known Member
Well I'm almost converted to Volvo, for two reasons. First reliability, and then affordability.
621_Rocker
Well-Known Member
I was on a job where we ran 3 Komatsu HM300s along with a couple of Cats and Volvos and the Komatsus impressed me the most. We ran those for a year and a half and I cannot recall any downtime on any of the Komatsus. The ride and the power of the Komatsus were better than the Cats and Volvos. The Komatsus have a nice riding front suspension that make the Cats seem very rough. The mirrors on the Komatsus were much better than the Cats. I liked the power windows on the Komatsus were if you had dusty conditions and then light rain you could roll down your windows for better visibility in the side mirrors. The steering had a smoother feel. I preferred the transmission shifting and the retarders on the Komatsus as well. I can not say much as far as affordability but not having downtime says a lot. I cannot say anything about long term durability either. From what I experienced the Komatsus had the better product.
621_Rocker
621_Rocker
buckfever
Senior Member
sounds like a nice piece to rent rocker but my question is how long will the electronics and all the suspention parts hold up. I know creature comforts add up to a more productive day for the operator......... but when that stuff gets a gremlin running around the downtime can definatly be more expensive. we have an a25c volvo and rubber block suspention and sliding windows. with less electric stuff to go wrong we may not be as comfortable but we don't breakdown with funny error codes.
Yep, "C" model Volvo is the way to go. Less to go wrong than the "D", and some of the problems of the unlettered versions were improved upon.
They may not be the prettiest or most comfortable, but over time, they have proven to be the most cost effective. I have only seen TWO major component failures prior to 14,000 hrs, and both were the result of lack of lube oil in a drop box due to negligence on the jobsite.
I have seen 12,000 hr Volvo's run with higher availability than sub 4,000 hr Cat trucks.
The operators all preferred the Cat, but they could not compete cost wise with the Volvo.
They may not be the prettiest or most comfortable, but over time, they have proven to be the most cost effective. I have only seen TWO major component failures prior to 14,000 hrs, and both were the result of lack of lube oil in a drop box due to negligence on the jobsite.
I have seen 12,000 hr Volvo's run with higher availability than sub 4,000 hr Cat trucks.
The operators all preferred the Cat, but they could not compete cost wise with the Volvo.
CAT D8 N
Well-Known Member
That Volvo keeps getting more attractive....
621_Rocker
Well-Known Member
buckfever:
I have experience with the Volvos as well. They are a good machine. I was recently running one of a fleet of six A40s (unknown generation, manufactured around '99). They were good machines except for downtime experienced from error codes and not wanting to shift in to gear.
What you call creature comforts I would call features that improve productivity. A better ride can mean that you can run faster and increase your load count. Being able to see better out of your mirrors when backing up in to position means that you can probably do that faster and safer. Another thing with the Komatsu mirrors over the Cat was that they were more ridgedly mounted where the Cats would shake a little. I am sure that at some point the power windows will wear out on the Komatsus but they did help to improve machine productivity. Besides helping out with vision the convienance of the power windows helped out with hearing the excavator operator honk when the trucks were loaded. Nobody would want to deal with opening a slider everytime they went to load.
I am by no means a brand loyalist. Caterpillar has their lemons along with their cherries. From my anecdotal experience the best loader that Caterpillar ever made was the 970F. It is a better loader from the operators stand point than the 972G they replaced it with. I ran a Volvo loader and I cannot remember the model but it was ever so slightly larger than a 980F and I thought it was hands down a better loader than the 980F or 980G. A friend of mine who I have a lot of respect for as an operator ran a 950H from new and thought it was the biggest piece of junk for a loader that he has ever ran.
All of what I am saying is that my 1 1/2 year experience with a 30 ton class Komatsu ADT has been very impressive. They seem to have done things right when they built this one. And like I say the long term durability is unknown. How many hours until major components start to degrade or fail?
621 Rocker
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buckfever
Senior Member
i totaly understand what your saying. We don't use ours for the kind of dirt moving you guys do. we run hard core for 3-4 days and then it may sit for a week. The only proble i have with all that stuff is that we keep our equipment till it's dead. So the little things lke windows that won't go down. seats that don't move. I can go on and on about thet little stuff that just pi$$es you off when it qiuts working. For what you seem to do I completly understand the need for the nicer stuff. makes a long day not seem so long. Just wish there was a way to buy a striped model. kinda like buying a car.
INDREM
Member
Volvo is #1
I have worked on Volvo haul trucks for 12 years. They are better than any other truck on the market. You can't go wrong with 35/40 C or D. The components are almost identical. The transmission was updated along with the dropbox, but they are almost identical. The dropbox is the weak part of the Volvo's because the differential assembly tends to fail. They should be pulled and rebuilt every 10000 hours. Well maintained their engines will last 20,000+ hours. The ride in the D models is pretty smooth too. The problem with the newer trucks is they are integrated with more computers and diagnostics than older trucks. This can be an issue on any model when these systems cause problems, on the other hand they are great for preventative measures provided your operator doesn't ignore them. You should test drive a few trucks and see what you think.
My second vote would be for Komatsu, third Cat.
Stay away from Terex unless you love the lack of product support, the incredible price of their parts, and the truck kicking your ass when you drive it.
I have worked on Volvo haul trucks for 12 years. They are better than any other truck on the market. You can't go wrong with 35/40 C or D. The components are almost identical. The transmission was updated along with the dropbox, but they are almost identical. The dropbox is the weak part of the Volvo's because the differential assembly tends to fail. They should be pulled and rebuilt every 10000 hours. Well maintained their engines will last 20,000+ hours. The ride in the D models is pretty smooth too. The problem with the newer trucks is they are integrated with more computers and diagnostics than older trucks. This can be an issue on any model when these systems cause problems, on the other hand they are great for preventative measures provided your operator doesn't ignore them. You should test drive a few trucks and see what you think.
My second vote would be for Komatsu, third Cat.
Stay away from Terex unless you love the lack of product support, the incredible price of their parts, and the truck kicking your ass when you drive it.
buckfever
Senior Member
how about tail gates. ours doesn't have one but we barrow one with. definatly halls more but have heard when you start halling big rock the gate gets beat to death. also halling stumps is a good way to rip the hole gate right off the truck.
INDREM
Member
For starters a new tailgate from Volvo would cost you around $25000. If you can find a good used one it would be around 5 to 6 thousand. There are some aftermarket tailgates made by logan corp, but I don't know anything about their quality. I have heard things but I would never make a judgement without finding out first hand. The tailgates do get beat up quite a bit, but you can always fix them up with some new plating and a little welding. The biggest problem I see is the arms on the side bending.
CAT D8 N
Well-Known Member
Well Ive been using two JCB716 for over a month now and other than your regular maint. and a steering ram seal kit changing on one of them, they are running like a dream. I am considering buying a couple more. So much for the buy service trucks for each of them ***