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who makes the BEST excavator

9420pullpan

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May 5, 2005
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im just curious everyones opinion on which manufacture makes the best excavator. not mini excavator 20 ton and larger??? and why they think they are the best.....
 

dayexco

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May 21, 2005
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south dakota
i've owned a ruston bucyrus 150, fiat allis fe-20, hitachi 200, 2-690 e deeres, 6620 koerhing, and just bought a new 210 hyundai..have leased kobelco, link belt....there really is no "pick of the litter"...they all performed well, my dad started in the late 40's with Hopto truck mounted backhoes, switched to Drotts in the late 60's, all with detroits...his theory was, if it didn't scream, pour oil all over, it wasn't a decent power plant.
time will tell on the hyundai, dealer offered me a deal too hard to pass up. but the most trouble free of the machines i've owned, plus best dealer support have been the 690e deeres...excellent machines.
 

Stroker

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Jun 21, 2005
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56
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Raleigh, NC
Ive operated Cat, Komatsu, John Deere, Fiat Allis... They all did their jobs, even the old Fiat Allis. Its kinda hard to compare though in my case. The machines were all different sizes. The Cat 320 and 330 Ive run definatly had the most digging power of the bunch. But I also spent alot of time on a Komatsu PC200 a few years ago and loved that machine as well. Though it felt slighty weaker than the Cat, It seemed to be a very smooth machine to me as an operator. That to me made up for its feeling of being slightly weaker than the Cat 320....
 

RonG

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I never met a Cat I didn't like.Most all of the excavators have their good and bad points and you don't really know who built what nowadays but by and large the Caterpillar stands taller than the rest in my many years operating experience.The most over rated excavator in my estimation was the Ackerman.I consider any of the swedish equipment to be very unfriendly to work with and the first Ackerman I ran back in the mid eighties was probably the best of them all. Ron
 

dayexco

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south dakota
take a 320 cat, nose it down a 45 degree ramp, scoop up full bucket of dirt, idle machine down, and see how well it swings that load around to the high side of the machine. i was at hitachi's proving grounds in houston, they had just about every manufacturer's machines there, supposedly set up to factory specs. the 320 was only one that couldn't perform that task.
 

kamerad47

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Feb 28, 2004
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184
Thats good but why would you need to do that !!!!!! The reason people but cats are for there resale value!!!
 

Tigerotor77W

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dayexco said:
take a 320 cat, nose it down a 45 degree ramp, scoop up full bucket of dirt, idle machine down, and see how well it swings that load around to the high side of the machine. i was at hitachi's proving grounds in houston, they had just about every manufacturer's machines there, supposedly set up to factory specs. the 320 was only one that couldn't perform that task.

Interesting. The Cat's (I assume you mean 320C and not B) has a maximum swing torque of 45,611 ft-lb (from Cat's website, machines, hydraulic excavators, 320C L) whereas Deere's 200C is listed as 41,250 ft-lb. The Hitachi Zaxis is listed as 43,218 ft-lb. The only way Hitachi can arrange for the Cat not to swing up the load is if
a) the Cat's swing radius was greater than the other machines (either arm/stick extended further or longer arm stick combo);
b) the Cat's bucket was bigger than the others
c) Cat's idle speed has a dramatically lower swing torque than the other machines
d) "Idle speed" is flexible in its meaning (exact RPM or equal horsepower?)

I didn't see how the equipment was set up, but something sounds fishy.
 

RonG

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dayexco said:
take a 320 cat, nose it down a 45 degree ramp, scoop up full bucket of dirt, idle machine down, and see how well it swings that load around to the high side of the machine. i was at hitachi's proving grounds in houston, they had just about every manufacturer's machines there, supposedly set up to factory specs. the 320 was only one that couldn't perform that task.

One of the qualities that an excavator should have is the ability to modulate the available pressure in its hydraulic system by lowering the engine rpm.I can think of many scenerios where that would be desireable,from working close to delicate objects(people in the trench etc.)to walking the excavator over very rough ground (nosing over the edge of a ravine etc.)
You can be assured that when the time comes for the Cat to reach out and grab a trench box that the trench box will behave and do what it has been told,unlike some of the other big name imports that I could mention.
That Hitachi excavator has some bloopers in its past too,the last one I ran had the throttle controls on a touchpad near your right elbow and if you needed to lower the engine rpm you had to stop what you were doing to look at the touchpad which had a scazillion buttons on it,some of us even needed glasses to see it and make your selection from several choices there.
An operator needs to be able to lay his hand on the throttle without taking his eyes off of his work,whether it be a throttle stick or a rotary control,you need to have access to it on a moments notice and the confidence that your next move will be the right one.There is no way that a person could operate the touchpad on that Hitachi without looking at it.They need an operators input when they design those things and since they also build the John Deere I am told I am surprised that that slipped by them.I doubt that any John Deeres ever went to market that way,the last one I ran was an 892 and it was conventional in that regard. Ron G
 

Tigerotor77W

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BobcatS250 said:
Interesting. The Cat's (I assume you mean 320C and not B) has a maximum swing torque of 45,611 ft-lb (from Cat's website, machines, hydraulic excavators, 320C L) whereas Deere's 200C is listed as 41,250 ft-lb. The Hitachi Zaxis is listed as 43,218 ft-lb. The only way Hitachi can arrange for the Cat not to swing up the load is if
a) the Cat's swing radius was greater than the other machines (either arm/stick extended further or longer arm stick combo);
b) the Cat's bucket was bigger than the others
c) Cat's idle speed has a dramatically lower swing torque than the other machines
d) "Idle speed" is flexible in its meaning (exact RPM or equal horsepower?)

I didn't see how the equipment was set up, but something sounds fishy.

And no offense meant by my previous post... I know this is a discussion thread, and certainly have no right to comment on others' choices of "best excavator."
 

digger242j

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I know this is a discussion thread, and certainly have no right to comment on others' choices of "best excavator."

Well, actually, you *do* have a right to comment on other's opinions. It's the sharing of differing points of view, and personal experiences that makes the board a resource for everybody. Heck, that's what makes it a discussion!

I'd had some of the same thoughts about dayexco's comments that have already been expressed. Last night I took a quick look at the specs for similar sized Kobelco and Komatsu machines, expecting to find that maybe the CAT was giving up some muscle in swinging for a greater rate of swing, but they all looked pretty similar.

I have no ax to grind on the subject one way or another. I've had no seat time in CAT excavators at all, and only a little in a Deere, and a couple of Komatsus. I do have a couple thousand hours in different models of Kobelcos.

If in fact the CAT was the only brand that stood out for being unable to pass that particular test it would be interesting to know how it compared otherwise. Was it superior in other ways? Maybe the other brands compromised on some other aspects of their performance. Or maybe not.

It would also be interesting to know how much throttle you'd have to add to get the CAT to swing that bucketful uphill that way.
 

Tigerotor77W

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digger242j -- I may have the right to express my opinions and share information that acknowledges or disputers another user's post, but what I meant was I didn't want my post to attack the OP's. That is, I wasn't out to try to "get him" by my first post... in the sense of, I wasn't there to begin with so what discussion I posted wasn't intended to attack what he clearly saw.

I don't feel comfortable attacking other users' ideas of "best machine in so and so category" either, as we all have favorites for one reason or the other. I may try to convice otherwise, but each of us is entitled to not being bashed for our preferences. Leastaways, in my little Utopian world we are. :rolleyes: I don't find it offensive if others don't agree with that, so no hard feelings, anyone.

Anyhow, back on topic... :drinkup
 

digger242j

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I am continually impressed with the gentlemanly level of discourse that takes place here, but you, sir, set a standard of gentlemanly conduct that even I cannot hope to surpass. I salute you. :salute

Indeed, it is time to return to the topic at hand...
 

kamerad47

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Feb 28, 2004
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I do some trucking & hauling for a big time Demo contractor & i'm friends with one of his operators & buys nothing but Hitachi's !! You don't do any tougher work then demo & they hold up great!! this guy has the $$ to buy any kind of machine he wants & he buys hitachi's!!! That tells me something!!
 
Joined
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Local 150 Operating Engineer
I may be a little late on this thread because I joined the site today thanks to Steve. In my opinion the best Excavator on the market is Komatsu. I work for a large sewer and water contractor in the Chicago area and all our excavators are Komatsu. In my 16 years as an Operating Engineer I have operated every brand of excavator and I believe the komatsu is the best. The old Cat's were good but the Komatsu blows them away today. The power, reach, lifting ability and duribility blow away the compitition. We recently got a Komatsu PC-600 what a beast that is. Cat still makes the best loader track or rubber tire.
 

Squizzy246B

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I'd like to throw long term durability into the discussion. We work with and see a lot of Hitachi and Komatsu excavators these days that belong to big companies. However, for them, they are usually not a long term purchase. When the contract is finished they go too. I guess as a small operator I am comfortable paying a bit more and expecting to have the machine for 6 years plus.

Downtime can be a real disaster for a small operator. I'm in the market for a 18,000lb sized machine an it really needs to go the distance.
 

Ford LT-9000

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You can't go wrong with Hitachi if contractors here are getting 10,000 hours on Hitachi excavators digging in the most severe conditions you can get. A excavator digging in sand will last forever you wouldn't even wear the boom pins out.

I really don't know what your guys fear of Hitachi machines if they were that bad why is there so many of them on jobsites. You want to run a well worn machine run a excavator that has spent all its life here in B.C. Canada where it almost rains 365 days a year and your digging in rock conditions that you can rip teeth off of buckets. Digging rock your trying to get a tooth into a crack of the rock to try get it to separate you pull back on the dipper till the machine is damn near standing on its nose. Or your scraping on a solid chunk of rock and the viberation from the teeth on the bucket is running through the whole machine.

There are still UH Hitachi's kicking around they are still working you don't see old Cat excavators doing that.

For a 18,000lb machine a EX-100 or EX-120 sized machine will do ya. Where we take Hitachi machines would boggle your mind. On slopes where your sliding down the slope like a tobogan on snow. Working the machine to maximum gradability and past that.

I seriously doubt you guys could wear a machine out digging in dirt and sand the machine is not even sweating.
 
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dayexco

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i've owned hitachi, deere, koerhing, ruston bucyrus, leased link belt, kobelco. they were all good machines, my hitachi was virutally the same machine other than paint and engine as my 690 deere. the hitachi 200 had 9300 hrs on it when we traded it, virtually no problems. we've got 6500 on our 690 deere now, and that's been an excellent machine, virtually no down time other than the front engine seal started leaking this spring, had to have that repaired. bought a new 210 hyundai this spring, absolutely love it. wanted the deere, but after having both dealers bring them up to my jobsite on a 3 day "try and buy"....my son and i couldn't justify the extra 18k for the new 200 deere. resale value will be brought up? well, if you put 8-10k hrs on a machine before you trade them out, and the serviceability is virtually the same, can you justify the cost of your additional money out front to buy the cat or deere in the time frame you keep it? put that 18k in the bank, let it draw interest....for us, we came to the conclusion that money wise, the hyundai was the best route to go. you just have to keep in mind the parts availabilty and dealer service rep when you make your final decision.
 

Ford LT-9000

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The problem with the Hyundai they are are really cheap just from the salt air here on the West Coast the body panels rust off the machine.
 
Joined
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The company I work for gets rid of the excavators between 12000 and 14000 hours. These excavators work in tough conditions and hold up very good. Its like everything else some people like one brand of tractor and other people like another brand.
 
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