Which big excavator?

[mxsledder]

Hi im new to this board with a few questions.Our company curently has a 320cl excavator,we love the 320. We are in the market for a 100k lb excavator for mostly demo but also excavating.We like the 345cl but don't think its worth $100k more than the volvo 460 or the doosan dx480. What do you guys think is the cat worth the money? Does anyone have any experiance with the volvo or the new doosan? Thanks

 

[jazak]

show me pics of the 320 and then we'll talk.:thumbsup

 

[Ford LT-9000]

What in the hell is a Doosan ?

Myself Cat is over rated your buying a NAME otherwise they are no different than any other machine.

I would look at Hitachi/Deere the Zaxis 450 would probably do well for what you want to do. They are used allot for road building they see some severe duty.

Komatsu offers decent machine aswell they are really moving into the mining and pushing Caterpillar out.

Volvo is probably one of the more expensive machines to repair just watch out for the sell you a machine cheaper then its " I Gots ya on Parts" which is a problem we encounter with Volvo Articulated trucks.

I don't know what kind of demo work you do but a 45 ton machine is awfully big unless your doing large commercial buildings.

I would consider a used 45 ton machine you can find them a little cheaper because there isn't much demand for them. Take us for instance in forestry industry new regulations prevent excavators that large for building road.

 

[345cl]

shovels

i operate a 345cl long stick for sewer work,,i can honestly say this new series for the 345 was worth the wait,im working full pin 10 hour days in hard ground here im averaging about 220 liters a day,the shovel has a heavy lift mode,last thursday i placed down a 11 ton manhole 17 feet below,its very gentle yet very strong,the cab is very comfortable and more operator friendly,its a nice machine and to answer your question its worth the money,if you anymore questions let me know ,glad to help out

 

[Tigerotor77W]

Ford LT-9000, Doosan is Daewoo. They were renamed Doosan Infrastructure earlier this year. Cat is not just about the name. I invite you to find one company that's offered such a technology as joysticks in graders, or decided to throw pilot controls on BHLs. Whether the price differential is justified is up for debate, but Cat is not just the name (in my view. I know our views differ, and respect that.). Also, Komatsu may be pushing out Cat in some areas for mining, but Cat mining's backlog is probably a big reason for that.

Honestly, mxxsledder, I think the 345CL offers significantly better value for you as a contractor, but I'm not afraid to admit that the Volvo 460B is giving the Cat a run for its money. It's a strong performer, light on fuel, and is overall a good machine. I'd suggest you try both out.

 

[Dozerboy]

It's not just the machine the matters also after the sale service, but IMO Deere and Link Belts are the best.

 

[mxsledder]

Sorry I do not currently have a digital camera but will be getting one soon. We will be doing some big demo jobs with the machine like old walmarts etc. The bigger the better for demo. I would love to see some pics of your 345,also if you don't mind me asking what did you pay for the 345. My dealer wants $397k for one. Thanks guys

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Thanks for clearing that up so Doosan is Daewoo :thumbsup

 

[MVFD]

What in the hell is a Doosan ?

Myself Cat is over rated your buying a NAME otherwise they are no different than any other machine.

I would look at Hitachi/Deere the Zaxis 450 would probably do well for what you want to do. They are used allot for road building they see some severe duty.

Komatsu offers decent machine aswell they are really moving into the mining and pushing Caterpillar out.

Volvo is probably one of the more expensive machines to repair just watch out for the sell you a machine cheaper then its " I Gots ya on Parts" which is a problem we encounter with Volvo Articulated trucks.

I don't know what kind of demo work you do but a 45 ton machine is awfully big unless your doing large commercial buildings.

I would consider a used 45 ton machine you can find them a little cheaper because there isn't much demand for them. Take us for instance in forestry industry new regulations prevent excavators that large for building road.

Ford LT... I really dont know how you get the idea that the parts are more exspensive from volvo? Our parts have been all around the same price as other manufactures for the same parts. Maybe the trucks are more money but as for hoe's they dont very... give or take a few dollars.

I think you may want to research that more... but we have not paid over priced parts if anything we have saved.


As for cats... They do seem to burn alot of fuel. it may only be a few more litres.. but if u add that up over a year per day.. its a huge amount. one of the cat machines on our job, 2005 320LU burns a tank a fuel a day, and hes running 3/4 throttle. the 2004 EC210 that is on our job (volvo) will go 3 days with out needing a fuel. same as the 2004 EC160 that Im running. 3 days and still have some in the tank. they arnt big tanks either the 160 hold 260L and the 210 hold 325L Volvo does offer a 350L tank aswell.

Cats are nice machines dont get me wrong, but like LT said... Its mostly a name your paying for and mainly because its and american company.

We were in to our 210 for 195,000 after hyd thumb, hyd quick x, cage, and buckets. the 320 was going to be over 245,000 for the same stuff.

and the 210 has 160HP as the 320 has 138HP yet the volvo burns less fuel....

Ive run both machines, and I have to say the volvo seems to be the better of the two. runs smoother, faster, has more power. Very efficient machines.

I would say start looking at a volvo and pricing them out while your searching for a machine.

Also if its on warrenty you shouldnt have to worry about paying for parts

 

[jazak]

I would say CAT, because of the great service plus very well built machines. Forget Doosan, they don't have good service + they're machines are NO WHERE near as good as a CAT or JD.

 

[murray83]

home builder in town has a 210 volvo and after trying it out i'm in love with it,it puts cat to shame in dealer service and fuel economy add the fact how nice it is to sit in for 12 hours a day is just the cherry on the top.

parts wise theres no difference in cat vs. volvo in truth,the volvo is cheaper to maintain and buy parts for along with the added fuel savings as i stated above is a win win deal.

also daewoo is a very nice machine i'd put the volvo and daewoo ahead of the cat any day.

 

[mxsledder]

What ive heard about the volvo fuel effiency is that it does burn less fuel but head to head with the cat it does not get as much done in a day,so it's preety much a wash. Is there any truth to this? And tiger why do you think the cat is a better value over volvo. Thanks

 

[9420pullpan]

Definatley Check Out Deere Or Hitachi 450

Screw Cat They Are Good For Parts And Service But Depending Where U Are Deere Isnt Bad The New D Series Is Very Comfortable And Have Toalked To People Who Have Ran It And They Say It Has Lots Of Power!!

 

[dayexco]

http://www.jonyang.com/english/products/crawler/JY210E/JY210E.htm

anybody ever see, run one of these? wonder how they price out with the rest of the asian market machines.

 

[345cl]

heres a pic of my new toy thought youd like to see it..

 

[345cl]

but if you want a hitachi,,you say the bigger the better this could probably help out a little,,then of course you could always dig some basments ,,,two or three at the same time!!lol:thumbsup

 

[murray83]

you know that hitachi would be great for drain tile jobs in downtown montreal :yup

 

[MVFD]

What ive heard about the volvo fuel effiency is that it does burn less fuel but head to head with the cat it does not get as much done in a day,so it's preety much a wash. Is there any truth to this? And tiger why do you think the cat is a better value over volvo. Thanks

We have a 2005 Cat 320LU and a 2004 Volvo EC210, and the volvo does as much if not more then the Cat.

Talk about dealer service.. My boss was running my machine after work one day and ended up putting a small dint in the left hand side service door. He felt really bad that he had put the first dint in to my machine so he called the dealer up right away and ordered a door, the dealer brought it down with in a week after finding one. The dealer is about 2 hours away from us and they didnt ship to us. the Manager of the dealership brought it down to us in his own truck. it turned out they had the wrong door. they had brought a cab door, ready to be bolted on, windows everything which would normaly be around 1800. well he then tells us that he wasnt even going to charge us for the door. he was going to give us the door. we were completely blown away. he went back tracked down the proper service door and its now on the machine free of charge. That sure made my boss happy. And they even bring you lunch and sometimes beer :bouncegri

I wouldnt buy another machine other then volvo.

 

[Ford LT-9000]

That big Hitachi would dig a whole neighbour hood of basements in a hour.


Over here on this side of the creek Volvo is used quite abit for articulated trucks. I know a few contractors have have had to buy alot of parts for Volvo's and they are pricey.

The reason why I always say Hitachi or Deere is they are proven the forestry contractors use and abuse the machines they seem to stand up.

The old venerable EX300 and EX400s spend days digging blast rock and road building. They are not digging much dirt mainly rock that has been broken up with explosives.

Another contractor in the area been in business for 30 years or more has run nothing but Deere excavators. I have meantioned it before but soon as Hitachi moved into market years ago with the old UH machines everybody started buying them it was good bye caterpillar. There are lots of old UH machines kicking around especially the real old ones with the big yank'em sticks.

The next contender moving in is Komatsu they are giving contractor deals offering good dealer service now you see lots of Komatsu excavators on sites.

The thing with Hitachi,Deere and Komatsu they will build you a machine to what you want.

Cat has been a little spoiled over the years now they have more competition it really hurts when you got Komatsu moving into the mines where Cat's largest market is.

Go try a Deere,Hitachi,Komatsu or Volvo before you buy a Cat you will probably see that the other brands are good or better.

 

[Tigerotor77W]

MVFD, to be fair, it's not entirely accurate to put a tight tail-swing machine against a conventional machine. But I'm not arguing: right now, I don't have conclusive evidence that the 320C L outperforms its competition. If the increase in productivity holds true for the 320DL as it did for the 324D L, 325D L, and 330D L, we may have a better argument...

and there's certainly no doubting that Volvo wants a piece of the equipment pie -- it's got a good line of machines and knows it.