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Sean
02-28-2004 19:37:09
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Re: what is a good brand dozer? case, JD, komatsu in reply to Barney, 02-28-2004 18:19:37
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I'm in the same boat as you Barney, I have a large wooded lot and recently purchased an old '69 International crawler/loader. Before I bought my crawler I tried to research the various brands as well as I could. In the end it's not an easy question to answer and it can even start "flame wars" when discussing brand allegiance (kinda like the Ford, Mopar and GM guys get into). The bottom line is that all the major manufacturers make or have made great crawlers in the past. There are several questions you will have to consider before selecting your machine, and then go with your gut when the right one (and the right deal) comes along. Here's a brief list of a few brands and what I've heard about them: 1. Caterpillar - Cat is generally conisdered to be the best. They have come to dominate the world of heavy equipment for a reason, and I believe that reason is because they make a top notch product, and they provide top notch service and parts availability. Downside, higher price than most of the other brands. High prices on parts too. Also, "special" tools are frequently needed to perform major repairs on Caterpillars. These tools are very expensive, forcing you to pay a mechanic to come out to your ranch and fix it for you...which is also very expensive. 2. Komatsu - By all accounts Komatsu makes excellent products. They are Japanese, and like their cars, the quality is second to none. Komatsu and Caterpillar are considered worldwide to be the standard of excellence. Downside, parts are very expensive, especially recently because of the exchange rate between the strong yen and the weak (american) dollar. 3. John Deere - Generally considered to be the cream of the crop for farming equipment. Maybe a step down or two for heavy equipment (crawlers), but still a strong competitor with Cat and Komatsu. Parts are supposed to be supremely expensive, or so I've heard too many times to tell. I considered some of the JD crawlers and decided to pass based on this and their somewhat higher asking price for well used machines. 4. Case - Many owner operators swear by Case. Their machines are reliable, rugged and can be worked on by anyone with normal tools (unlike Cats). If they are operated and maintained properly, they make great machines. Great deals can be had on older crawlers too. 5. IH - I decided to buy and IH crawler because there were so many of them available and they were priced quite a bit below the average. The TD series of crawlers are great machines, you just have to get one that isn't completely worn out...unless you want to rebuild it from the ground up yourself. But in my area the IH crawlers provided the best bang for the buck, although the older machines might not be the best bet for a professional who will be running it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for years. Parts availability can be a problem for older models, but still lots of new and used stuff available at dealers, aftermarket suppliers and yards. 6. Allis Chalmers - I have heard good things about the various old AC's. I view them as being comparable to old IH stuff. Some of the parts are getting harder to find for the older machines, but up front prices for used machines are usually quite cheap. That's a starter, if you know more specifically what type of crawler you want to get, let us know and maybe we can help narrow it down for you. Good luck...
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