Which Cat

The 953 with its rear engine will back out of places that the 955 won"t even think about and, by comparison, the LGP version will go places that will almost bog a duck. Unless you have a lot of rock, I wouldn"t worry too much about bending track shoes on the LGP, at least until they are pretty well worn.

The 955 is a bigger, heavier, slower machine with much poorer view of the bucket and work area. It WILL outpush the 953 but at the end of a day"s work, the 953 will be ahead on points and you will be fresher due to having done it easier.

I have no personal experience of the 953 A series. I have done a swag of hours on a 953B and you do have to keep the radiator clean and an eye on the temperature during our Australian summer. Keeping the engine bay doors open DOES make a noticeable difference in this regard.

My 0.02.

Happy Catting.

You have a wondeful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.

But all that aside, really my old machine works fine and has done a tremendous amount of work without complaint and within a reasonable amount of time. If I were using it to make a living where every second counts, then I probably wouldn't feel that way. But the purchase price and maintenance expense differential for a newer machine like that doesn't come close to making sense for a small timer/casual user in my view. I guess it depends on how you classify yourself and also how much work needs to be done within what timeframe. Of course if you bought the machine at the right price and nothing serious went wrong with it before you sold it, then it would be another story.

One other thing is that I believe either 1980 or 1981 was the first year for the 953(?). Given a choice I would probably try to stick to one a few years newer, from my experience it's never good to have the 1.0 version of just about anything. (except for Corvettes) Also FYI, I've heard that while LGP machines are great in the muck, their U/C's tend to wear faster than standard width shoes. Plus since the ground pressure is lower, traction can be an issue when it's dry out. I used to think I wanted LGP's because of the soft soils on my lot, but have since revised my view to (a) avoid soft areas if at all possible and (b) simply don't work when it's wet and sloppy out.

Good luck