What $1800 to $2000 a day revenue for a 259 skid steer, how do you get people to pay that??? if 10 hrs a day that's 180 to 200 per hour for a tracked skid steer!!!
Quick tip for hoses: use pool noodles to wrap them in the CAT’s. We did that and eliminated 95% of debris pushing in the undercarriage. Cheap easy solution aside from spray foam which is a pain to try and scrape out and prevents maintenance on the hoses as they naturally wear down over time and usage.
Retired Cat skid steer technician and I hope the idea of spray foam on the hoses doesn’t reach a Caterpillar engineer. Hoses have a lifespan that is shorter than the expected lifespan of the machine and I would not want to be the technician that would have to change that hose. Just ask any tire repairman that has come across a foam filled tire. I would like to see the bill from your Caterpillar dealer on that hose replacement.
I've been running skid steers all my life and have over 10,000 hours on them alone. I started on Bobcat 743's in the 80s. Those were great little machines for what they were. I also really liked the 763 bobcats. One of the best machines I ever owned was a Daewoo 1760xl that I brought brand new in 2000 it had a Perkins 700 series diesel and gave me three thousand Hours of Hard use with almost zero issues. It had very minimal electrical, but eventually, that's where I started having issues with it, and when they were bought out by Bobcat, it became hard to get replacement parts. It was a very tough, capable, and simple machine. I really liked the Bobcat S185 and t550 as well. The case tr270 has proved to be a good machine in my experience as well as the Cat 279 series. I liked the Takahachi, however, like the cat parts and service are very expensive. The Gehls seem to have a decent reputation, although I have only had experience with one on a job, and it gave us no end to breakdowns and grief. One of the poorer machines I owned was an older Daewoo DSL 801. It had a bad engine mounting design and would crack the bellhousing as well as requiring a third pedal to run your third valve, which made it very inconvenient to run things like a grapple When John Deere started building their own machines rather than rebranding new Holland's, I never took a liking to them. I found the controls to be stiff and jerky, the visibility was poor, and especially on their 333 track machine, it was overall very bulky. They had lots of power, but bucket float grading sucks, and track maintainance is important as they are known for damaging idlers if they come off, resulting in additional repair costs. I currently also own a New Holland lx665 Turbo. I have a love-hate relationship with this machine. It runs like a tank and is very reliable, but the electronic instrument panel has completely failed, and there are no repair units available. Also, something as simple as a dead battery or fuel pump with the boom arms down is a nightmare to repair. I have gotten in the habit of parking the machine with the boom arms locked up just in case. Additionally, the fact that you can not easily tilt the cab means that simple repairs become difficult, and regular cleaning and maintenance get skipped. I feel like what it really boils down to is that manufacturers are selling us the sizzle rather than the bacon. I don't need all the fancy options like heated seats and adjustable sensitivity on my controls. What I need is simple, rugged, reliable, long-lasting mechanical equipment. The number one failure point I see across-the-board with all manufacturers is the amount of electronics that they are packing into this equipment. I was sitting in the dealer showroom at Daewoo of Orlando 20 years ago, looking at their brand new machines. The salesman told me to start it up to see how smooth it ran. When I went to shut it down, there was no fuel kill lever. I asked him how to shut it off, and he said, "Turn the key just like your car!" He thought this was a cool selling point, but I told him that meant there was some electrical solenoid somewhere that was going to fail and cost me money in the future. A couple of years later, that solenoid failed on a job. I had to drag the machine onto the trailer and take it 50 miles to a shop that could repair it. It cost me 400 bucks for the repair plus the travel time and fuel and three days lost productivity. I learned how to fix it myself the next time it failed for a $60 part and still several days of lost productivity waiting on the part. Every new machine from every manufacturer in recent years has given us electrical problems. The electrical issues can rarely be diagnosed and repaired by the owner, resulting in costly repair bills and more downtime. Same with automobiles. In this respect, I'm glad that I'm getting older and won't have to deal with this in 30 years!
I am a technician at a cat dealer, from what I have seen working on the newer skids as in the last 1-2 years, they have changed that pass through for the hoses to a stack clamp, it holds every hose and the wiring harness and separately so they don’t rub and keeps the dirt out, but I do agree that style of pass through is terrible any time I have to lift a cab on a skid I spend 30-45 minutes in the wash bay cleaning the all that dirt out that piles up, loved the vid!
The cat 259d3 is a good machine but we've only used them as far as renting them. Glad you took the time to break down some of the issues, we are down to a 259d3 and the equivalent John Deere model. One of our equipment rental places has switched over to the John Deere 317 and 331 and I've been very impressed with how well they handle especially in tight job sites.
Now I’m more into lawn care and some landscaping and my top three favorites are my first zero turn a John Deere z915b, my new Toro zero turn and my John Deere garden tractor x540. My least favorite is my John Deere 3038e, it smokes, the sway bars aren’t bars they’re chain and constantly rub the tires, it has zero pulling power, and a tiny turbo. Next is my recent John Deere zero turn z915e I just got rid of. It cut terrible, the fancy $800 seat hurt my back, it never started and ran terrible when it did. The list goes on.
I agree with the machine thing. My cat just sprung a leak last month. Mine is a 289b with the asv tracks. Love my Kubota 65. But is very loud. Have used john deer skids several times. Like them.
100% correct on the cat. Just did a drive hose for that exact reason. They rub even with minimal dirt, if you’re “lucky” like me it was the one you can’t get without sliding the track frame off. Only good thing was it blew in a workable area, if you were in a tight spot I don’t know how you would do it. Only thing I can say is just recently saw a new 259d3 and they have that all sealed up now. I guess only time will tell how good tho.
I got a Bobcat S650 at auction in PA earlier this year for personal use. Was a drive from MN. Really impressed so far, has the joystick controls and IMO they are just as good as CAT. Been doing dirt work & moving material with teleboom. Had rented a CAT 257D and 262d last year and loved them. I've seen the CAT Sanford plant & CNH Wichita plants. Main difference is CAT subcontracts out more parts and subassemblies. Both impressive facilities.
In my professional opinion the best trac loaders are Takeuchi, they are great units !There mini ex units are are great also we love ours.The ASV units seamed to wear the bottoms out fast when used for heavy dirt work. Bobcat makes a great machine both mini ex and trac loader .We had emission problems with the kubota trac loaders but they were early made units better now i am told!
working in a cat rental dealership and the issue with the drive hose we just made cutout out of mudflap to space them out and its solved the issue with it filling up and the hose rubing to death, the next gen one have a plate pre installed on some of the new model, should ask your dealership if they have a solution
Neglect is a machines worst enemy no matter what the brand
What $1800 to $2000 a day revenue for a 259 skid steer, how do you get people to pay that??? if 10 hrs a day that's 180 to 200 per hour for a tracked skid steer!!!
Ok which are your 3 best then??
I've heard Takeuchi's are the best.
Quick tip for hoses: use pool noodles to wrap them in the CAT’s. We did that and eliminated 95% of debris pushing in the undercarriage. Cheap easy solution aside from spray foam which is a pain to try and scrape out and prevents maintenance on the hoses as they naturally wear down over time and usage.
Trust me spray foam is a horrible idea
Retired Cat skid steer technician and I hope the idea of spray foam on the hoses doesn’t reach a Caterpillar engineer. Hoses have a lifespan that is shorter than the expected lifespan of the machine and I would not want to be the technician that would have to change that hose. Just ask any tire repairman that has come across a foam filled tire. I would like to see the bill from your Caterpillar dealer on that hose replacement.
I've been running skid steers all my life and have over 10,000 hours on them alone. I started on Bobcat 743's in the 80s. Those were great little machines for what they were. I also really liked the 763 bobcats. One of the best machines I ever owned was a Daewoo 1760xl that I brought brand new in 2000 it had a Perkins 700 series diesel and gave me three thousand Hours of Hard use with almost zero issues. It had very minimal electrical, but eventually, that's where I started having issues with it, and when they were bought out by Bobcat, it became hard to get replacement parts. It was a very tough, capable, and simple machine. I really liked the Bobcat S185 and t550 as well. The case tr270 has proved to be a good machine in my experience as well as the Cat 279 series. I liked the Takahachi, however, like the cat parts and service are very expensive. The Gehls seem to have a decent reputation, although I have only had experience with one on a job, and it gave us no end to breakdowns and grief. One of the poorer machines I owned was an older Daewoo DSL 801. It had a bad engine mounting design and would crack the bellhousing as well as requiring a third pedal to run your third valve, which made it very inconvenient to run things like a grapple When John Deere started building their own machines rather than rebranding new Holland's, I never took a liking to them. I found the controls to be stiff and jerky, the visibility was poor, and especially on their 333 track machine, it was overall very bulky. They had lots of power, but bucket float grading sucks, and track maintainance is important as they are known for damaging idlers if they come off, resulting in additional repair costs. I currently also own a New Holland lx665 Turbo. I have a love-hate relationship with this machine. It runs like a tank and is very reliable, but the electronic instrument panel has completely failed, and there are no repair units available. Also, something as simple as a dead battery or fuel pump with the boom arms down is a nightmare to repair. I have gotten in the habit of parking the machine with the boom arms locked up just in case. Additionally, the fact that you can not easily tilt the cab means that simple repairs become difficult, and regular cleaning and maintenance get skipped. I feel like what it really boils down to is that manufacturers are selling us the sizzle rather than the bacon. I don't need all the fancy options like heated seats and adjustable sensitivity on my controls. What I need is simple, rugged, reliable, long-lasting mechanical equipment. The number one failure point I see across-the-board with all manufacturers is the amount of electronics that they are packing into this equipment. I was sitting in the dealer showroom at Daewoo of Orlando 20 years ago, looking at their brand new machines. The salesman told me to start it up to see how smooth it ran. When I went to shut it down, there was no fuel kill lever. I asked him how to shut it off, and he said, "Turn the key just like your car!" He thought this was a cool selling point, but I told him that meant there was some electrical solenoid somewhere that was going to fail and cost me money in the future. A couple of years later, that solenoid failed on a job. I had to drag the machine onto the trailer and take it 50 miles to a shop that could repair it. It cost me 400 bucks for the repair plus the travel time and fuel and three days lost productivity. I learned how to fix it myself the next time it failed for a $60 part and still several days of lost productivity waiting on the part. Every new machine from every manufacturer in recent years has given us electrical problems. The electrical issues can rarely be diagnosed and repaired by the owner, resulting in costly repair bills and more downtime. Same with automobiles. In this respect, I'm glad that I'm getting older and won't have to deal with this in 30 years!
I am a technician at a cat dealer, from what I have seen working on the newer skids as in the last 1-2 years, they have changed that pass through for the hoses to a stack clamp, it holds every hose and the wiring harness and separately so they don’t rub and keeps the dirt out, but I do agree that style of pass through is terrible any time I have to lift a cab on a skid I spend 30-45 minutes in the wash bay cleaning the all that dirt out that piles up, loved the vid!
Sounds like you need a Takeuchi
Thank you for talking about this!!! I think more people should do this without fear, like you. I love your videos! Wishing you a great week!
The cat 259d3 is a good machine but we've only used them as far as renting them. Glad you took the time to break down some of the issues, we are down to a 259d3 and the equivalent John Deere model. One of our equipment rental places has switched over to the John Deere 317 and 331 and I've been very impressed with how well they handle especially in tight job sites.
Now I’m more into lawn care and some landscaping and my top three favorites are my first zero turn a John Deere z915b, my new Toro zero turn and my John Deere garden tractor x540. My least favorite is my John Deere 3038e, it smokes, the sway bars aren’t bars they’re chain and constantly rub the tires, it has zero pulling power, and a tiny turbo. Next is my recent John Deere zero turn z915e I just got rid of. It cut terrible, the fancy $800 seat hurt my back, it never started and ran terrible when it did. The list goes on.
I had a New Holland L190 and never had one issue. The only things I did was maintenance and fuel. Phenomenal!
I agree with the machine thing. My cat just sprung a leak last month. Mine is a 289b with the asv tracks. Love my Kubota 65. But is very loud. Have used john deer skids several times. Like them.
100% correct on the cat. Just did a drive hose for that exact reason. They rub even with minimal dirt, if you’re “lucky” like me it was the one you can’t get without sliding the track frame off. Only good thing was it blew in a workable area, if you were in a tight spot I don’t know how you would do it. Only thing I can say is just recently saw a new 259d3 and they have that all sealed up now. I guess only time will tell how good tho.
I got a Bobcat S650 at auction in PA earlier this year for personal use. Was a drive from MN. Really impressed so far, has the joystick controls and IMO they are just as good as CAT. Been doing dirt work & moving material with teleboom. Had rented a CAT 257D and 262d last year and loved them. I've seen the CAT Sanford plant & CNH Wichita plants. Main difference is CAT subcontracts out more parts and subassemblies. Both impressive facilities.
love your channel it inspired me to take the next step and i have started my own landscape and lawn care business
In my professional opinion the best trac loaders are Takeuchi, they are great units !There mini ex units are are great also we love ours.The ASV units seamed to wear the bottoms out fast when used for heavy dirt work. Bobcat makes a great machine both mini ex and trac loader .We had emission problems with the kubota trac loaders but they were early made units better now i am told!
working in a cat rental dealership and the issue with the drive hose we just made cutout out of mudflap to space them out and its solved the issue with it filling up and the hose rubing to death, the next gen one have a plate pre installed on some of the new model, should ask your dealership if they have a solution