You've just read the 'voice' of experience speaking in print. And for big, mass production work, the D11 beats out the Komatsu 475, especially in the long run. While you may save money with the Komatsu's upfront, the Cat's win in the long run. I've found that Komatsu controls start to feel sloppy 1,500-2,000 hours earlier than Cat's. The door handles hold up better and overall the controls stay tighter longer. The air conditioners work better in Cat's. I like the operator station of the Cat's a little more, better visibility, especially of the ripper. We can't afford the downtime so the operator gets to wear his right hand out toying with his blade all day. Therein lies the problem the belly pans are so caved in that they need to be removed with a cutting torch and then (ideally) replaced: a couple days of repairs. To fix this, the belly pans have to be pulled and about 5-6 hours of re-wiring are needed. To get it to tilt left, the blade has to be pitched completely forward, but it will then not pitch right. Because of this, the blade only tilts to the right. One of the Komatsu 275's we're running has an electrical problem that prevents the blade from tilting side/side (the wires to the thumb toggle switch are broken). They just don't sit very high off the ground and if any operator is careless and tries to straddle a windrow (again, lots of rock around here) it's a sure way to beat the belly pans right up into the machine which spells to lots of downtime and expensive fixes. All of the bigger (275+) dozers we're currently running have completely caved in belly pans. Ground clearance is a problem for Komatsu's as well. It translates into a lot more time spent repairing the Komatsu than the Cat. While the exact same fix on a Komatsu requires removing the floor of the cab, unscrewing a few things to get them out of the way, and then you can access the wires. For example, a simple wiring fix on a Cat may take 30-45 minutes. Numerous mechanics have expressed a preference for working on Cat dozers in contrast to Komatsu. While most of Komatsu's I've been in are in sorry shape around 5,000 hours. I personally feel that a Cat dozer should be traded in after 8,000 hours in the rock they work in here in Utah. While that may be the extreme, overall Cat's spend more time working than Komatsu's. With 8,500 hours, the machine is beat to death. Since May we've moved more than 3 million yards of material, and the 375 sat out July thru early September when we really needed it (hydraulic pumps, steering, numerous engine and track problems, etc). For example, the outfit I work for has a Komatsu 375 with just over 8500 frame hours, and it's on it's third engine. Dowtime on Komatsu dozers always seems to be higher than Cat's. It seems to me that the little things are what really separate the two machines. This may also be why they seem easier to grade in. It's not something you notice too much while pushing, but when backing up long cuts or tracking from one place to another, the Komatsu feels better. The Komatsu dozers definitely ride smoother due to the K-Bogie Undercarriage system. And the wider blade allows for one or two less passes to get your sub grade finished. Overall, Komatsu's seem (to me) to be easier to grade in. When roughing in roads to within a few tenths I prefer the Komatsu. But when the two are next to each other (with equally experienced operators) the Cat will slowly stock more material than the Komatsu. Whereas in the Komatsu, more material is lost out the sides of your slot. With the taller, narrower blade of the D11, in a slot a few feet deep, more material is rolled directly over itself and back in front of the machine. I also prefer the D11's blade for hogging large amounts of material. For ripping, I like the way the Komatsu ripper feels to me, it seems to curl a little further which I feel works better, but the D11 makes up for it with the additional power. The D11 feels more powerful to me than the 475. I think the Cat wins, but not by a large margin. Altogether I have thousands of hours in Komatsu as well as Cat dozers and have formed a few opinions.įrom a standpoint of simply performance of the machine. I've spent around 3,000 hours in three different D11's (two R's and and N).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |