durallymax
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The Cat salesman started putting the pressure on us last summer about buying one of their skid steers. Us as well as others in the area never even considered them, always figured they were too expensive and the dealer was on the other side of town. Most farmers just bought what the tractor dealerships had to offer (NH,Case,Bobcat,Gehl and some Deere). We had always ran NH since day one, started with a L555 Deluxe, then a 675B Deere which was similar just with a different engine, then added an LS180 and then an LS170. Added two more LS170s over the years and got rid of the LS180 and L555. Bought a New L220 last fall after some miscommunication and being in a rush. The Cat guy showed up with the quote but dad had bought the L220. The Cat turned out to be the better deal but we had the L220 already.
We run skid steers hard. We wrecked everything we could on that LS180. The boom was in terrible shape, side to side movement smacked the cab, the cylinders had all been repacked numerous times as well. We used it for feeding back then and facing the bunkers with the bucket, which is why it was so beat up. We replaced it with an IT14F Cat. That's where dad's sour spot with this CAT dealer came from, we only had a cheap old loader that we didn't buy from them so we didn't mean much. We traded that one on an L60E Volvo and couldn't be more happier yet to this day. It will probably be updated in the next few years as well.
One LS170 we have 9600hrs on currently. Its a 2001 model. We put the first 9000 on in only 3-4 years. It gets about 3-5hrs per week average now. The 675B has 6,000hrs on it, it also only gets a couple hours a week. Those two skids sit at other farms where we just have animals and they simply move feed around and clean yards. The other two LS170s had 3200hrs and 5800hrs on them. They were all good machines for what we did. The booms were enough maintenance but not too bad we didn't think. Ag use isn't as hydraulically demanding as construction use, but the manure and untrained operators will ruin the skids fast.
We actually know this salesman family well as they used to work at the Volvo dealer and sold us that loader. He would check up on us and see how the L220 was doing, and make sure everything was going good. There were a lot of perks along the way and I've always been the type of person to scream BS even more when perks are involved, but the guy knew the machines very well especially considering he just started working there. Anything he didn't know he would find somebody that did, not make something up, or say "ill get back to you". The machines seemed very nice, we demo'd one last summer and were impressed with it. After touring their plant I was impressing with their quality and commitment. Since he was a straight shooter and selling good products, the added perks were a nice touch. It's something that doesn't exist much anymore. A salesman coming out to the farm to sell and discuss equipment? Rarely happens anymore unless they are selling junk or need a quick buck.
We were impressed with the machines and the service at this point especially considering we owned nothing from them and bought the other brand during our last purchase that they were competing on. The Bobcat machines also seemed nice but the dealer is very arrogant in our area and wouldn't let us demo one, yet later on tells other people they will let any serious buyer demo one, guess we weren't serious enough.
After awhile we priced a multi unit deal. The deal turned out to be good so we got them. We traded the two newer LS170s and the new L220 on two new 242B3s and one snow lease return 262C. One of our employees also put his 70XT Case in on the deal and traded that for a new 246C. We wouldve kept the L220 a little while longer so we didnt have to take the big depreciation hit, but the snow return 262c was a very good deal and we wanted all of our main skids to have the same control pattern.
The 242B3s have cab,heat,power attach, self level, 2 speed and regular suspension seats. The 262C has 200hrs on it and has a cab with heat,a/c,radio, cloth air ride seat and poly door. Self level, power attach, ride control, 2 speed, creeper gear, AMICS (lets you adjust sensitivity of controls and speed limit for creeper)
All are very nice machines and the employees are doing okay with the switch to ISO pattern controls versus hand/foot.
242B3s are rated at 74hp and 2150lb lift, the 262C is rated at 84hp and 2700lb lift.
Didn't get a picture of them all lined up and clean as they all disappeared right away, ill have to get one later, but did get one on the trailer.
We run skid steers hard. We wrecked everything we could on that LS180. The boom was in terrible shape, side to side movement smacked the cab, the cylinders had all been repacked numerous times as well. We used it for feeding back then and facing the bunkers with the bucket, which is why it was so beat up. We replaced it with an IT14F Cat. That's where dad's sour spot with this CAT dealer came from, we only had a cheap old loader that we didn't buy from them so we didn't mean much. We traded that one on an L60E Volvo and couldn't be more happier yet to this day. It will probably be updated in the next few years as well.
One LS170 we have 9600hrs on currently. Its a 2001 model. We put the first 9000 on in only 3-4 years. It gets about 3-5hrs per week average now. The 675B has 6,000hrs on it, it also only gets a couple hours a week. Those two skids sit at other farms where we just have animals and they simply move feed around and clean yards. The other two LS170s had 3200hrs and 5800hrs on them. They were all good machines for what we did. The booms were enough maintenance but not too bad we didn't think. Ag use isn't as hydraulically demanding as construction use, but the manure and untrained operators will ruin the skids fast.
We actually know this salesman family well as they used to work at the Volvo dealer and sold us that loader. He would check up on us and see how the L220 was doing, and make sure everything was going good. There were a lot of perks along the way and I've always been the type of person to scream BS even more when perks are involved, but the guy knew the machines very well especially considering he just started working there. Anything he didn't know he would find somebody that did, not make something up, or say "ill get back to you". The machines seemed very nice, we demo'd one last summer and were impressed with it. After touring their plant I was impressing with their quality and commitment. Since he was a straight shooter and selling good products, the added perks were a nice touch. It's something that doesn't exist much anymore. A salesman coming out to the farm to sell and discuss equipment? Rarely happens anymore unless they are selling junk or need a quick buck.
We were impressed with the machines and the service at this point especially considering we owned nothing from them and bought the other brand during our last purchase that they were competing on. The Bobcat machines also seemed nice but the dealer is very arrogant in our area and wouldn't let us demo one, yet later on tells other people they will let any serious buyer demo one, guess we weren't serious enough.
After awhile we priced a multi unit deal. The deal turned out to be good so we got them. We traded the two newer LS170s and the new L220 on two new 242B3s and one snow lease return 262C. One of our employees also put his 70XT Case in on the deal and traded that for a new 246C. We wouldve kept the L220 a little while longer so we didnt have to take the big depreciation hit, but the snow return 262c was a very good deal and we wanted all of our main skids to have the same control pattern.
The 242B3s have cab,heat,power attach, self level, 2 speed and regular suspension seats. The 262C has 200hrs on it and has a cab with heat,a/c,radio, cloth air ride seat and poly door. Self level, power attach, ride control, 2 speed, creeper gear, AMICS (lets you adjust sensitivity of controls and speed limit for creeper)
All are very nice machines and the employees are doing okay with the switch to ISO pattern controls versus hand/foot.
242B3s are rated at 74hp and 2150lb lift, the 262C is rated at 84hp and 2700lb lift.
Didn't get a picture of them all lined up and clean as they all disappeared right away, ill have to get one later, but did get one on the trailer.
