Jaxxson
Bronze Member
Just thought I would post my thoughts and reviews on this machine.
I recently purchased a new '09 Case 450CT S3 machine from my local Case Ag dealer. I trade in a '05 Cat 287B for this machine. One of the biggest reasons I traded in for a new machine was back in the fall our Canadian dollar was at par with the US, making everything 20% cheaper here in Canada. The machine I purchased was around the $70k mark, Now its back to around the $90K mark.
If you looking for a CT machine this is a machine worth looking into,
This is one tough ruggid machine by far, I was abit hesistant moving from a Cat to a Case machine, but it was well worth the switch.
I actually demo'd a new Cat 299C and a Bobcat T320 before I went with the Case.
When was demoing the Cat machine I found it hadthe biggest most comfortable cab interior I have ever sat in, Drove like a dream, etc, but the down fall was it was HUGE, I dont know how they could call it a compact track machine, its almost the size of a tank and ontop of that, Cat fianancing was horriable, the rates were 9.5%! insane comparing to 1% I got from Case. That was the biggest turn off from the cat machine, but it was a excellent machine over all.
The Bobcat T320 was a different story, the cab interior was horriable IMO, you sat down below the window level, it had horriable air circulation, no built in raido, vinyl seat, and it was extremly noisy and Bobcat has the worst and most annoying reverse alarm in the industry, it sounds like a clown horn. The rates were decent with Bobcat with inpressive trade in bonus's that added up to $6000 incredit. But If I'm using the machine everyday, I want something I like, its not always about the value.
Now down to the Case 450CT, I actually didn't even get to Demo or even sit in one before I purchased it, no dealers in my area had one on the lot. I had to order one in, taking the chance of disliking it.....5 weeks later the machine arrives at my shop, my first thoughts were this thing looks SMALL and WEAK. But I gave it a shot. My first thought as I was driving it was this is the austin mini version of a track machine with loads of power. The cab is smaller then the Cat and Bobcat, but its coozy, not cramped and uncomfortable, its small but still comfortable. It came with a radio and 2 speakers preinstalled. It had really good visability comparing to the Bobcat, Cat had the best out of all 3. Case machines come with cloth seats instead of vinyls, which I find makes a huge difference, if your in the machine for 8hrs, its torture sitting on a vinyl seat. One of the neat and actually nice features it had was a Heat seater, I know your thinking that is probably a waste of resources, but its not, its been -40C here in Canada for the past month, and boy does it sure help keep you warm. One of the down falls of for most skid steers is the tempature range, its either hot or cold, not medium, so with the heat seater, you could keep the air cooler inside the cab, but you could still keep warm with the seat heater.
Now some of the downfalls of the case machine were its traction, its not the best machine on ice/snow, But the steel rolers and idles on rubber track is much more ruggid then my previous Cat Rubber on rubber design. another thing is, the door hinges are on the oppisite side comparing to its compeditors, nothing serious, but everytime for the first week, you thought to yourself WTF this is backwords.
Overall the Case 450CT is a awsome machine, well worth looking at if you are in the market for a CT machine. But before you buy a machine, I suggest you give at least a couple of them looking at. They all have there quirks and benifits.
Some of the add's features I have put on my machine were the extended light kit that included hazzard lights and the eletronic bucket attachment instead of the manual hookup (which makes life nice when you don't have to get out of the cab to lock the bucket).
Jaxxson,
I recently purchased a new '09 Case 450CT S3 machine from my local Case Ag dealer. I trade in a '05 Cat 287B for this machine. One of the biggest reasons I traded in for a new machine was back in the fall our Canadian dollar was at par with the US, making everything 20% cheaper here in Canada. The machine I purchased was around the $70k mark, Now its back to around the $90K mark.
If you looking for a CT machine this is a machine worth looking into,
This is one tough ruggid machine by far, I was abit hesistant moving from a Cat to a Case machine, but it was well worth the switch.
I actually demo'd a new Cat 299C and a Bobcat T320 before I went with the Case.
When was demoing the Cat machine I found it hadthe biggest most comfortable cab interior I have ever sat in, Drove like a dream, etc, but the down fall was it was HUGE, I dont know how they could call it a compact track machine, its almost the size of a tank and ontop of that, Cat fianancing was horriable, the rates were 9.5%! insane comparing to 1% I got from Case. That was the biggest turn off from the cat machine, but it was a excellent machine over all.
The Bobcat T320 was a different story, the cab interior was horriable IMO, you sat down below the window level, it had horriable air circulation, no built in raido, vinyl seat, and it was extremly noisy and Bobcat has the worst and most annoying reverse alarm in the industry, it sounds like a clown horn. The rates were decent with Bobcat with inpressive trade in bonus's that added up to $6000 incredit. But If I'm using the machine everyday, I want something I like, its not always about the value.
Now down to the Case 450CT, I actually didn't even get to Demo or even sit in one before I purchased it, no dealers in my area had one on the lot. I had to order one in, taking the chance of disliking it.....5 weeks later the machine arrives at my shop, my first thoughts were this thing looks SMALL and WEAK. But I gave it a shot. My first thought as I was driving it was this is the austin mini version of a track machine with loads of power. The cab is smaller then the Cat and Bobcat, but its coozy, not cramped and uncomfortable, its small but still comfortable. It came with a radio and 2 speakers preinstalled. It had really good visability comparing to the Bobcat, Cat had the best out of all 3. Case machines come with cloth seats instead of vinyls, which I find makes a huge difference, if your in the machine for 8hrs, its torture sitting on a vinyl seat. One of the neat and actually nice features it had was a Heat seater, I know your thinking that is probably a waste of resources, but its not, its been -40C here in Canada for the past month, and boy does it sure help keep you warm. One of the down falls of for most skid steers is the tempature range, its either hot or cold, not medium, so with the heat seater, you could keep the air cooler inside the cab, but you could still keep warm with the seat heater.
Now some of the downfalls of the case machine were its traction, its not the best machine on ice/snow, But the steel rolers and idles on rubber track is much more ruggid then my previous Cat Rubber on rubber design. another thing is, the door hinges are on the oppisite side comparing to its compeditors, nothing serious, but everytime for the first week, you thought to yourself WTF this is backwords.
Overall the Case 450CT is a awsome machine, well worth looking at if you are in the market for a CT machine. But before you buy a machine, I suggest you give at least a couple of them looking at. They all have there quirks and benifits.
Some of the add's features I have put on my machine were the extended light kit that included hazzard lights and the eletronic bucket attachment instead of the manual hookup (which makes life nice when you don't have to get out of the cab to lock the bucket).
Jaxxson,
