Komatsu Tour

hunterridgefarm · Sep 27, 2006

Hello everyone it has been a while since I have had time to post. Been busy at work and clearing land ( cutting/draging tress, hired dozer). But this is another thread when I get time to load the pictures.

I have been reading daily to keep up on everyone. I see Eddie Walker is getting married, congrats Eddie. And Jim Inman planted his on "Farmers Market", and I thought I had a big garden!!

Now back to the thread title. In my job I get an opportunity to tour production plants from tanks, to trains, to jets, hovercraft, etc.

I had the opportunity to tour a Komatsu plant the other day and was able to see their Backhoes and skid steers in production from beginning to end. I was in heaven and I could not wait to share with my friends here at TBN. It was very interesting seeing how they were built and tested. Currently Komatsu builds about 6 skid steers a week and since this is a growing market they are building on to the plant with plans to increase production each year until they are producing 7-10,000 skid steers a year. So we should be seeing alot more Komatsu skid steers before long.

Maybe the competition will help bring prices down some because I need one bad!!

Hopefully I will be able to supply some of the parts for the skid steers and backhoes and that will mean more trips to the plant!!

Just wanted to share this since I was so excited about the tour. My wife was not that interested in my excitement.

Tonight I am in GA working with ClubCar on the golf carts and their UTV. This is very interesting to.

Hopefully in the next month or two I will be able to tour and work with Kabota and John Deere plants. I can't wait!! I'll post if I am able to get in.

EddieWalker · Sep 27, 2006

Komatsu is made in the USA??? I had no idea. I've never been on any of there machines, but there are allot of them in use all over the place.

What do you do for a living that allows you to go to all those different plants?

Eddie

monkeymonk · Sep 27, 2006

We are purchasing a club car xrt 810 electric very very soon.You got me real interested now...What is it that you find "very interesting" about clubcar? just qurious. I got turned on to the xrt's last month when kubota sent out their utv discount flyer. I always wanted electric and a friend told me of the xrt pretty sweet "golf car".

Yea what do you actually do?

hunterridgefarm · Sep 28, 2006

Eddie,
Most of the parts for Komatsu are made overseas. The get the steel plate cut to size and shipped in where it is welded here in the US. Some of the castings are made in China shipped to Italy to be machinined and then shipped to the US. I am trying to quote machining the casting here and also doing some other smaller parts. The backhoe and skid steer are welded and put together in SC. Small dozers are "built" the same way in TN and the larger dozers are made in Canada.

I work for a metal machining company and we do everything from fronts for "high dollar" wood stoves to parts on the International Space Station (of course I have not been able to visit the space station).

Moneymonk,
Clubcar is very high quality and their production plant is very impressive. A couple of years ago they hired some auto industry people and have set-up the production flow like the auto plants. Alot of their new golf carts are designed like cars only smaller versions with alot of the same engineering standards.

MadReferee · Sep 28, 2006

Komatsu makes good stuff. Their crawler designs come from the original International Harvester crawlers. The IHC crawler division was purchased by Dresser/Dressta who was then purchased by Komatsu. You can still get IHC parts from the Komatsu warehouse in Atlanta.