T 320 Bobcat with Loftness G2 Tree Shredder

yellowdogsvc · Jun 23, 2008

are you talking about Bobcat or Caterpillar?
I may be going back to Bobcat and it would be nice if machines were a little more than spec. It probably works both ways, though. They can be less than spec and that would be frustrating.

WestshoreConstruction · Jun 24, 2008

yellowdogsvc said:
are you talking about Bobcat or Caterpillar?
I may be going back to Bobcat and it would be nice if machines were a little more than spec. It probably works both ways, though. They can be less than spec and that would be frustrating.

I will let you know how the T320 works, I'm picking my new one up tomorrow.

The 320 has suspension on the tracks now as well huge improvement over the older setup

yellowdogsvc · Jun 24, 2008

WestshoreConstruction said:
I will let you know how the T320 works, I'm picking my new one up tomorrow. The 320 has suspension on the tracks now as well huge improvement over the older setup

I'm real curious to see how it works out. I'm probably stuck with s330 for now because I need to be able to travel long distances over rough terrain and tracks are a bit slow and rough riding.

Robbie Hegwood · Jun 24, 2008

Yellow. The best manuvering tractor I have run recently with a mulcher is a Cat 272C with over the tire tracks. If had a ton more power to actually move the tractor than a tracked skid steer. Plus I'm not sure if it's the gearing or what but the tired skid would spin the tracks at will where a tracked unit won't. Plus tired units usually put out more constant flow the the impriments.

yellowdogsvc · Jun 24, 2008

Robbie Hegwood said:
Yellow. The best manuvering tractor I have run recently with a mulcher is a Cat 272C with over the tire tracks. If had a ton more power to actually move the tractor than a tracked skid steer. Plus I'm not sure if it's the gearing or what but the tired skid would spin the tracks at will where a tracked unit won't. Plus tired units usually put out more constant flow the the impriments.

I put about 150 hours on a 272c that I currently own. Not all of the hours is mulching but a lot of it is.

Mowermoney · Jun 26, 2008

The Bobcat salesman called the Loftness tech rep this week and found the problem. As we suspected, the motor in my G2 is rated for a lower flow than needed to operate efficiently on the 320. He said that for $2,200.00 he could send us a different Hyd. motor that would fix everything. I'm still pondering that advice.

I would like to hear from those of you running Bobcats. What kind of fuel consumption? What are the downtime causes, repair costs compared to other brands?

yellowdogsvc · Jun 26, 2008

When I ran a Bobcat s300k, I had to fill up after 4-5 hours. No downtime other than blowing out radiator and cleaning out cab and A/C filters. Very reliable. Can't say the same for my CAT C series which has many problems with the AC and pressurization.

Let's see, in 3 years of running s300's, I was never down for more than a couple of days max. No big repairs and I put 1000 hrs, 800 hrs, and 1000 hrs. on 3 machines. 1 g series s300 and 2 K series. compare that with nearly 30 days of down time with my new CAT!

Digdeep · Jun 26, 2008

yellowdogsvc said:
When I ran a Bobcat s300k, I had to fill up after 4-5 hours. No downtime other than blowing out radiator and cleaning out cab and A/C filters. Very reliable. Can't say the same for my CAT C series which has many problems with the AC and pressurization.

Let's see, in 3 years of running s300's, I was never down for more than a couple of days max. No big repairs and I put 1000 hrs, 800 hrs, and 1000 hrs. on 3 machines. 1 g series s300 and 2 K series. compare that with nearly 30 days of down time with my new CAT!

Did the snorkel fix your pressurization problem, or ae you still working on it?

Robbie Hegwood · Jun 26, 2008

I'd haven't really checked into Bobcats that much due them having there own brand mulcher and reports of them not using non-bobcat stuff. But with the onslot of new series Bobcats and interest from Bobcat owners and a few dealers I will be changing my tune. With Westshores success and a some local dealers I will be monitoring and testing in that direction. It also helps we have an excavator head that the Bobcat excavators will run.

yellowdogsvc · Jun 26, 2008

Digdeep said:
Did the snorkel fix your pressurization problem, or ae you still working on it?

Snorkel didn't do anything except move the air intake to the rear of the machine. It's a good idea but the biggest problem (fit up of filter at the side intake housing) was never properly addressed though the dealer made an attempt. Snorkel is actually worse than the side mount filter for the following reason: The isn't enough air flow to get the precleaner to throw out anything. Yes, larger particles don't always make it to the snorkel and down the tube but it's the dust that gets in, fills up the snorkel where it fits over the filter, and causes the filter to fail and dust is also bypassing.
Machine is going back to CAT, again. This time I'm sorry to say, it will not be returned to me. I liked the machine but 30 days of shop time and service calls is long enough to figure something out or get me a new cab, a new AC or a new machine.
Obviously, this machine has issues that cannot be resolved and they can't expect me to continue to operate a brush mower in the S. Texas heat with an A/C that won't put out better than 76-78 in the afternoon and hotter when I am running a high flow attachment.
Holt gave up on the repairs when the service manager canceled my service call on Monday even though I was promised a visit to check on more leaks after our test of the fixes showed that there may be leaks in the AC ducts that weren't addressed while the machine was in the shop for 3 weeks. I am assuming they all know the machine cannot be fixed without a tear down in the shop. My question is why wasn't that done while it sat in the shop for 3 weeks this last time?