# New loader



## DGODGR (Nov 30, 2008)

I am currently considering a new loader purchase. I am comparing Cat 928G or 930G (I am admittidley a Cat man) vs John Deere 544J. There seems to be a glut of Deeres that have come back to the dealers with super low hours (+/- 100 to 400 HRS). To top it off they are about $30K to $40K less than the Cats. This makes them very tempting. The problem is that I have not run a current (or semi current since the K models are now out) Deere. The last Deere loader I ran was a 444. That was about 18 years ago and that unit was about 15 years old back then. I can evaluate the unit in the dirt but I will purchase prior to snow fall, therefore I can not compare in the snow. Another possible issue is that it seems that these units may have been used to load salt. What possible negative effects can come from this exposure (remember the low hours), especially over the long haul. As I said before I have never ran the Deere but I have heard some comments (on this site) to the effect of the unit being to small. I plan on purchasing a 12' Arctic pusher for whichever one I buy. Deere says that the 544j can be directly compared to the 928/930. I want to purchase a true 3yd loader that will fill the bucket. I don't need to have a machine that is equippd with to big a bucket (that I probably won't be able to fill and will make the tractor tippy).
First hand knowledge is requested and appreciated. 
thanks, 
Jason


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## lawnkale (Dec 4, 2008)

only comment i have is, if you plan on ordering a artic better hurry. I ordered 2 of them 10 weeks ago and still dont have them....


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## kcress31 (Sep 20, 2009)

I would lean toward the CAT myself. We have a 444 h and an CAT IT 28 which is the same as a 928 - 930. The deere is OK but once you have owned a CAT you appreciate the quality, parts availability, resale value etc. There are some pretty good deals on machines on iron planet.com. You can buy a machine and run it for a few years then sell it for what you paid or more.


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## kickin'a (Jan 12, 2009)

I have been renting 621d's and E's Case, In the process to but one with a 16' sectional, trip edge. I have a 14' pusher that I use on the 621 pay loader and it handles it like a toy. I normally use it on the 590 backhoe


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## cold_and_tired (Dec 18, 2008)

From a Deere guy, I have found the Deere be extremely comparable to any Cat. For some reason, the Deere interior was more comfortable to me. To show that I am not too biased, I like Deere loaders and backhoes, Cat excavators and Case skid steers.

I have always found parts to be available for the Deere but I don't have any experience with resale or initial cost as I was just a lever puller.


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## jbis1782 (Oct 13, 2009)

I have all three types of loaders. cat 938, cat 928, 2 case 621, deere 544. One Case is a 1991 with about 11,000 hrs on it and nothing major wrong and always starts in cold weather. The Cats are good for resale and parts are readily available. In my experience Cats are cold blooded s.o.b's. They take a lot of time to warm up. Just aquired the Deere and looking forward to beating the hell out of it to see what it can do. See if the dealers are will let you demo the machines or a rent to own purchase. That way you get to see what u like and not out any money if you decide to purchase the machine. If you can run the machine hard in the dirt it can push some snow. I am a firm believer in pushing a machine to the limits to see what it can do before purchase.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

This is coming from my sub, but he traded his Cat 938 (4 years old) for a 544J. Had some issues with all the electrical BS (JD could have this as well) and his cab corners were rotting out. His 13 YO JD 544G was still on it's original paint and very little rust. Plowing for most of it's life. Cat would not do anything to help him out on the paint. 

He runs Cat's, Deere, Hitachi exc, so he isn't brand loyal either.


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## Diagonal Brace (Jan 5, 2006)

*Cats not where its at!*

For what its worth we have a Cat 930G and a 924G and the visibility to the rear is awful. Cannot see the tires and even with the mirrors its just not comfortable when you spend so much time backing up. Just my thoughts.tymusic


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## DGODGR (Nov 30, 2008)

Thanks for your input. I just signed up for the Deere. My dealer found an '04 "J" model with about 1,000 hrs on it. The unit is super smooth and is still like new. I am admittedly a fan of Caterpillar and have regularly sung their praises on this site many times. The fact of the matter is that the Deere is much less expensive and (with only a thousand hours) will be a better value in the long run for me. What I found to be unusual was my impression of the (2) units. The Deere feels like it is of better quality than the Cat. That is despite the fact that I'm biased towards the Cat and wanted it to be superior. Many will claim resale value should also be considered. I would agree with this (and have used this to justify the higher price tag myself) but the fact of the matter is that resale is in the crapper for everyone right now. Beside that I just don't seem to sell many tractors. Of all the tractors I have owned, I have only traded in one. I do have (2) tractors that I would consider selling (someday), but they are Bobcats and that's a whole other topic.
Thanks again.


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## lawnkale (Dec 4, 2008)

DGODGR;841567 said:


> Thanks for your input. I just signed up for the Deere. My dealer found an '04 "J" model with about 1,000 hrs on it. The unit is super smooth and is still like new. I am admittedly a fan of Caterpillar and have regularly sung their praises on this site many times. The fact of the matter is that the Deere is much less expensive and (with only a thousand hours) will be a better value in the long run for me. What I found to be unusual was my impression of the (2) units. The Deere feels like it is of better quality than the Cat. That is despite the fact that I'm biased towards the Cat and wanted it to be superior. Many will claim resale value should also be considered. I would agree with this (and have used this to justify the higher price tag myself) but the fact of the matter is that resale is in the crapper for everyone right now. Beside that I just don't seem to sell many tractors. Of all the tractors I have owned, I have only traded in one. I do have (2) tractors that I would consider selling (someday), but they are Bobcats and that's a whole other topic.
> Thanks again.


good luck selling the bobcats. i have 2 of them and my dealer wont even take them on trade. Every used equipmwnt magazine has 1000's of them 4 sale


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## DGODGR (Nov 30, 2008)

I'm not looking to sell them just yet. Actually I am pretty happy with the A300. I just love the all wheel steer. It's been a pretty good machine (many warranty issues early on though). Meter shows about 2,000 hours now and it's still holding up pretty well. I am having intermittent problems with the control levers. This is also the second set (replaced the old style to udated style when the old ones had problems) and are the newer style. These are supposed to be fixable. I guess we will see. I have been primarily unhappy with my 435 ZHS. Many problems with the unit and the dealers support. Since I am now buying a loader these will just have to stay in the fleet for a while longer (keeping my fingers crossed). These two were my first stray from the Cat brand. Except for the all wheel steer I regret that decision. If this Deere does not work out well I will bleed Cat yellow for ever. Wish me luck.
Jason


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## accipiter12 (Jan 24, 2003)

You'll like your Deere.


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## kcress31 (Sep 20, 2009)

DGODGR;842744 said:


> I'm not looking to sell them just yet. Actually I am pretty happy with the A300. I just love the all wheel steer. It's been a pretty good machine (many warranty issues early on though). Meter shows about 2,000 hours now and it's still holding up pretty well. I am having intermittent problems with the control levers. This is also the second set (replaced the old style to udated style when the old ones had problems) and are the newer style. These are supposed to be fixable. I guess we will see. I have been primarily unhappy with my 435 ZHS. Many problems with the unit and the dealers support. Since I am now buying a loader these will just have to stay in the fleet for a while longer (keeping my fingers crossed). These two were my first stray from the Cat brand. Except for the all wheel steer I regret that decision. If this Deere does not work out well I will bleed Cat yellow for ever. Wish me luck.
> Jason


Good luck with the Deere. I'm a CAT man myself but I do own quite a few deeres. We currently have a 2008 RT backhoe 310 sj tool carrier with the TMC Controls, 650 hrs and quite a few problems. They had to replace the main boom cylinder in the backhoe because it kept falling down on its own even though we only used the rear end for maybe 5-10 hrs of the 650 hrs on it. Problems with the seat lockout controls and problem with the outrigger up/down controls. Considering we bought it new we are not to happy. Also when using the tool carrier with the forks you can't see what the forks are doing. We also have a 2000 444 H, been good so far, we have a 1992 892 ELC excavator, a 2005 Deere 200 ELC excavator and a 2003 Deere 450 ELC excavator. As far a cat goes we have a 1997 416 B RT backhoe, 1997 Cat IT 28 Tool carrier, 1979 Cat 980 B, 1976 988 B, almost all our gravel trucks have Cat engines in them as well. Our next machines will all be CAT.

What year is your A300? I am looking at buying a brand new one in the next few weeks. We are also looking a mini excavators in the next year or so and were considering the bobcat or CAT 8 - 10 ton class. Price is not really an object. I don't mind paying a little bit more and getting a better machine. Any advice? For the A 300 I am looking at getting the 7 foot sweeper with the 1 ft gutter brush and the wet kit, a heavy duty bucket, HD forks, and a 10 ft kage innovations blade / pusher.

I see your into the 2 wheel dirt machines as well. We built our own track in our pit. You can see some of the pics in my album.


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## DGODGR (Nov 30, 2008)

kcress31;842868 said:


> Good luck with the Deere. I'm a CAT man myself but I do own quite a few deeres. We currently have a 2008 RT backhoe 310 sj tool carrier with the TMC Controls, 650 hrs and quite a few problems. They had to replace the main boom cylinder in the backhoe because it kept falling down on its own even though we only used the rear end for maybe 5-10 hrs of the 650 hrs on it. Problems with the seat lockout controls and problem with the outrigger up/down controls. Considering we bought it new we are not to happy. Also when using the tool carrier with the forks you can't see what the forks are doing. We also have a 2000 444 H, been good so far, we have a 1992 892 ELC excavator, a 2005 Deere 200 ELC excavator and a 2003 Deere 450 ELC excavator. As far a cat goes we have a 1997 416 B RT backhoe, 1997 Cat IT 28 Tool carrier, 1979 Cat 980 B, 1976 988 B, almost all our gravel trucks have Cat engines in them as well. Our next machines will all be CAT.
> 
> What year is your A300? I am looking at buying a brand new one in the next few weeks.
> 
> ...


I have a '97 416C that has about 12,000 hours on it now. I've had very few issues with it. Just recently replaced the hydro pump (after that many hours I think that's acceptable). It's been a great machine.


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## kcress31 (Sep 20, 2009)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All the feedback you provided me with was worth thousands of dollars. It sure is nice to talk to someone who has first hand experience with something you know little about. I've worked in sales before and it's hard to find a no BS salesperson that will tell you the truth.

regards

Keith


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