Testing Heavy Equipment - Case Excavator, Bulldozer, Tractor review

Scadoo. So, you are looking at buying a piece of equipment. Well, there's three generalizations that you should examine before making any purchase decision. And this will cover everything from lawnmowers to fail loaders to skid loaders to excavators. The first is power and productivity. When you purchase that machine, is it actually going to deliver what you expect it to? Number two is quality. when you purchase that machine, is it going to continue to deliver results long after it's paid off? That's when a machine gets profitable. And number three is so absolutely important that I've broken it into two separate subcategories. That's serviceability. How well can you dig into that machine and maintain it? And then if you do have a breakdown, what is the local shop like that you have to bring it into? That is a key factor when making a purchase decision. I'm going to be using case equipment as my guinea pig today and we're going to see how they hold up to these three important categories. So, let's get started. Productivity and performance are one category. Basically, what it means when you put your butt in the seat of that machine, does it deliver? Now, in today's example with the case excavators, absolutely. I got a chance to use the mini excavator lineup all the way up to the midsize excavators and their power was eyeopening to say the least. I'm not so concerned with bells and whistles. I want end results of a piece of equipment. It's always your first impression. What is it like when you initially get into it and what's your impression after you've had it for five or 10 years? What's the upkeep like on it? My first impression of this machine is this is a get in and go type of a machine. I have a little bit of a runand gun style to my uh excavating. I don't like to try to figure stuff out. I don't like to have to worry about what buttons do and knobs do. This has got a very intuitive control system. Anybody that's familiar with excavators can hop in this thing and immediately go to work. I was in this thing less than 2 minutes before I was ripping out a swimming pool. And I'd never been in a case mini excavator like this before in my life. and everything felt comfortable, fast, convenient, easy to use. I like the initial layout. Demolishing the house, we had a giant footing that we had to literally tear out of frozen dirt. We put the excavator on it just to loosen it up. And to our shock and surprise, it literally lifted the entire half of the house out of the ground. We never expected a machine to deliver on that kind of power, but when it does, that's a very pleasant surprise. Thing I was really impressed by was how the power wasn't isolated to just that one machine. On other job sites using smaller case excavators, they continue to deliver power beyond what I've experienced in the past. Number two is quality. How well will that machine continue to deliver long after it's been paid off? This is the make it or break it to most business owners. Now, when I think of quality, I think of long-term dependability. Does the machine run problem free while you're trying to pay it off? But then after you finally finish with that last payment, will that machine continue to operate without giving you too many headaches or hassles? Let's take a look at this old case bulldozer of mine. I've had it for over a decade. I haven't used it in the last 5 years. In fact, the last time that this machine was ever ran was 8 months ago. Let's go see if it'll fire up for me. [Music] That right there proves to me that this is a well-built machine. Not fired in 8 months and it doesn't even turn over. Meaning that I am confident as a business owner that if I need this piece of equipment, it's got my back. Serviceability. This is a key component to the long-term profitability of owning a piece of equipment. Has the engineers designed that piece of equipment to allow you to easily and quickly gain access to the vital components of it? Have they designed it so that you can do simple repair work without having a degree in engineering? So, right here we've got the case zero tail swing model CX60C. And the sister unit to that is right over here. This is the case CX. Is it CX57C? Right? CX57C. And that's your conventional tail swing. Both have excellent accessibility. You can see the see how you can get right at the engine and have everything right there. The last last but not least, what I want to talk to you about is your local shop. I get the question all the time. Hey, I'm thinking about buying this piece of equipment. The first thing that I want to ask you guys is what is your local shop like for that piece of equipment? It's that important. If you have a piece of equipment that delivers on power productivity, it is quality made. You can easily gain access to it, but the local shop doesn't exist, what are you going to do when you have a major breakdown? If you are not 100% satisfied with your local shop, don't buy that piece of equipment, no matter how good it is. This is a key to purchasing anything. Make a connection with the shop. See if you trust what they're doing. Look at reviews before you pull the trigger. If you have a great local shop, that is 1/4 or 25% of your purchasing decision. So, let's go back over this. Four criteria are power, productivity, performance. That's all one. Does it deliver on what you expect it to do. Number two is quality. Quality is the ability for that machine to keep functioning long after it's been paid off. This is when a machine gets profitable. Number three is serviceability. Can you handle the daily maintenance of that machine? That keeps your operating expense to a minimum. Access in the field is important. Eric, what have you guys done to make that happen? It's part of our heritage case is ground line serviceability. With the new C series, we've maintained that and proved about that. As you can see here, access panels flip up from the ground. You see all your daily checks right here. You get your water off your radiator, engine oil, check and fill, fuel filter, drain the water separator, electronic fuel priming, standard, air cleaner access right there in the back. Everything you need to get to from one simple location. Number four is how well of a connection do you have with your local shop. It's important that you vet that shop and you have a great local shop. But now I want to hear from you guys. What is your favorite piece of equipment? And what's your least favorite piece of equipment and why? I hope this has helped you guys out. What are you waiting for?