Anybody try the new 435 ZHS yet?

[500K_773]

I am really excited to see the new 435 ZHS, but doesn't look like my dealer is getting one in. I almost bought a used 337C last year, but held out for a new machine. I tried the 337C, 331D, and a Cat 304CR. I really liked the close radius machine because I could get in tight to objects and didn't hit the back of the machine. The 331 was too small for my needs and the 337 is priced a little to high for my budget. I also wanted to wait for a ZHS machine smaller than the 442. The 435 ZHS was introduced and I went immediately down to my dealer to order a new machine. I was dissapointed when I got the quote at ~$56,000 with a cab, airconditioning, and thumb. The Cat 304CR was about the same size and with a cab and thumb, no air conditioning, was $45,500. Right now, with 250 hours on the same Cat machine, it is $40,500. That's quite a difference between the Bobcat and Cat. Has anyone used the 435 ZHS? How does the performance compare to similar sized excavators?

 

[Tigerotor77W]

Don't know how the purchasing has gone for ya... and I'm surprised I didn't reply to this earlier. The biggest difference between the Bobcat and other minis is its drive system. Where most ex's are hydraulically driven, the Bobcat is hydrostatic -- same system as that in a SSL. Consequently, you can really hustle along in a 430 or 435; they go up to 5.4 mph. (5.0 on the 430.) I was watching a 430 work at my local Bobcat Open House and it seemed pretty smooth; I've heard only two complaints. First, if you split power between the tracks on a 430 or 435, you can kill the engine. Second, they can't lift as much. Bobcat may have already addressed the first problem. Xing

 

[Tigerotor77W]

Don't know how the purchasing has gone for ya... and I'm surprised I didn't reply to this earlier. The biggest difference between the Bobcat and other minis is its drive system. Where most ex's are hydraulically driven, the Bobcat is hydrostatic -- same system as that in a SSL. Consequently, you can really hustle along in a 430 or 435; they go up to 5.4 mph. (5.0 on the 430.) I was watching a 430 work at my local Bobcat Open House and it seemed pretty smooth; I've heard only two complaints. First, if you split power between the tracks on a 430 or 435, you can kill the engine. Second, they can't lift as much. Bobcat may have already addressed the first problem. Xing

_Construction Equipment Magazine_ did a review of the 430 and the 331. They did a non-official test (pretty stupid, imo) that said the 430 lifted around 11% better over the blade (with blade down), but suffered either 8% or 4% over the side. The operators liked the spaciousness of both (both) cabs, loved the push power of the 430, and commented that the 430 seemed to be smoother than the 331. Anyways... that's about it.

 

[500K_773]

_Construction Equipment Magazine_ did a review of the 430 and the 331. They did a non-official test (pretty stupid, imo) that said the 430 lifted around 11% better over the blade (with blade down), but suffered either 8% or 4% over the side. The operators liked the spaciousness of both (both) cabs, loved the push power of the 430, and commented that the 430 seemed to be smoother than the 331. Anyways... that's about it.

My local dealership got a 435 totally loaded delivered when I was out of town and it went out on a 2 month lease before I even got to see it. Hopefully it will be returned next month. If I like it and decide to buy it, they take the rental rates off the purchase price. This could save me $3000-$4000 off the price of new for a low hour machine. On the downside, the renter could like it so much that they decide to buy it for themselves

 

[Tigerotor77W]

My local dealership got a 435 totally loaded delivered when I was out of town and it went out on a 2 month lease before I even got to see it. Hopefully it will be returned next month. If I like it and decide to buy it, they take the rental rates off the purchase price. This could save me $3000-$4000 off the price of new for a low hour machine. On the downside, the renter could like it so much that they decide to buy it for themselves

You mentioned the CTL post that you liked the Cat 304CR -- if you want, go ahead and demo the Cat now, wait for the Bobcat to come back, and then demo the Bobcat. This might not always be the best way to compare machinery, but this added wait time will allow you to sift through your own opinions on the machines. Or I could just be pulling stuff outta my rear end.

 

[500K_773]

You mentioned the CTL post that you liked the Cat 304CR -- if you want, go ahead and demo the Cat now, wait for the Bobcat to come back, and then demo the Bobcat. This might not always be the best way to compare machinery, but this added wait time will allow you to sift through your own opinions on the machines. Or I could just be pulling stuff outta my rear end.

I've already demo'd the Cat 304CR and the Bobcat 337. I have about 20 hours in the 337 and 10 hours in the 304CR. The my favorite advantage of the 304CR over 337 was the Close Radius cab. Now the 435 ZHS offers the Zero Tail Swing in a size close to the 337, just have to demo it now. When I demo'd the 304CR, I almost didn't bring it back because I liked it so much, but figure I better give my Bobcat dealer an opportunity to keep my business.
The Cat base machine costs were about $14,000 less than the Bobcat machines. I informed my Bobcat dealer of this and they really had no room to work with on the price. The Cat did have a higher price to add the hydraulic thumb. The Bobcat is a simple pin-on for about $1,200 whereas the Cat required welding. The Cat price installed was about $4,500! The Bobcat machine also was quoted with air conditioning and the Cat only had a heated cab. So this only made about a $10,000 true difference between the Cat and Bobcat machines. I really like the service I receive from my Bobcat dealer and would like to keep all my equipment the same brand, but $10,000 is a lot of money. I have not had any bad experience with the Cat dealer and the salesman really worked to get my business (probably why the purchase price was so low on the 304CR).

 

[500K_773]

I've already demo'd the Cat 304CR and the Bobcat 337. I have about 20 hours in the 337 and 10 hours in the 304CR. The my favorite advantage of the 304CR over 337 was the Close Radius cab. Now the 435 ZHS offers the Zero Tail Swing in a size close to the 337, just have to demo it now. When I demo'd the 304CR, I almost didn't bring it back because I liked it so much, but figure I better give my Bobcat dealer an opportunity to keep my business.
The Cat base machine costs were about $14,000 less than the Bobcat machines. I informed my Bobcat dealer of this and they really had no room to work with on the price. The Cat did have a higher price to add the hydraulic thumb. The Bobcat is a simple pin-on for about $1,200 whereas the Cat required welding. The Cat price installed was about $4,500! The Bobcat machine also was quoted with air conditioning and the Cat only had a heated cab. So this only made about a $10,000 true difference between the Cat and Bobcat machines. I really like the service I receive from my Bobcat dealer and would like to keep all my equipment the same brand, but $10,000 is a lot of money. I have not had any bad experience with the Cat dealer and the salesman really worked to get my business (probably why the purchase price was so low on the 304CR).

BTW, I was also looking at the Hitachi EX50 compact excavator. The dealer had a low hour machine that was selling for about $50,000 which was between the Cat and Bobcat costs. He couldn't come down on the price, but would throw $5,000 of equipment rental into the deal. I really didn't like this and told him I would rather just have $5,000 off the price of the machine, but no deal. The Hitachi is exactly the same machine as the John Deere compact excavators, just different color. A local rental company brought in a few new JD compact excavators this year. I'll have to see if they will give me a good price on a low hour machine.

 

[Tigerotor77W]

BTW, I was also looking at the Hitachi EX50 compact excavator. The dealer had a low hour machine that was selling for about $50,000 which was between the Cat and Bobcat costs. He couldn't come down on the price, but would throw $5,000 of equipment rental into the deal. I really didn't like this and told him I would rather just have $5,000 off the price of the machine, but no deal. The Hitachi is exactly the same machine as the John Deere compact excavators, just different color. A local rental company brought in a few new JD compact excavators this year. I'll have to see if they will give me a good price on a low hour machine.

I'm a stubborn person, and when people tell me that Hitachi builds good excavators, I have trouble believing that their minis would be as good at Bobcat's. But hey -- Bobcat does have a higher price than other manufacturers. Their justification is the "Bobcat advantage" -- better cooling system and yadda yadda yadda. lol

 

[Eric]

I'm a stubborn person, and when people tell me that Hitachi builds good excavators, I have trouble believing that their minis would be as good at Bobcat's. But hey -- Bobcat does have a higher price than other manufacturers. Their justification is the "Bobcat advantage" -- better cooling system and yadda yadda yadda. lol

Something to think about when comparing price of Bobcats and other equipment manufacturers is that Bobcats are made in the USA. I'm sure this adds to the price a bit, but I think its worth it to give an American a job from my purchase.

 

[Fishfiles]

Something to think about when comparing price of Bobcats and other equipment manufacturers is that Bobcats are made in the USA. I'm sure this adds to the price a bit, but I think its worth it to give an American a job from my purchase.

I pesonally don't think it's fair for Bobcat to be able to say legally , "Bobcat is made in the USA" , Ingersol moved there corporate head quarters to the Bahamas a few years back , they to me are not an American company , they are Bahamian company with a plant in the USA ,I would guess that tax breaks and different corporate laws was the reason for that ------ the skidsteers and some excavators are only assemblied here using a majority of foreign components , I believe the number is 30% of the products parts have to come from this country is say " made in " on it , some of the excavators are made by other companies and Bobcats name is put on them , one that pops up in my mind is the 442 it is really a Terex with a few changes made here and there ,the same parts are bought cheaper from Terex then the local Bobcat dealer as I'd guess Bobcat has to profit some on them with a mark up , -------- I read some where that 90% of all excavators come from a 200 mile radius of a point in Japan , Mitsubitzi is Catapillar , Hitachi is John Deere , Sumatoma is Link Belt and on and on ,same machines different paint and decals , to me there is a big difference in made in the USA or asemblied in the USA and where the money goes , if it were my call the import tarriff would be so high on machines that more companies would build machine here and the money would stay here ------ no better way to spoil a party than to talk politics , as every one has an opioion and they all stink

 

[Land-Tech]

I pesonally don't think it's fair for Bobcat to be able to say legally , "Bobcat is made in the USA" , Ingersol moved there corporate head quarters to the Bahamas a few years back , they to me are not an American company , they are Bahamian company with a plant in the USA ,I would guess that tax breaks and different corporate laws was the reason for that ------ the skidsteers and some excavators are only assemblied here using a majority of foreign components , I believe the number is 30% of the products parts have to come from this country is say " made in " on it , some of the excavators are made by other companies and Bobcats name is put on them , one that pops up in my mind is the 442 it is really a Terex with a few changes made here and there ,the same parts are bought cheaper from Terex then the local Bobcat dealer as I'd guess Bobcat has to profit some on them with a mark up , -------- I read some where that 90% of all excavators come from a 200 mile radius of a point in Japan , Mitsubitzi is Catapillar , Hitachi is John Deere , Sumatoma is Link Belt and on and on ,same machines different paint and decals , to me there is a big difference in made in the USA or asemblied in the USA and where the money goes , if it were my call the import tarriff would be so high on machines that more companies would build machine here and the money would stay here ------ no better way to spoil a party than to talk politics , as every one has an opioion and they all stink

I FIND THAT WE ARE PAST THE POINT OF WHERE A MACHINE IS MADE OR ASSEMBLED IS RELLIVANT IN TODAYS WORLD OR AT LEAST WHERE I'M AT. THE EARLY 70'S JOHN DEERE JD 24 HAD AN ISUSU DIESEL THAT RAN GREAT WITH BOSH INJECTION.WE AVOIDED HIGH CAT PRICES BY PURCHASING A TOYOTA ALTERNATOR FOR OUR 1983 CAT D3 AT THE LOCAL NAPA. MY 97 MUSTANG IS POWERED BY YANMAR ,MY GEHL A GERMAN DIESEL THE BOBCAT EXCAVATORS I HAVE USE KABOTAS.I DON'T THINK WE'VE BEEN ALL AMERICAN SINCE THE SIXTIES. AMERICAN BRANDS FOUND IN THE SEVENTIES THAT JAPANESE ENGINE TECHNOLOGY WAS WAY AHEAD AND THE PRICE WAS PROBABLY RIGHT. CUMMINS MAY BE AN EXCEPTION. IT'S BEEN A MIXED BAG EVER SINCE. AND FOR THE MOST PART BETTER.OPENING THE MARKET TO THE REST OF THE WORLD HAS ONLY CREATED MORE INOVATION AND BETTER TECHNOLOGY. AND SO I'VE HAD THIS 435 ZHS FOR A YEAR NOW AND HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO GET A FEEL FOR WHAT IT CAN DO.BEFORE I PURCHASED IT I WENT TRIED DIFFERENT BRANDS,COMPARED SPECS PRICES. I HAVE A 331 THAT I'VE PUT 4000 HR ON AND IT HAS BEEN VERY RELIABLE.WHY I CHOSE THE 435 WAS THE ROOMY CAB AND THE FAST TRACK SYSTEM. I BABY THE TRACKS CAUSE WITH THE GLACIAL TILL WE HAVE YOU CAN EAT UP A SET OF TRACKS PRETTY EASILY.THE HYDRALIC SYSTEM HAD A GLITCH SO THAT WHEN THE FAN WOULD KICK IN, YOU WOULD LOSE A LOT OF POWER. DEALER CAME AND FIXED AND NO PROBLEM SINCE. BOBCAT HAS REALLY STUFFED ALOT INTO THE HOUSE BUT NO LEAKS WITH 500 HRS.THE STOCK THUMB FOR THE MACHINE IS A MUST.BUILT HEAVY WITH FOUR DIFFERENT MODES. THE TRACKS ARE LONGER AND TALLER THAN ALL THE OTHERS AND REALLY ADDS STABILITY. IT EATS FUEL LIKE CRAZY COMPARED TO THE 331 AND IN ORDER TO MAKE FULL USE OF THE HYDRALICS I RUN 3/4 TO FULL THROTTLE. HYDRALICS ARE SMOOTH NO MATTER WHAT THE RPM. REALLY LIKE THE DOUBLE CYLINDER BLADE THAT LETS STUFF THAT COMES OVER THE BLADE FALL THROUGH. TWO YEAR WARRANTY HELPED IN THE BUYING DECISION.DEALER RESPONSE IS GOOD.