I had the chance to use when next to the CAT 259b3 and saw alot of ting i did not like. The tracks are rigid mounted we had the chance to drive it over a bump strip did not have a nice ride at all. I found the visibilty from the cab was poor. Had good power though. We had a chance to flip up the cab and have a look I would think with the routing of hose etc it will be a leaking mess after using it for awhile. The ease of checking engine oil levels etc was bad also you had to reach over the rad pipe and exhaut to get to the dipstick. I would say it was not bad for the first try and will get better. I am very picky about my machines and would say that even the welds on the loader arms looked messy. The Cat 259B3 shines next to this model. Are you looking at buying soon? What models have you looked at?