Cat or Deere

[Timbertiger00]

I'm looking at a 515 cat with a grapple and winch and a Deere 548g with winch both are good shape and close in price and tires the cat is rated higher hp. And the dealers are close so I'd like some input please

[duckslayingpro]

I cant speak to much about the 515. I have operated a 518 some good solid machine but seemed underpowered and used much more fuel than it should. The Deere on the other hand i can speak for. Great machine will pull a good drag and just sip fuel and plenty of power. But bith machines are good choices. I just prefer the deere. Good luck

[islandlogger]

"Inside beats the heart of a Deere...."

islandlogger

[bill m]

Does the 548g have a grapple and winch or is it a grapple converted to a cable skidder? I ran a 548g grapple converted to cable for two years. It sure could pull but could break chain chokers real easy.
the design of the fenders allowed the hitch to get caught under it and would break chokers. You had to be moving forward to pull the hitch up tight.

[240b]

Which one will have better resale value?  I found cat equipment to hold its value better than jd

[PAFaller]

Cats need transmissions at 10,000 hours. Don't know too many guys who havent gotten to that point and needed work done, or at least noticed the tranny starting to slip. Seems to be a common thing. John Deeres are good machines, but wont pull like that 515. I cut for a gentleman with a 515 cable machine for a couple years. It was the machine to have on a long skid, plenty of power. That said though it was heavy and wide, and that became a problem too. Hard to find people who are okay with moving a 10 foot wide machine.

[Timbertiger00]

Thanks for all the response. The deere is a factory winch machine. I think the cat is a better choice or at least that's the way I'm leaning so far we had a 518 and a 525 when I first started out and they wern't as fast as I thought they should be but they would pull whatever you hooked to the same gear every time and never broke. Really reliable machines

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Timber Tiger 00 Welcome to The Forum  ;) ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) I have always like the 518s and I take it you have a late model 00 Frick co Timber tiger Mate ;)

Best Regards Chris

[MattD23]

IMO it's a chevy vs ford battle. Both good brands. I've always used JD and am a loyal customer, but I know guys who swear by Cat.

[Timbertiger00]

Yeah I think both machines would do fine...I'm goin to run'em around next week and see what I think. Thanks for the welcome and all the input... We do have and old timber tiger mill, it's kind of unique. It had 4 16 foot carriages but were only runnin 3 the opening to load the log deck is only 45 feet so no need for 64 feet of carriage.

[treefarmer87]

i have heard from more than one person about the cat using alot of fuel.... i would go with the deere

[Bobus2003]

Got a CAT 518 at work.. 11,xxx Hours, and the torque converter is slipping.. And Yeah it likes to drink fuel. Pulls good and hard though in First gear for a machine it's size