Cat 501 hd

[parlee8920032001]

Gents - been thinking about up grading here soon to a new Cat . I do a lot of hardwood and heard a lot of good things about these machines . anybody on here have any?

[wannaergo]

I run one, and some days I love it, but many days I would love to dump it. It has phenomenal speed and power, and the 3/4 chain is awesome. I've done a lot of things I never thought possible, and without too much trouble. The bad side however, is that it likes to break.  I've had 3 encoders in my measuring wheel, the arm on the wheel is broken, i replaced the cover as well. I go through wiring harnesses for the feed wheels like you would not believe. Last winter, I had a feed roller blow into pieces in the middle of processing a tree. Couple weeks later my feed motor housing broke. The same month I had some computers acting stupid and a foot pedal go bad. I've replaced a joystick, fixed the other joystick, and i've had to jack the cab to put protection on the wires underneath because they rub on a metal edge during operation and cause funny things to happen. And hoses. Holy buckets does the thing eat hoses. They are hanging all over the head, and if they are not way too exposed, they are rubbing on a metal edge. I swear cat made an agreement with gates that they would design it to go through hoses. I dont know if I have a factory hose left. My machine only has 2340 hours. All that being said, my dad loves the lower payment, and the fact that it puts out 50-60 cords in a ten hour day without too much trouble.

[JLeBouton]

Have you looked into the Barko 240 with CF-18 head?  Similar size machine, but faster and cleaner hose routing.

Here is a short vid of it in action.

https://youtu.be/i5wyY_G1jec

[parlee8920032001]

The barko is fast . is there a lot on the market I wonder?

[jdament]

I work with a company that has 3 cats and they are a problem waiting to happen.  I've put in an engine for them and numerous other problems.  And yes they are hose eaters just like my Fabtek.  A buddy just got a brand new Barko and he ran a cat for 4 years and he said the Barko is by far the better machine.  More power a lot less hoses and two swing motors.  He loves it.  I've seen it work in person and they are impressive.  If someone gave me a Cat I would sell it and get a Barko.