Smilingreen
Active member
My son-in-law has been bringing home different track loaders this fall. The first one he brought home was a CAT 289D3 with high flow. It had a mulching head on it. Well, in 48 hours that weekend, I put 19 hours on it cleaning up some of my woods paths and some of the forest floor. The 289D3 had a 74.4 HP turbo diesel on it. I liked it. Fuel consumption wasn't bad, the operator cab was surprisingly quiet, even while mulching 8" diameter trees.
This weekend, he brought home a Cat 299D3 track loader and a CAT 307.5 excavator. Ran both all this weekend moving dirt, rocks, cleaning up ditch lines and even dug a test pilot hole for possibly an additional pond here on the farm. Had very nice clay down to 5', which I ran into limestone @ 5'. The CAT 299D3 was a beast of a machine. 110 HP CAT turbo diesel. It seemed to be a lot thirstier than the 289D3 is. Moving rock and dirt piles that have been sitting and settling in a fence row for 8 years was no challenge for the 299D3. Childs play.
The CAT 307.5 excavator has a 57.7 HP CAT turbo diesel in it. We had a 36" tooth bucket on it and it did a fairly good job of digging through our hardpan clay and limestone. I have ran a few CAT 308 excavators before and the reduction of HP in the 307.5 was hardly noticeable.
So, in running different CAT equipment around the farm, I am starting to lean towards the CAT 289D3. It doesn't require DEF, it is fairly fuel efficient and has enough power to handle a High Flow brush cutter, a grapple, has heat and air, sound deadening cab and it weighs in at 10,700lbs. I can easily pull that around on a trailer with my F250 gasser.
I have rented many different brands of track loaders through the years, from Kubota, John Deere, Case and ASV. All of them are good machines, but the CAT has caught my attention. I won't be buying new. I will be shopping for machines with 2k to 3k hours on them, that have been well maintained. That machine should outlast me.
289D3 with mulching head
My 11 year old grand daughter running the 299D3.
307.5 excavator parked at the house for lunch break.
This weekend, he brought home a Cat 299D3 track loader and a CAT 307.5 excavator. Ran both all this weekend moving dirt, rocks, cleaning up ditch lines and even dug a test pilot hole for possibly an additional pond here on the farm. Had very nice clay down to 5', which I ran into limestone @ 5'. The CAT 299D3 was a beast of a machine. 110 HP CAT turbo diesel. It seemed to be a lot thirstier than the 289D3 is. Moving rock and dirt piles that have been sitting and settling in a fence row for 8 years was no challenge for the 299D3. Childs play.
The CAT 307.5 excavator has a 57.7 HP CAT turbo diesel in it. We had a 36" tooth bucket on it and it did a fairly good job of digging through our hardpan clay and limestone. I have ran a few CAT 308 excavators before and the reduction of HP in the 307.5 was hardly noticeable.
So, in running different CAT equipment around the farm, I am starting to lean towards the CAT 289D3. It doesn't require DEF, it is fairly fuel efficient and has enough power to handle a High Flow brush cutter, a grapple, has heat and air, sound deadening cab and it weighs in at 10,700lbs. I can easily pull that around on a trailer with my F250 gasser.
I have rented many different brands of track loaders through the years, from Kubota, John Deere, Case and ASV. All of them are good machines, but the CAT has caught my attention. I won't be buying new. I will be shopping for machines with 2k to 3k hours on them, that have been well maintained. That machine should outlast me.
289D3 with mulching head
My 11 year old grand daughter running the 299D3.
307.5 excavator parked at the house for lunch break.
