Cat th407

[Badshot]

Any user views?
I've given up hope of finding a decent matbro the same as I have now.
So I'm considering a used cat to run alongside it.
I really don't want to spend 60 grand a on a handler which is full of things to stop it working.
I'm hoping something about 2008 to 2010 might not have too much to go wrong on it.
Views?
Recommendations?
Anyone selling a really good one?

 

[ACEngineering]

Any user views?
I've given up hope of finding a decent matbro the same as I have now.
So I'm considering a used cat to run alongside it.
I really don't want to spend 60 grand a on a handler which is full of things to stop it working.
I'm hoping something about 2008 to 2010 might not have too much to go wrong on it.
Views?
Recommendations?
Anyone selling a really good one?

Do you get a good discount from finnings cat handler parts are expensive!

 

[Badshot]

Do you get a good discount from finnings cat handler parts are expensive!

Is there much breaks on them?
I do know of someone who sources spurious cat parts from somewhere else though.
Don't know if they do handler parts or just digger/dozer parts.

 

[benny6910]

I think there are quite a big numb machine when you first sit in one, I felt a bit like a was sat in a high sided bath when I drove one. Fast lift and plenty of power but parts are expensive for cat. I’m not sure but they might be stopping making ag spec machine I seam to think I heard.

 

[sledgeit]

Had aTH330b never out of trouble with it mainly electrical problems and a suspected major gearbox problem in the near future so we traded in for a new Kramer. The Cat had only 4000 hours on it glad to see the back of it.

 

[Matt77]

Had one on demo here, went on the silage pit, it didn’t end well salesman was sitting next to me on the forager tractor when I got the phone call (both fronts with the grab if you can’t tell) I had a play before he did this, stacks of power, felt very solid compared to our JCB 536-60 but the pay off for that was it was very tight in the cattle yards, terrible vision on the right hand side (you’d get used to it) and expensive compared to like for like JCB, I’d have enjoyed loading grain lorries with, bet it would be perfect for that.

 

[ACEngineering]

Had one on demo here, went on the silage pit, it didn’t end well salesman was sitting next to me on the forager tractor when I got the phone call (both fronts with the grab if you can’t tell) I had a play before he did this, stacks of power, felt very solid compared to our JCB 536-60 but the pay off for that was it was very tight in the cattle yards, terrible vision on the right hand side (you’d get used to it) and expensive compared to like for like JCB, I’d have enjoyed loading grain lorries with, bet it would be perfect for that.

you cant really blame the machine for that though

 

[ACEngineering]

Is there much breaks on them?
I do know of someone who sources spurious cat parts from somewhere else though.
Don't know if they do handler parts or just digger/dozer parts.

Stick with what you can get parts and advise for, and what your local repair man can fix

 

[Matt77]

you cant really blame the machine for that though

Nope, I 100% didn’t wasn’t funny at the time but it was 8 ish years ago I think so got over it now!

 

[ACEngineering]

Nope, I 100% didn’t wasn’t funny at the time but it was 8 ish years ago I think so got over it now!

Had a few customers do it on other makes, your not the first

 

[ACEngineering]

Any user views?
I've given up hope of finding a decent matbro the same as I have now.
So I'm considering a used cat to run alongside it.
I really don't want to spend 60 grand a on a handler which is full of things to stop it working.
I'm hoping something about 2008 to 2010 might not have too much to go wrong on it.
Views?
Recommendations?
Anyone selling a really good one?

TH407 is going to be miles bigger than your Matbro TS270!

 

[Badshot]

TH407 is going to be miles bigger than your Matbro TS270!

Not so much of an issue now.
It'd live at the grainstore and fert store instead of spending half its life driving between two yards, so extend the life of the matbro at the tighter yard.

 

[Badshot]

Had one on demo here, went on the silage pit, it didn’t end well salesman was sitting next to me on the forager tractor when I got the phone call (both fronts with the grab if you can’t tell) I had a play before he did this, stacks of power, felt very solid compared to our JCB 536-60 but the pay off for that was it was very tight in the cattle yards, terrible vision on the right hand side (you’d get used to it) and expensive compared to like for like JCB, I’d have enjoyed loading grain lorries with, bet it would be perfect for that.

Pretty much just doing the grainstore and fert bags would be it.
I'd go JCB but don't really like my buddies one, so looking at alternatives.

 

[Matt77]

Pretty much just doing the grainstore and fert bags would be it.
I'd go JCB but don't really like my buddies one, so looking at alternatives.

Probably won’t be a bad option then, get a nice big bucket and get the lorries loaded in no time, the controls weren’t too bad for me but when the JCB demo turned up I did feel at home in it, which isn’t a surprise I know, the screen guard on the cat was very irritating!

 

[solo]

The jcb 926 mast type machine would be a good choice on a budget, unless you really need the telescopic. My cat experience was many parts can only be sourced through finning and prices were very dear. The planetary drive broke up in the hub which was difficult to find parts for without going main dealer. I saw this post this week which reminded me.https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/job-of-the-day.330673/post-7363631

 

[Badshot]

The jcb 926 mast type machine would be a good choice on a budget, unless you really need the telescopic. My cat experience was many parts can only be sourced through finning and prices were very dear. The planetary drive broke up in the hub which was difficult to find parts for without going main dealer. I saw this post this week which reminded me.https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/job-of-the-day.330673/post-7363631

I've considered the 926 , but then it'd need all the attachment to go with it.
A telescopic could just have a pin and cone headstock fitted and be useable.

Maybe the cat isn't the best way to go though.
Manitou have been poor locally, and dealers bloody awful in the past. Not even sure if there is a local dealer now.
JCB dealers excellent, just not a massive fan of the JCB teles.
Claas, vowed not to use the dealer after being ignored.
Not much else in the area I know of.
Hence the cat direction.

 

[s~~t shoveller]

Get a jc b .530 70 or similar.simple to look after and std pipes et c ,easy to get filters,track rods etc.very good simple machine

 

[ACEngineering]

I've considered the 926 , but then it'd need all the attachment to go with it.
A telescopic could just have a pin and cone headstock fitted and be useable.

Maybe the cat isn't the best way to go though.
Manitou have been poor locally, and dealers bloody awful in the past. Not even sure if there is a local dealer now.
JCB dealers excellent, just not a massive fan of the JCB teles.
Claas, vowed not to use the dealer after being ignored.
Not much else in the area I know of.
Hence the cat direction.

if you got some one local to do the spanning i can do the manitou parts for you so don't just rule one out cause you cant get one with local dealers, my point earlier was you will have many more choices of parts supply and people to fix it if you go with a popular make like manitou or JCB.

 

[ewald]

Cat seem to have more than their fair share of electrical problems at this age.
Vision poor (as previously mentioned) - combination of lowish driving position and high engine cover
Feel really solid - good for loading wheat, but not brilliant in confined spaces.

Buy a pre-2010 JCB or Manitou and use indy servicing if necessary - they are simple enough
Remember, the dreaded boom lock outs came in 2010 - on all makes

 

[NasherXL]

We had a cat th414 at work from almost new from 2013 until late 2017. It was our quarry workshop telehandler so not farm use but it had 4000 very hard hours at the hands of mechanics and welders. As the only member of the team with agri machinery experience it faired a little better in my hands but I still drove it like I had stolen it when required. It was clumsy and visibility to the rear and right was poor but not any worse than other brands we have used(big jcbs we have had on hire no better). Good hydraulics and transmission, although it was a construction spec it drove very well and nothing has matched it for climbing the hills in the quarry, some steep grades here that reduce our jcbs of various ages to their knees. It did enjoy throwing fault codes up but nothing ever stopped it from fulfilling its jobs, electrics on the whole were no bother. The chassis and frame and headstock and associated pins and bearings coped very well given its regular overloading. Was used as much as a battering ram as a forklift and we found out it it would lift around 4.5/5 tons on its tiptoes if you let the crowd do the lifting instead of the boom...
We were all very disappointed when the contract changed and it went back to finning and we got a manitou 1640 in its place.
If I could have a telehandler for my small farming operation I certainly wouldnt hesitate to have a cat th of that series/age off the back of our trusty 414.