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CAT 385C L Pictures
- Thread starter Cat446D1
- Start date
CAT D9H
Senior Member
What a beast , I would love to be operating that , great pics
chris-law
Well-Known Member
Whats the outreach on that
F-1.08-F.G.
Active Member
Interesting pics... what a boom! A 345BL is the biggest I've operated/been around... I know that it's not THAT big, just breaking the 100k mark. But that thing is a beast!! I guess I'm not used to seeing buckets with 7 teeth and tracks with only 2 grousers per shoe. Our 345 has two buckets, one of which is equipped with teeth like yours. We use them in rocky soil and anywhere else that requires a little extra effort to penetrate. Nice machine, wish I could get a little stick time on something that size.:drinkup
Burnout
Senior Member
Tis a sexy beast... but man that machine is gonna be slooooooow and gutless. We use the same reach stick on our 385's but a shorter boom and we can hardly get any power to the ground with any amount of reach. I showed a picture of that machine to one of our mechanics and he said we have one of those long booms sitting in our yard from our first 385. They bought the machine with it and it didn't have the power to muscle the 7yd buckets through the ground.
cat 385
Senior Member
sorry but i would disagree with that. ya you have longer reach but it is for deep trenching your not going to use a mass excavator for deep trenching or pulling trench boxes, as for the power a 385 has plenty of it, i read alot on here about how slow and gutless big hoes are but the yardage being moved is what counts,not to mention the lift power of a big hoe.as always this is my opinion, and yes i run big ones and little ones.:drinkup
A bucket is dimensioned to a spesific stick and boom.
U cant have a ME bucket fitted on that "long reach" boom and stick.
If u want reach and depth u got to axcept a smaler bucket.
It can bee the same volume, but cant be as wide as the ME ones.(to have "equal" break out/stick digging force)
Same volume is pushing the limits, but it can be done.
And will demand a experienced operator knowing what he is doing.
A bether topic here is to go away from the q/c, or get a modell that builds less and is lighter.
That will give u more power on the teeth.
Physics rule here too.
U cant have a ME bucket fitted on that "long reach" boom and stick.
If u want reach and depth u got to axcept a smaler bucket.
It can bee the same volume, but cant be as wide as the ME ones.(to have "equal" break out/stick digging force)
Same volume is pushing the limits, but it can be done.
And will demand a experienced operator knowing what he is doing.
A bether topic here is to go away from the q/c, or get a modell that builds less and is lighter.
That will give u more power on the teeth.
Physics rule here too.
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cat 385
Senior Member
i'm not sure of your point here? yes the ME would have a wider stick,but the machine pictured is a long reach with a wide bucket, i'm counting 7 teeth it must be doing the job i can see the manholes and pipe in the back ground ,i can see the hook on the bucket so i'd say this machine is up to snuff the way it sit's,it looks like they are in sandy clay soil.as for the operator problably exsperienced,i know the 385 and 375's i've ran there is more of a counter weight issue than a power issue.the co. i work for always has oversized buckets on any thing when they can.they would rather move the dirt than worry about a warranty issue.
I'm just saying that if u want the same guts out of it, with a long stick/boom, u need to have a narrow bucket.
Thats the only way to get the same force pr tooth as with a shorter stick/boom/wide bucket.
U can have a bucket with the same volume, and move the mass as a wide one, but then u need a special bucket.(deeper)
Thats the only way to get the same force pr tooth as with a shorter stick/boom/wide bucket.
U can have a bucket with the same volume, and move the mass as a wide one, but then u need a special bucket.(deeper)
stock
Senior Member
Did any see the Earthmovers mag this month,itgot a385c being towed by a 740 adt and a twin axle bogie under the excavator and the bucket in the dumper............. neat http://www.sleipner.fi/en/english_sleipner.html check out the video
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Burnout
Senior Member
I also run the little ones and the big ones. I have been in 7 different 385CL's, from our ME models to the ones we use for underground. Our machines all have 4 buckets each, a 7ft bucket for whaling dirt, a 60" tooth bucket for sewer, a 60" with a spoon for smaller sewer and watermain, and a 48" service bucket for catch basins and other needs. When we dig sewer and water, usually the first 7-8ft of the cut is done with the 7ft bucket, then you swing around grab the 60" dig the sewer, then swing around again and grab the spoon to dig the water, then repeat. We need the reach a lot, not so much with the big bucket, but definately with the smaller ones doing services.
Our 385's have a major lack of power. When swinging the 7ft bucket pre trenching or even normal digging it never has enough power to pull the bucket through the ground to get it loaded up. With the long stick... you can never get it to full extend with any of the buckets on, in that last 18" of travel the cylinder runs out of power, so when digging if you need the extra reach for throwing to the pile, we will just pull the stick all the way in and throw the bucket out there. I always say slow and gutless because.... well they are. We have some 800C Deere's kickin around with the same configuration and they are faster, more powerful and a nicer machine to run than the 385's. I have a video of our 385 digging, when I make the thread about the videos I will link you to it. It's only with a 60" bucket and you can see the wrenching action in it.
cat 385
Senior Member
well i'm not going to get in a deer,cat battle i guess the 385 and 375,s i've ran must have been power houses:beatsme
Burnout
Senior Member
They are power houses....but they aren't what they used to be. I will admit our 385B is a nicer unit than our C's. And our 375... well it is probably good for something, but their pretty bagged out these days. Our 375's are houred out, even our 1 year old 85's are climbing into the 3000hr club.
Our 800 Deere's are impressive, I love them. They have tracking power than the 385 could wish for. And they are good units.
Our 800 Deere's are impressive, I love them. They have tracking power than the 385 could wish for. And they are good units.
cat 385
Senior Member
i've ran the 385B not the 'C's our 375's our getting tired too,it seems the co. you work for is still buying the 385 if you have ran 7 385 c's,how come their not going with the 800 exclusively if they are that much better?the only deer excavator i,ve ran was a 750 i never have ran an 800, just curiouse.
Burnout
Senior Member
We buy 385's for the simple reason that we are a Caterpillar company. Finning makes us a steal of a deal on equipment. Our 800's and 750's are bought from ritchie brothers because they were cheap, and they don't mainline very much. They are side hoe's, for craning pipe and sanding. We dig with the 385's because their the biggest and thats how our company rolls. We actually have 14 385's, 1 B and 13C's, with 2 more C's sitting at Finning. Most of our fleet is Cat, and a lot of our operators are brainwashed that if it doesn't say Caterpillar it isnt worth owning. The 750's are a nice machine, I liked the one I ran for a bit last year. It's a bit of a weird situation for us, not many companies have 375's, 385's, 750/800 Deere's, 750/800 Komatsu's and a dozen or so 245's still kickin. I spend more time in 75ton excavators and up than I do in small ones. All I know is the Komatsu 800's are definately not the ride I want to be sitting in.
CAT 966H
New Member
Hello, newbie to forums here. If you haven't come across this person's set of videos on YouTube yet for the 385C LME, they are well worth watching!
http://ca.youtube.com/user/vantagetes
I'm not in the industry, but just a fan of big iron. I'm not quite sure what the difference is between the 385C L & the 385C LME. Either way, she sure is one cool beast!
http://ca.youtube.com/user/vantagetes
I'm not in the industry, but just a fan of big iron. I'm not quite sure what the difference is between the 385C L & the 385C LME. Either way, she sure is one cool beast!
stretch
Senior Member
The letter following the model # (in this case 385) is the series (B, C, D now I believe). L stands for long reach, ME for mass excavting, others include LRD for long-reach demolition and LC for long undercarriage.
Vantage_TeS
Senior Member
LOL funny you mention that. Apparently I'm a terrible operator because some dude works for a big company and they move alot of dirt. For the full story check out the "working in a pond" one haha.
The L is for long carriage the ME is for Mass Excavation which is basically just a shorter boom and stick (made for mad power/loading trucks vs reach).
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Burnout
Senior Member
Look like a good 85 operator as far as I'm concerned. About the only thing I could see to hold against you is that whole working/living in cowtown.....everybody knows the Edmonton operators get all the ladies (even if they do have that funny twitch:falldownlaugh).