leibherr dozer

[mikebramel]

How many hrs on 1050?I talked with a contractor in Toronto and he said he runs nothing but Liebehrr?He is a mechanic by trade and came from Toromont Cat.He figures the Liebehrr(JD) design is light years ahead of cat?Doesnt sound this way with you guys,and I dont think pushing chips is a stress on equipment!Does your company have a good maitenence program? Steve

Well if you listen to alot of these Komatsu is junk too. Nothing like having a yellow billboard on your machine to blend in

 

[steve.k]

I've been down the yellow road not gonna happen again!We have run nearly all brands and I can say we have had better luck with alot of machines besides the usual.

 

[Per Eriksson]

Pushing woodchips is a walk in the park for dozers, We had a D8N here that ran close to 40000 hours before they blew the engine, undercarriage and drive train was still untouched for the most part.

It is now replaced with a CASE quadtrac and that thing is a beast, it is fast and even though it has a smaller blade it pushes more cubics/hour.
The main reason for them trying it is noise levels, when the D8 reversed down the pile it woke the whole town up, the quadtrac almost has to have a backup beeper on it for you to notice it.

 

[LDK]

Thanks LDK. I have been eyeing up these dozers for awhile and to me they look well built. Liebehrr is a big company and they usually don't get that big making junk? I understand they are the biggest crane manufacturer in the world.German technology usually is at the top of the heap and we know where their autos sit.i think because there is not many around North America people tend to shy away but after having very good success with the Fiat line we used I'm starting to look around alot closer! The tilt over cabs easy access to components and various other features I see that Jd has incorporated and now Cat and others following tells you something's about their designs. Good to hear your feedback thanks. Your work in Russia would interest me! I spent a few days in
Moscow very interesting indeed. !Steve

Steve, For the first 30 years of my working life I had a very closed mind view, I was so biased that the only thing I would consider was CAT. Since then I have become more open minded on brand but my view is biased towards the operation and reliability (I don't do the books)
Like I said it would be the back up that clinched it for me.
In Argentina in 2007 we bought a JD 700J, 750J, 160 excavator. The reason we went with JD was having been to the CAT and Komatsu dealers they where not listening to us and tried to sell us larger machines than we wanted because of where they were built (Both in Brazil I think), with JD we could have what we wanted. We also got a couple of tracked skid loaders from them because we could only get wheeled ones from the other 2 dealers.
So far so good. The dozers were great to run, I really liked the 700. The 160 was a great machine but the skid loaders were a disaster.
We have sold almost everything off in the last 6 months...... except for those skid loaders!!
I can assure you that if we are in the market for equipment again in Argentina we would not be looking at JD because the back up from their dealer was terrible. Having a machine standing for a month or more waiting for a part to arrive was not uncommon and most times I felt their service guys were just guessing at things, lacked experience and had no sense of urgency.
I forgot to mention, that at the same time we bought a new CAT 320, it was not significantly more reliable, if at all. Having said that if we are buying again here we would almost certainly go with CAT because of the dealer back up, they were not great but I have to say they were better than JD.
Our only experience of the Komatsu dealer was in 2000 we rented a D65 from them, we specified we wanted a semi-U blade with hydraulic tilt and they confirmed that it would have. They hauled it a thousand miles to us, we were happy to see that it was a new machine but then saw the blade for it was a manual angle with no hydraulic tilt, it went back!!! That episode did not fill me with confidence but I cant honestly say what their service department is like.

As far as working in Russia, it has got better over the last 10 years but things never run smoothly, their is always a twist

 

[awful knawful]

The 1050 must have 25000 + hrs. I'm not positive. Engines been done twice for sure. First time it wasn't done properly and had to be done again. I think it was the #1 tractor for 4 years at about 6000hrs/ year. The company bought it because it was $100k cheaper than a D8R at the time. In the first year it had over $100K in repairs. They even researched the machine before buying. A company had 6 in the USA pushing at a landfill and got rid of all of them for D8s. Even after this they still bought it and it has been trouble since day 1.
I'm not pro CAT, just the facts. Hydraulics get so hot it cooks the hoses, they become brittle and fail. HYD cooler is too small/ inefficient. I believe there are 4 drive pumps. They,ve been changed multiple times at like $30K each. On a hot summer day you can push maybe 50-75% of the time, the other % is spent idleing so it will cool down. Engine doesn't heat just the hydraulics. They've had Liebherr here multiple times and they can't find any problems.
We are on a pretty good maint schedule. We have 2 full time mechanics and all services are done at specific hour timelines. For US the D8 has been much better and very reliable.

 

[awful knawful]

here are some of my posts on the 1050c. old but shows the issues we had.

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?5453-Deere-1050J-pictures/page5

 

[steve.k]

here are some of my posts on the 1050c. old but shows the issues we had.

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?5453-Deere-1050J-pictures/page5

Thanks guys 25,000 hrs is a ton and that may have been something to do with the 1050's problems for sure.Ive never had a engine get past about 15000 without a rebuild so Id say its on par.Thats with anyones machine Cat included!The post above says 40000 on a cat 8n I would say thats a world record for cat I have never heard of that many before?It maybe possible but I have not heard of it before.I beleive all these machines have their strengths and weaknesses and you have to figure out what they are and use accordinginly.As an example the Fd 255 runs over 100 psi oil pressure when cold on engine,in sub zero temps up here you have to make certain precautions to keep from blowing filter seals when starting.We run light oils and have heaters installed(propane)on all machines to ease starting.End of that Issue. Steve:beatsme

 

[Chisumtrail]

Anybody know if there is a Liebherr dozer that is exactly the same as a Deere 950J, just looking for part source options. Or did Liebherr agree not to make one the same specs?

 

[steve.k]

950j

Anybody know if there is a Liebherr dozer that is exactly the same as a Deere 950J, just looking for part source options. Or did Liebherr agree not to make one the same specs?

The 950j is exactly the same as744 Lieberr you can get all parts from them!:beatsme

 

[Me1magoo]

I have JD 450, 550, 650, 700, 750 J's (several) and have one 850J and a 1050J in my fleet (rental fleet) and can assure you the 450 through the 850 are all built by JD. Everything in them is JD and they make them. The 1050J is a Liebherr machine, when we buy parts (which is ALL the time it seems) they even have "L" on the part numbers from the Deere dealer. The 605C track loaders we have are also Liebherr machines, JD just puts a stamp and decals on them. I can't say much good for the 1050J, it has barely broken even in the three years we have had it and it hasn't even reached 5000 hours yet. Pretty disappointing when you see the machine it looks impressive but it really doesn't go more than a month without something broken. We just put $12K in it for a WIRING HARNESS!

 

[steve.k]

I have JD 450, 550, 650, 700, 750 J's (several) and have one 850J and a 1050J in my fleet (rental fleet) and can assure you the 450 through the 850 are all built by JD. Everything in them is JD and they make them. The 1050J is a Liebherr machine, when we buy parts (which is ALL the time it seems) they even have "L" on the part numbers from the Deere dealer. The 605C track loaders we have are also Liebherr machines, JD just puts a stamp and decals on them. I can't say much good for the 1050J, it has barely broken even in the three years we have had it and it hasn't even reached 5000 hours yet. Pretty disappointing when you see the machine it looks impressive but it really doesn't go more than a month without something broken. We just put $12K in it for a WIRING HARNESS!

It seems there are mixed reviews on these 950-1050j Deeres?I read through all of awfuls posts and some guys had good luck with these machines.In all honesty 40,000 hrs is a ton of hrs and most machines would be on 2-3 rebuild from ground up.Our old 25c which everyone loves is a 40,000 hr plus unit and the only thing we havent rebuilt is the final drives.I have a feeling that certain dozers require certain maintence procederes and others a different way,this maybe two that require a different set of rules??Im sure there are some Jd reps out there that can shed more light on this?I do not understand why if there are issues with these dozers why JD and Liebherr have not teamed up to resolve them?Doesnt make sense as it makes neither of them look good when competing with the others??Is it a lack of trained tecs and a poor understanding of what these tractors need to be successful?The contractor in Toronto said he was switching everything to Liebherr as he had nothing but good success and cam directly from CAT?He said most of their machines are newer and the oldest one had over 6000hrs basically trouble free so far!What is he doing different?I do not know but he says the tractors were primarily used for ripping shale and granite?That would seem like torture to me!

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . steve.k Mate are you saying you have a machine 40,000 hours on final drives?

Cheers

 

[steve.k]

Yair . . . steve.k Mate are you saying you have a machine 40,000 hours on final drives?

Cheers

Yes we have a TD 25c that we bought in mid eighties,that has the above hrs. We bought the machine with about 3000 hrs on it and have run it ever since. It now only see's back up service or brush work(as its a canopy machine).It has never had the drives apart!This is a huge contrast to our d8h models we used to have that required drive rebuilds nearly every second season??I have nothing but praise for the IH design and have met with the Dressta reps from Chicago(Bob Schenk) a few times, they agree the 25c was their best machine ever!:notworthy

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . steve.k Thats remarkable. I never realised that particular machine was a cut above the rest . . . I have never heard of those hours on any finals.

Cheers

 

[steve.k]

G

Yair . . . steve.k Thats remarkable. I never realised that particular machine was a cut above the rest . . . I have never heard of those hours on any finals.

Cheers

Scrub Puller
Yes I know not many beleive a corn binder (ih) much good at anything! We have three in our fleet a td20h, td25g,td25c! At one time we were running 6 td25c's and production was leaps ahead of when we had the Cat stuff! I recently bought a 2008 155ax Komatsu as I could not find a 25m in my price range. The Komatsu had 2800 hrs when we got it and after nearly 1000hrs run time its definatly not up to 25 standards. The 25g is better balanced and pulls our 10ft five shank ripper boxes easier. I will try and post a picture of the box. I tell guys around here about the drives and they think I'm nuts! I give them the phone no of our mechanic as he is the only one that works on these machines. It has struck up interesting conversation to say the least. We bought the first c which I still have on advice from our cousins who had two. After real bad luck with a 8 h we switched over and never looked back. Now that Dressta has separated from Komatsu we are starting to see a influx again of these solid tractors. I have as I said before met with Bob Schenk Dresstas North American rep as they are looking for input on the upcoming tractors. It was good to talk with him and get the complete history of these machines and their new direction. I've also been looking at the 20m as a update but there is only one in our area and its new and out of my budget. The jd was my next alternative !

 

[YEC1998]

Steve.k
I have a TD-25E and it is a fine dozer, it will out work our Cat D8K and I love the two speed steering. I bought it in 1999 due to an engine failure in one of our D8K's. Having to get back to work in a hurry I bought The 25, I figured I would be a piece of junk but I sure was wrong. I payed $23,000 for it and if I remember right it was going to cost around $25,000 to get the D8 back going. I have ran the TD-25E since 1999 without any major problems and I has payed for itself multiple times, It has a factory enclosed cab, limb risers and a carco 120 winch. As far as the Liebherr machines I have two Liebherr excavators R912LC, and R932HD and they have been very reliable. My operators don't like them because they are not very fast to operate and they don't have a traditional swing brake. They are good machines for certain jobs, I use them for spares or back up machines. The JD dealer in my area has put a few 1050C's out and they have had a lot of problems with them especially engines. I don't know if they had any other problems but they look like a good machine built tough and well engineered. If I was going to buy a new machine I would probably go with a D8 mainly due to dealer support and better used parts availability. If I were to buy a used machine I would consider a JD 1050 due to they don't hold there value compared to the Cat. The local Deere dealer sold one about a year ago on Ironplanet that was a steal the machine only had 1600 hrs on it with a ripper in very good shape and no problems with the machine and it only brought $113,000. That a lot less money than a equally equipped D8R.

 

[steve.k]

Td 25 ripper box for frost.this one mounted on 155ax Komatsu

This is picture of ripper box to rip topsoils when froze.this allows us to keep topsoils clean(less admixing) and minimize lumps.This works great and minimizes rip time.