New Bobcat E145

[DirtLife]

So after looking at a bunch of machines in this size class we ended up with a brand new 2025 Bobcat E145. Were mostly residential home builders. We do do some commercial work. However we selectively self perform certain aspects of site work. We currently own a KX057-4 we have owned since new. We have a Bobcat T740 and a Kubota L45TLB. I used to own a volvo 160eblc. That was a great machine. So i do have experience with some mid size equipment. We recently have been getting stuck having to load out a good amount of dirt. Which is very difficult with the 57. Plus we've been getting back to some more larger scale work. Anyway if i had my pick and money didnt matter i would have wanted the cat315 next gen. What a nice machine. However its substantially more money then this machine. Also looked at the volvo ECR. Another nice machine. I really didnt want pre owned based on the factory incentives going around right now. My brother does the numbers and i was on a tight budget. We only run this size machine about 500 hours a year. So its not an every day machine for us. So far so good tho. I know its a Doosan or now Develon dx140lcr. However, so far the machine has been strong fast and smooth. There were a couple of little things on delivery. My bobcat dealer was extremely responsive. It had a week battery i guess from sitting in the port. They replaced both within 24 hours. The battery disconnect switch came broken. Maybe again at the port. They ordered that for me and for some reason the fuse panel cover behind your right shoulder in the cab has been falling off when the machine bounces. They got me a new one. So so far parts have been relatively quick. We will see if and when its something more difficult. The cab is spacious. There are some nice features. 4 way 360 cameras they come in handy cause with the minimal tail swing you can get pretty close to things. There is a radio its not so great. It does have blue tooth for streaming and connectivity for your phone. The tech is not as good as the cat. Some of the interior cab materials are not as nice, fit and finish is not as refined. Our machine does have the optional road liner pads. Obviously nice cause it makes it easier to bring in on some of those medium sized additions and you can get dug out a lot faster. It also has the blade, thumb and quick coupler. We got a 36” digging bucket on it for now. It is plumbed for a hammer as well. I know people say the pins on the Doosans have a tendency to wear. I will keep the machine well greased with red n tacky. The nice thing is the machine has a 5 year full warranty on it. So while we are paying for it its covered. That was a important piece of mind for us on a big purchase like this. Thats why we were skeptical on the used marked. Cause the loan would have been a higher rate on the preowned piece and obviously, its sold as is buyer beware and no warranty. So all in all yes im pretty happy to be in a nice new machine in this size class. A lot of additional buttons to get used to. It has four different power modes. Economy has been really nice for loading trucks the machine seams to go easy on the fuel in this mode. Theres a soft swing mode i guess people use for grading. A bunch of other stuff ive been working through the manual in between loading trucks. Overall ive been pretty happy. A couple of my other friends that ive let run it were impressed too. We out it right to work digging a new accessory building that was a 30’x30’ crawl space. We were right off the end of the driveway close to the other end of the existing garage. The minimal clearance tail swing made it nice to where i wasnt cringing every movement It is definitely a white Doosan tho or a Develon now whatever it is. The price was right tho now only time will tell but thats why i got the full soup to nuts warranty. Like i said this isnt a every day machine for us. So hopefully this will work well for us and what we do with it. Now all the staunch cat and deere guys can have at me. I will say this. We had 2 new hitachis on long term rental. Which are deeres. They were terrible. They had to swap the 160 for the 145. Both machines were weak. But the 160 the dpf clogged mid rental and they swapped it out for their 145. I did have a 315gc out for a month. It was very nice. I liked it a lot. As with all minimal clearance machines. They all can get a little tippy lifting over the side so you do have to pay attention. I think that is the only downside.

 

[DM&RDBulldog]

Congratulations on the new machine. That machine was in the running when I was looking for new machines. I never got seat time in that specific model but have had many 8 ton Bobcats on rental and they did the job like any other brand ive had.

Doosan was purchased by Hyundai, they rebranded to Develon, and introduced skid steer models right away so id be curious if they are going to keep Bobcat around or sell/kill the brand.

 

[HarleyHappy]

Nice looking machine. Beautiful size.
Be very surprised if they would ever kill the Bobcat brand.

 

[DirtLife]

Bobcat e145 update. So the machine is a great machine when it’s RUNNiNG. So what we originally thought was bad batteries due to transport and the master battery shut off switch being broken. It has become evident that was not the problem. The dealer has now put four sets of batteries in the machine and a new alternator now. For some reason the machine dies during the work day. Doesn’t shut off till you shut it off but then it won’t restart and the voltage goes way low not enough to start it. I gotta jump start it to get it running then it will have power issues cause the voltage is low. The machine doesn’t work every day but this is the 4th time now it’s done this when the machine has worked several consecutive days in a row. It will stay with a charge when the master switch is off. It only does this when it works throughout the day. What could this be? Cause honestly bobcat has no idea what they are doing with these larger machines. We are speaking with our lawyer/bobcat corporate and our bank on the lease today. What was supposed to be a monumental purchase for my brother and I. Has turned into a nightmare. This is what happens when your cheap I guess. But you shouldn’t need jumper pack to start a brand new $239k machines. Any ideas on what this could be? I’m saying this is a lemon with some short they are going to find and they better take it back. Machine hasn’t been 100 percent since delivery and was delivered defective. My brother and I are paying 100 percent of the money.

 

[SteinarN]

DL,
you need to do some basic measurements.

Measure with a DC clamp ammeter on the B+ wire right at the alternator.

Also measure voltage at the alternator between B+ and ALTERNATOR BODY. I assume 24V system? You should have close to 28V on the alternator. Check across the battery too, there you should have the alternator voltage minus one or two tenths of a volt.

If the voltage at battery is more than say 0,2-0,4V lower than at the alternator you have some bad connection between alternator B+ and battery +, OR bad ground connection somewhere.

If the voltage both at the alternator and on the battery are too low, say below 27 and something volts then compare your clamp ammeter reading with the alternator amps spec. The alternator should be able to output at least the speced amps, usually 10 percent or so more than spec.

If the alternator amps measured with the clamp ammeter is way high (close to alternator spec output) then you have something pulling a lot of amps by error. Do the glow plugs have constant voltage with the engine running? That could be one cause for current drain.

Edit: All this is with the engine running ofc

 

[DirtLife]

DL,
you need to do some basic measurements.

Measure with a DC clamp ammeter on the B+ wire right at the alternator.

Also measure voltage at the alternator between B+ and ALTERNATOR BODY. I assume 24V system? You should have close to 28V on the alternator. Check across the battery too, there you should have the alternator voltage minus one or two tenths of a volt.

If the voltage at battery is more than say 0,2-0,4V lower than at the alternator you have some bad connection between alternator B+ and battery +, OR bad ground connection somewhere.

If the voltage both at the alternator and on the battery are too low, say below 27 and something volts then compare your clamp ammeter reading with the alternator amps spec. The alternator should be able to output at least the speced amps, usually 10 percent or so more than spec.

If the alternator amps measured with the clamp ammeter is way high (close to alternator spec output) then you have something pulling a lot of amps by error. Do the glow plugs have constant voltage with the engine running? That could be one cause for current drain.

Edit: All this is with the engine running ofc

Glow plugs do not have constant power.
The dealer tech is baffled. Not that these bobcat techs know much about these new larger machines. They are bringing me a rental tomorrow so I can continue working and taking my machine back to the shop to go through the entire wiring harness. They came out today attempted to troubleshoot with no luck. They ended up putting new batteries in it reset the codes.l Which took a while cause now for some reason it’s was having a problem communicating. In NY there is no lemon law on excavators unless it is agricultural farming equipment. As of right now I have zero confidence in the dealer actually being able to permanently fix the problem.

 

[DirtLife]

So just a quick update our machine is fixed and seams to be running 100 percent. This is the text I received from the service manager.

Good morning gentlemen, just a quick update from yesterday’s 11/17 road call.



After reviewing the warranty documentation, our techs found that the issue was an intermittent electrical no-contact at the 40-amp equalizer fuse. The fuse was inside an electrical insulator, and once removed, we found one end of the fuse connection loose and showing play. That intermittent loss of contact was the problem the whole time and these types of issues can be very difficult to locate. That loose connection was causing the second battery not to charge and slowly go dead. The machine appeared to be charging, but the battery was gradually draining to the point where it eventually needed to be jump started.



For context, the equalizer fuse protects the system that keeps both 12volt batteries in a 24volt setup balanced. When the fuse connection becomes loose, the equalizer can’t properly distribute power, which causes the symptoms you experienced.



We are continuing to monitor this closely, and if this electrical issue arises again, we are already planning to bring an E145 into the rental fleet to ensure you have a machine.



Attached is a picture and video of the faulty fuse.



We sincerely appreciate your patience and support during this situation. Please let us know if there’s anything else you need.


Does this make sense to you fellas? The machine performs well for what we do. As long as it’s running. We had their rental hammer out for it. Cause we had to put these pump chambers about 16-17 which about 6 feet or so was into rock. The machine did what it was supposed to. Worked in a pretty confined area digging pretty deep hammering in between the shoring box. It does pretty well on fuel too all things considered. Some pics included from its last couple days work

 

[DM&RDBulldog]

Sorry to hear of the troubles with a new machine. From what you've posted in the thread so far and not ever seeing this machine myself id say that dealer diagnosis and explanation is legitimate. Pretty rare for something new to have an issue as such buried in the wiring harness, but anything is possible and unfortunately you've drawn the short straw out of all the other trouble free Bobcats sold.

I wouldn't go as far as discrediting the dealer techs on their knowledge of the larger machines. Electrical issues as such are an in depth diagnosis no matter what size the machine is. They assume as most would in that situation that the actual wiring is 100% and its just a hard part (battery, alternator) needing replace. We all wish they would start with a full diagnosis and find the true issue in a scenario like this but lets be honest if it wasn't under warranty and you had to fix it yourself, you wouldn't have broken out the multimeter and started testing continuity and voltage readings for a problem buried in the wiring harness the first time around.

Keep us updated.

 

[DirtLife]

Machine has now ran several days in a row and hasn’t fried the batteries yet. So I think they did fix it. Looking forward to a positive experiance with my new machine if everything is fixed now. Thank god I got the extended 60 month warranty!

 

[DirtLife]

Finally was able to get some work done with our new machine. Seems to be functioning as it should now. The cab is very nice and comfortable. If I was going to do it again I think I would opt for no thumb and purchase a grapple with that money for demo/clearing. These manholes had to get set pretty deep. The thumb really hinders digging when your deep and your digging through the shoring box. The thumb also I think makes the machine a little tippy over the side with a full bucket of wet dirt. Most of the minimal tail swings exhibit this trait tho over the side. The machine went between the bucket and the hammer and hammered these manholes approximately 6’ into the rock the actual holes were approximately 15’ deep. The machine performed setting the structures, digging and hammering. I think the size is perfect for us and I like the minimal clearance tail swing. We were working on a tight site and it’s nice not cringing everytime you spin. The only thing I wish is I could add counterweights. But they say bobcat doesn’t make them. I gotta check if develon does.
View attachment IMG_1677.jpeg