First of all I am not a dozer expert by any means but have owned a few. Our new D3 (formerly the D5K) is one fine small dozer. Cat refined their small dozer line as they were falling behind with the G and K series IMO which resulted in a very well balanced finish tractor.
Ours is LGP so that has something to do with balance. Speed is infinitively proportioned along with power to the ground. Only have 300 hours on it and of course it has a lot of electronics so time will be the true judge.
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In this quote you (CM) mention that your opinion was that Cat was falling behind with their small dozers. This makes for, what I believe to be the opening of an interesting discussion. I have heard many folks talk about the superiority of Deere dozers with the introduction of the J models (some may even say with the H models). While I haven't been in the seat of a J model Deere, I have been in an H, and I've been in several Cats (C, G, Ks). I personally don't see the small Cat dozers falling behind. I currently own a D5K, and have always felt that Cat dozers have set the bar that others strive to reach. I would love open this discussion to hear what other owners and operators think.
I'll start by saying that performance, longevity, support, and re-sale (maybe other things too) should be part of the criteria for the discussion. I have already said that I haven't operated any Deere newer than an H, and I don't think that those on par with the Cats.
Are the J, K, and P (has anyone even run one of those yet?) dozers better performers than the Cats?
If so, in what way? Even if the J's and K's are superior performers, how much so?
In my opinion, the Cat dozers have superior undercarriage, bushings and pins, and better longevity over all. Is that disputed?