doobin
Well-known member
So it's finally arrived. And done 5.6 hours work before parking it up with a massive oil leak from somewhere in the valve chest. 
That alone wouldn't be so bad, you could call it teething issues, but the mechanic still has the E27 in bits to replace a valve section that was stopping the blade holding proper pressure. At least he's back first thing Monday I suppose.
Not had much of a play on it (obviously) but so far the good:
I specced the comfort pack (better seat and rollers for aux and offset) and let me tell you- I am proper comfortable. It's bloody massive- definately a 2t class machine rather than 1.5t. Acres of floor space, a big storage cupboard under the seat, bottle holder, other cubby holes and tons of space behind the seat. The tracking leavers are easily removable and the pedals fold up- superb design as on the E27.
It handles the Tigergrip with the rotator much better than I thought it would. Quite comfortable with it so long as you're sensible. I've fitted my grapple to it for versatility as a lot of the time a heavy rotating grab would be too much.
The grading is really, really good. I specced short arm. Grading was my main concern as the E27 isn't the best despite a mod, wheras the Hyundai the E19 replaced was an absolute peach. But this thing is brilliant. Really nice to use, and cleans up fairly well against the blade (long blade specced)
The twin aux setup works well, and you can select from three flow settings on the main aux.
The blade extensions seem strong and well built.
I've not had much chance to test digging power. It ripped a small stump out far easier than I thought it would come, but that could have been ground conditions too. Seemed to struggle a bit with a 600 in mudstone but that can be hard going as you try to get the initial scrape in and thinking about it, it was lifting the front end up easy enough.
The not so good:
It's very quick on both the slew and pushing the dipper back out. This of course is probably the other side of people complaining that they won't push muck away. It does push, but not brilliantly. Glad I don't have long arm. This wants changing, it's pointless having the arm extend so fast that you have to be careful, especially when this means it can't push so well.
The tracking seems hard work even though I specced the extra torque motors. To be fair, I've not driven anything but the E27 or E10 for a while. I think a lot of the blame can be placed upon having such a small engine (thanks to those ***** at the EU and emmissions regs). Despite more on paper than the Hyundai in almost every metric, the Kubota lump is only 10kw whereas in the Hyundai it was 12.5kw. There's no replacement for displacement. This means that when tracking it won't do anything that requires extra flow. This was the main reason I went for the E27 as it still had the largest engine in it's class along with the KX30. Possibly when the tracking pedals loosen up I'll get good at slowing the flow slightly to use other services, I probably had to do this in the Hyundai but it became instinct and it's been so long I've forgotten.
All the couplings are DN08. This is not normal on this class machine, and bloody pointless. Especially on the Aux 2, which is only fed with 3/8 hose as it runs off the offset. To make matters worse, the bulkhead fittings are some stupid JIC 1 1/16 with an o ring seal (not cone) on the DN08 fittings. I've ordered some swivel to 1/2" BSP adaptors, hopefully they will work but I have my doubts. Might end up being a thread sealant job.
Niggles aside, it will do the jobs I want it for. My days of major tracking and grab work with a small machine are over now I have the E27 so not being able to move the arm and track is something I can just work around. I'm very happy at the grading ability. Bobcat made it easy to add extras for very little cost. Most of all, the price and finance was right (there, I said it). I now have three machines covering every weight class for under £900 in 0% finance a month, with all the attachments being shared between them. With these, I can undertake a really diverse range of jobs and save a lot of time hiring bog standard machines. And they're always there when I need them.
I'd have done you a photoshoot with all three side by side, but like I told the salesman when he delivered, that kind of lineup doesn't look so impressive when one of them is in bits...
Oh, and don't buy a Bobcat for the gifts. E10 I got an XXL tee shirt. E27 I got a pair of sunglasses. E19 I got a bottle of cheap wine, I'm sure that's just because it's Christmas and I'm also sure that the box of cake I gave him to take back to the service team was more expensive than the wine. Took my missus back the bottle, she turned around and said 'that's the third machine, where's the f****ng hamper?'
Let the piss taking commence.
That alone wouldn't be so bad, you could call it teething issues, but the mechanic still has the E27 in bits to replace a valve section that was stopping the blade holding proper pressure. At least he's back first thing Monday I suppose.Not had much of a play on it (obviously) but so far the good:
I specced the comfort pack (better seat and rollers for aux and offset) and let me tell you- I am proper comfortable. It's bloody massive- definately a 2t class machine rather than 1.5t. Acres of floor space, a big storage cupboard under the seat, bottle holder, other cubby holes and tons of space behind the seat. The tracking leavers are easily removable and the pedals fold up- superb design as on the E27.
It handles the Tigergrip with the rotator much better than I thought it would. Quite comfortable with it so long as you're sensible. I've fitted my grapple to it for versatility as a lot of the time a heavy rotating grab would be too much.
The grading is really, really good. I specced short arm. Grading was my main concern as the E27 isn't the best despite a mod, wheras the Hyundai the E19 replaced was an absolute peach. But this thing is brilliant. Really nice to use, and cleans up fairly well against the blade (long blade specced)
The twin aux setup works well, and you can select from three flow settings on the main aux.
The blade extensions seem strong and well built.
I've not had much chance to test digging power. It ripped a small stump out far easier than I thought it would come, but that could have been ground conditions too. Seemed to struggle a bit with a 600 in mudstone but that can be hard going as you try to get the initial scrape in and thinking about it, it was lifting the front end up easy enough.
The not so good:
It's very quick on both the slew and pushing the dipper back out. This of course is probably the other side of people complaining that they won't push muck away. It does push, but not brilliantly. Glad I don't have long arm. This wants changing, it's pointless having the arm extend so fast that you have to be careful, especially when this means it can't push so well.
The tracking seems hard work even though I specced the extra torque motors. To be fair, I've not driven anything but the E27 or E10 for a while. I think a lot of the blame can be placed upon having such a small engine (thanks to those ***** at the EU and emmissions regs). Despite more on paper than the Hyundai in almost every metric, the Kubota lump is only 10kw whereas in the Hyundai it was 12.5kw. There's no replacement for displacement. This means that when tracking it won't do anything that requires extra flow. This was the main reason I went for the E27 as it still had the largest engine in it's class along with the KX30. Possibly when the tracking pedals loosen up I'll get good at slowing the flow slightly to use other services, I probably had to do this in the Hyundai but it became instinct and it's been so long I've forgotten.
All the couplings are DN08. This is not normal on this class machine, and bloody pointless. Especially on the Aux 2, which is only fed with 3/8 hose as it runs off the offset. To make matters worse, the bulkhead fittings are some stupid JIC 1 1/16 with an o ring seal (not cone) on the DN08 fittings. I've ordered some swivel to 1/2" BSP adaptors, hopefully they will work but I have my doubts. Might end up being a thread sealant job.
Niggles aside, it will do the jobs I want it for. My days of major tracking and grab work with a small machine are over now I have the E27 so not being able to move the arm and track is something I can just work around. I'm very happy at the grading ability. Bobcat made it easy to add extras for very little cost. Most of all, the price and finance was right (there, I said it). I now have three machines covering every weight class for under £900 in 0% finance a month, with all the attachments being shared between them. With these, I can undertake a really diverse range of jobs and save a lot of time hiring bog standard machines. And they're always there when I need them.
I'd have done you a photoshoot with all three side by side, but like I told the salesman when he delivered, that kind of lineup doesn't look so impressive when one of them is in bits...
Oh, and don't buy a Bobcat for the gifts. E10 I got an XXL tee shirt. E27 I got a pair of sunglasses. E19 I got a bottle of cheap wine, I'm sure that's just because it's Christmas and I'm also sure that the box of cake I gave him to take back to the service team was more expensive than the wine. Took my missus back the bottle, she turned around and said 'that's the third machine, where's the f****ng hamper?'
Let the piss taking commence.
