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Digger Man

Digger Man Blog

by Nick Drew  |  Thu 21 Mar 2013

MJL Group joins the Cat club with its first 308E

Helston based MJL Group have become the latest recipient of the increasingly popular Caterpillar 308E CR midi excavator.

MJL Group joins the Cat club with its first 308E
The MJL Group run a variety of machines, but have a huge liking for the Doosan product for their excavators from 14 to 22 tonnes. Their 8 ton fleet currently consists of a number of Case machines and two examples of the hugely popular Takeuchi TB285. The machine has been supplied by W.H Bonds the new compact Cat dealership for Cornwall and Devon who have made an impressive start to their dealership debut so far, with a whole host of Cat products being sold across the Westcountry. 001 I visited the Barratt Homes site where the new addition to the fleet is currently working at Hooe Lake in Plymouth to take a look for myself. Even though I have test driven a number of 308E’s at various events, it’s always a pleasure to get in the seat of new kit. I was invited to take the new Cat for a test dig on the massive site where 222 houses are being built over the next 2 years. The machine was only recently delivered to site and only had 34 hours on the meter when I climbed aboard. I fired up the stage IIIB compliant Cat C3.3 50kw (67hp) engine, and tracked the machine across to an existing dig area on site where the level is being reduced. I put the machine to work and was instantly impressed with the 8,210kg (18,099lb) Cat’s speed and digging power, which was even more impressive considering it was working with its largest digging bucket on the day of my visit. Stability over the side was good even with a full bucketful of material at full reach, what surprised me even more was that this machine has not got the optional extra counterweight that was mounted on the demonstration machine I operated at Caterpillar UK’s Desford facility during last year’s launch event, but it still remained stable. The hydraulics on the 308E CR are extremely smooth in operation and the machine was a delight to operate, I even put in a bit of voluntary work during my visit, loading a few dumpers with hardcore as I was enjoying the drive so much! 005 The cab is a pleasant place to spend a shift and, on a fairly chilly morning, I was delighted to feel the warmth from the heated seat which is always a bonus to have on a machine during frosty morning start ups. Cab space inside the E series is much larger than the old D series models, and all major switches and controls are nicely laid out and within reach for the operator. The dozer blade control also features the two speed travel switch, which makes life a lot easier when gearing down for dozing duties. A secondary auxiliary hydraulic engagement button is also included on the left hand joystick. As with most compact radius machines however there is still a lack of room for the operator’s lunch bag and personal effects at the back of the cab, but that’s not the end of the world in the wider scheme of things. The machine has been supplied with the latest Geith fully automatic quick hitch and a full set of buckets which includes four digging buckets and one grading/re-handling bucket from Worcester-based bucket manufacturer Strickland Direct. Talking about his new mount operator, Robert Potter, said, “I’m finding the new Cat really nice and smooth to operate, it’s got plenty of power when digging but its soft enough to grade with and offers superb levels of precision.” Robert also suggested he would like a bit more lifting power from the Cat, to enable him to lift packs of concrete blocks, we are led to believe that a small tweak on the hydraulic system can easily give the machine the necessary lifting power required. Robert concluded, “I am really happy with the machine.” Owner and Managing Director of MJL Group, Matthew Lugg, said, “I have been keeping a keen eye on the latest Caterpillar products for some time now, and when W.H. Bond took on the Compact Cat dealership in our region, I was pleased to take a 308E on demonstration for a few days. I was impressed with the machine and the competitive package Bonds put together for us.” 010 Caterpillar’s latest reincarnation of their popular 8 ton model is certainly selling well around the country, with most dealerships reporting good feedback from existing customers and potential customers alike.

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