Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/548484
EquipmentWorld.com | August 2015 31 W ith a combined 57,200-plus hours of operating time, our 11 reviewers gave the Deere 310SK backhoe a solid 8.7 rating. "We recommend this machine all the time," says Bob Tem- pest with Tempest Enterprises, Murray, Utah, who owns several units. "We love our John Deere 310 machines." Still, says Tempest, you have to keep equipment deal- ers honest, so about half of the backhoes in his 30-ma- chine fleet are 310SKs and half are Case 580 Super Ns. "Both are really good," the utility contractor says. "We've had Cat and Case over the years, but we've had the best luck with Deeres," says Brook Elder, assets manager with Colorado Powerline, Sedalia, Colorado. And, says Elder, "the financing side of Deere has been really helpful." In fact, it was one of the factors that made Colorado Powerline switch from another brand to Deere – a reminder that many times it's not the iron it- self that seals the deal with contractors, but the services around the iron. Even with these favorable comments, our reviewers also pointed out problem areas with the 310SK. Here's how they scored the machine in six key areas on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the best possible score and 1 being the worse possible score. Deere 310SK backhoe out of 10 8.7 OVERALL RATING: reader reviews | by Marcia Gruver Doyle TELL US YOUR OPINION A full review of the Deere 310SK is on our website, equipmentworld.com/reviews. There you'll see what individual reviewers thought, plus you'll be able to join the conversation, adding your comments to those of our reviewers. Overall machine ratings: Rating Serviceability 8.2 Performance 8.4 Operator features 8.6 Machine options 9.1 Dealer 9.1 TOTAL 8.7 Serviceability: 8.2 out of 10 Under serviceability, several reviewers scored the "ease of radiator clean out" poorly, giving it a 7.5 rat- ing, the lowest among the six attributes rated. Elder, however, gave all six service features a 10. "Our shop never has issues when servicing these ma-