I was walking around the ranch this week (in Peru) and found a backhoe attachment that I had forgotten some years ago. It was made in Mexico. The hydraulic "boom" cylinder had broken almost immediately, so the local vendor sent out a technician. They replaced it, but it broke again. We sent photos of the broken shaft and the Bobcat engineer in the US (with no other information) said it was a result of poor operation. We were using it in soft soil, but something in the controls made a zipping noise and "snap" it broke... twice, with two different operators.
Since I have worked for most of the major mining companies since then, their smug approach cost them millions in business. I am a real engineer and will retire in a few more years... so maybe they will lose millions more. My S185 has continued to work well.
