I've been on this machine for 3 months now and I'm not a big fan. It does the job and earns me a paycheck, but it's not as refined as a Cat, Deere or even Komatsu. Pulling grade: not very good. It's difficult to pull smoothly when all the way out. I have to go slow and turn the engine RPM down to about 1600rpm when pulling grade to avoid the cutting edge going up and down. Lifting seems a bit weak, it will not tip the machine when lifting over the front of the tracks. I seem to recall all the other machines I've used would do it. With RPM down a bit I can lift loads fairly precisely, but I have to really take my time. Power is decent, it loads trucks fairly quickly. pushing power with the bucket is very weak. Overall my biggest gripe is the valving isn't smooth. For instance, pushing on the pedals a little bit will jerk the machine forward, resulting in your feet jerking, releasing pressure on the pedals, slowing the machine down with a jerk, moving your feet forward again etc. The only way out is to stop and start again very gingerly. This is compounded by what I perceive to be loose and fast-wearing pins and bushings, which aggravate the jerkiness of the machine. I ran a brand new one with 6 hours on it and while it was much better than this one with 2,200 hours, it was still looser than other machines I've run. As I said overall it earns me money, but it's not super refined or smooth. I hope this helps.
