Your CAT 308

Common jobs for the Cat 308

The Cat 308 is a workhorse in Swedish utility and groundwork. You see it on pipe trenches, cable digging and groundwork where it is heavy enough for deep trenches yet still nimble on tight sites. At 8 tonnes it lands in the middle of the midi class, big enough for real jobs and small enough to move easily between them.

On a utility job the Cat 308 digs pipe trenches and lays cable, on a residential plot it digs out for foundation and drainage. On lighter demolition it takes concrete with the right attachment. It is a machine that covers a large share of the everyday jobs for a smaller contractor.

Since the Cat 308 drives medium attachments without losing stability, the same machine takes both pipe trench and demolition. That makes it a good base to build an attachment set around.

Buckets and attachments that fit the Cat 308

For an 8-tonne machine you choose a toothed bucket for excavation and pipe trench, a wide grading bucket for levelling and reinstatement, and a narrow cable bucket for tight trenches. On utility jobs the narrow and wide bucket combination is what you use most.

A sorting grapple belongs on the Cat 308 in demolition and material handling. It loads stone, pulls apart and sorts spoil. At 8 tonnes the machine carries the grapple steadily even a fair way out.

All attachments run on the S45 hitch, the standard for the midi class. With the same hitch you swap quickly between bucket, grapple and breaker and get more out of the machine day.

Hydraulic breaker and heavy attachments for the Cat 308

An 8-tonne machine drives a medium hydraulic breaker for rock, concrete and frost. On utility jobs the breaker is often the attachment that gets you through rock in the pipe trench or old concrete without needing a bigger machine.

Check the oil flow against the breaker spec before you buy. The Cat 308 has the flow for a medium breaker, but it has to be matched to your machine hydraulics to hit right and last.

An auger drive is useful on the Cat 308 when you take post holes, footing piles and planting pits. The auger bit is the part that sits in the drive, and you choose the size by the hole you need.

S45 quick hitch and fit

The Cat 308 runs an S45 hitch, the standard coupler for the midi class. Check the attachments are listed for S45 before you buy. With a common hitch you build a set of attachments that all fit and that you swap quickly between tasks.

A tiltrotator can be fitted to the Cat 308 and gives the bucket more movement, which is worth it on utility and mixed groundwork where you work near services and edges. On pure trenching the money may do more on extra buckets.