# What to look for, buying ASV RC50



## dhines

Hi everyone,

I am looking at a ASV RC50 compact track loader this weekend. This will be my first loader, so I am unsure what to inspect before deciding if I should buy. Idlers? where are they? other stuff? 

I am a small tree service, 3 employees, 2 trucks ect... . Is this the right machine for me? Also, I'm looking to buy some used turf tracks (demo?) and a grapple. Thanks


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## John464

I have an 07' RC50 Turf Edition. I doubt you will find used turf tracks. If you do, grab them up. A new set of turf tracks last I checked was $7,400.
The machine is the right machine for you. Thats if you care about not damaging lawns. Its the only loader I would buy and I demo'd 5 different brands before going with the ASV. I only have about 100hrs on mine so I cant really tell you what to look for besides what is already obvious.

What type of grapple do you want? Rotating or root grapple?


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## sharkfin12us

*A300 bobcat*



John464 said:


> I have an 07' RC50 Turf Edition. I doubt you will find used turf tracks. If you do, grab them up. A new set of turf tracks last I checked was $7,400.
> The machine is the right machine for you. Thats if you care about not damaging lawns. Its the only loader I would buy and I demo'd 5 different brands before going with the ASV. I only have about 100hrs on mine so I cant really tell you what to look for besides what is already obvious.
> 
> What type of grapple do you want? Rotating or root grapple?


I heard good things about asv 50 track but also i have A300 all wheel steer with turf tires can pick up 3000 lb with high flow.I use it for snow plowing also great machine with all wheel steer you can get 1200 hours or more from tires verses regular skid mode 700 hours.Just wanted to let you know.I have one yard snow bucket so i can load with with wood.I would like a grapple but its out of my range at moment.


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## John464

sharkfin12us said:


> I heard good things about asv 50 track but also i have A300 all wheel steer with turf tires can pick up 3000 lb with high flow.I use it for snow plowing also great machine with all wheel steer you can get 1200 hours or more from tires verses regular skid mode 700 hours.Just wanted to let you know.I have one yard snow bucket so i can load with with wood.I would like a grapple but its out of my range at moment.


the A300 is a nice machine. The Bobcat rep left one for me to use for two weeks. I liked the machine, the machine didnt like lawns. Same tires you have. Looked like we road quads around the property all day. Also didnt like how wide it is. Loved the lifting capabilties. Lifts a bit more that the ASV.

do you cut pieces as wide as your bucket? or still buck into firewood size logs. You need a grapple, you can pick 3-4 decent sized logs up at once in 12ft lengths and drop them right in the truck. Makes a world of a difference.

Bobcat also just came out with wireless remotes. I will be trading my machine in the day I hear about this techonlogy from ASV. We are always having someone guide the operator in tight quarters so we dont bump trees or tear the siding off the house. So instead of having 2 guys on that task I can have one with a wireless remote. Gotta love machines cuting the man hours down.


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## ropensaddle

John464 said:


> the A300 is a nice machine. The Bobcat rep left one for me to use for two weeks. I liked the machine, the machine didnt like lawns. Same tires you have. Looked like we road quads around the property all day. Also didnt like how wide it is. Loved the lifting capabilties. Lifts a bit more that the ASV.
> 
> do you cut pieces as wide as your bucket? or still buck into firewood size logs. You need a grapple, you can pick 3-4 decent sized logs up at once in 12ft lengths and drop them right in the truck. Makes a world of a difference.
> 
> Bobcat also just came out with wireless remotes. I will be trading my machine in the day I hear about this techonlogy from ASV. We are always having someone guide the operator in tight quarters so we dont bump trees or tear the siding off the house. So instead of having 2 guys on that task I can have one with a wireless remote. Gotta love machines cuting the man hours down.


Yeah I got to use one a week ago and it was a back saver 4 sure.
The one I used would sort of lunge instead of ease up to the piles
is yours more controllable? I worried about hitting someone.


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## John464

ropensaddle said:


> Yeah I got to use one a week ago and it was a back saver 4 sure.
> The one I used would sort of lunge instead of ease up to the piles
> is yours more controllable? I worried about hitting someone.


what did you use. the Bobcat or the ASV?
I have a joystick that is controlled with finesse. It takes awhile to work the controls smoothly. Ever see a guy try out a bucket truck for the first time? Same concept, light touch, smooth operation. Its all a matter of knowing how to work those levers to get the machine to move exactly how you want it. It took me a few weeks to get good.


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## ropensaddle

John464 said:


> what did you use. the Bobcat or the ASV?
> I have a joystick that is controlled with finesse. It takes awhile to work the controls smoothly. Ever see a guy try out a bucket truck for the first time? Same concept, light touch, smooth operation. Its all a matter of knowing how to work those levers to get the machine to move exactly how you want it. It took me a few weeks to get good.



Asv 50 but it was not that the owner was worse than me!


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## ropensaddle

I guess what I am asking is can you ease with control and feel?


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## John464

ropensaddle said:


> Asv 50 but it was not that the owner was worse than me!



haha! sounds like something wrong with it then. or maybe an older model. I would bet money that I can get within 2" from an electric fence if challenged. Mine is very smooth.


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## ropensaddle

John464 said:


> haha! sounds like something wrong with it then. or maybe an older model. I would bet money that I can get within 2" from an electric fence if challenged. Mine is very smooth.



Glad to hear that, his is pretty new but had lots of operators 
and I have thought of purchasing one but did not like his,
as you eased on the joystick it would not go and then move
three foot at once!


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## John464

ropensaddle said:


> Glad to hear that, his is pretty new but had lots of operators
> and I have thought of purchasing one but did not like his,
> as you eased on the joystick it would not go and then move
> three foot at once!



was high flow switch on or off? foot pedal doesnt seem to release to idle after you take your foot off. so if you are using the throttle lever with your hand(I only use lever , never foot) it will jerk unless you have that foot pedal fully backed off(need to do this with the tip of your foot). Throttle by using hand or foot controls. If motor isnt idling real quiet you have one or more throttles partially engaged. This will cause an overboost of throttle. They should have a lock on that foot pedal so you dont accidentally bump it and throttle up. The linkage in that foot pedal has to be adjust exact for this very reason. Sounds like what you describe.


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## John464

Also the joytstick lever that is used to go forward, reverse, etc, Tap it lightly forward it will crawl the tracks an inch or so each tap. same thing with the bucket raise. Long as the above I mentioned is in order. Something isnt right with the machine you were in. If I looked it over I could probably tell you whats causing it to do that.


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## sharkfin12us

*a300*



John464 said:


> the A300 is a nice machine. The Bobcat rep left one for me to use for two weeks. I liked the machine, the machine didnt like lawns. Same tires you have. Looked like we road quads around the property all day. Also didnt like how wide it is. Loved the lifting capabilties. Lifts a bit more that the ASV.
> 
> do you cut pieces as wide as your bucket? or still buck into firewood size logs. You need a grapple, you can pick 3-4 decent sized logs up at once in 12ft lengths and drop them right in the truck. Makes a world of a difference.
> 
> Bobcat also just came out with wireless remotes. I will be trading my machine in the day I hear about this techonlogy from ASV. We are always having someone guide the operator in tight quarters so we dont bump trees or tear the siding off the house. So instead of having 2 guys on that task I can have one with a wireless remote. Gotta love machines cuting the man hours down.


My bucket is 80 inches wide i can cut logs 77inches long roll them into to my bucket truck.If lawn is wet then you can cause ruts.Dry ground is not a problem and i try not to go in same pattern.Over all its nice because i can go from driveway to lawn.I put plywood down if for example we had snow 2 days before and lawn was like soup plywood worked fine.I would not have a problem buying a grapple for my machine but if i dont have the money or work for it then i cannot do it.ASV nice machine but has its limits with tracks.A300 has its limits too being wide but over all tires dont cost as much as tracks all wheel steer does not wear tires fast as regular skid mode.I love the fact that i can go from lawn to pavement.10 1/2 feet vertical lift so you can load tadem if you had to.


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## John464

the grapple will save you from having to get out and roll any wood. you can do all that from driver seat. when things get busy, which Im sure they will this spring, pick one up. You wont regret it. Or you can rent one from Bobcat dealer to see if you like. I have a direct connection of a grapple manufacturer that is about 1/2 the price of the Bobcat grapple and the quality is on par. Hit me up when your ready and ill help you out.


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## dhines

Thanks fo the info....I thought a set of tracks was only $3500 new.


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## ropensaddle

John464 said:


> was high flow switch on or off? foot pedal doesnt seem to release to idle after you take your foot off. so if you are using the throttle lever with your hand(I only use lever , never foot) it will jerk unless you have that foot pedal fully backed off(need to do this with the tip of your foot). Throttle by using hand or foot controls. If motor isnt idling real quiet you have one or more throttles partially engaged. This will cause an overboost of throttle. They should have a lock on that foot pedal so you dont accidentally bump it and throttle up. The linkage in that foot pedal has to be adjust exact for this very reason. Sounds like what you describe.



Now that sounds like the problem and I will check what you say
out if I buy one!


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## sharkfin12us

*grapple*



John464 said:


> the grapple will save you from having to get out and roll any wood. you can do all that from driver seat. when things get busy, which Im sure they will this spring, pick one up. You wont regret it. Or you can rent one from Bobcat dealer to see if you like. I have a direct connection of a grapple manufacturer that is about 1/2 the price of the Bobcat grapple and the quality is on par. Hit me up when your ready and ill help you out.



Yes i have done alot of research on grapples from valaby spelling incorrect squeezer beaver,branchmanger attachements seem the reasonable 50 inch for 5000.Most are around 10,000 63 inch.I found 72 inch grapple made for skidsteer i have website if your interested.I dont have extra money for any thing at moment i will invest in advertisement more this year.I have 1984 international with dt 466 90,000 miles was used buy utility company with hiab 6000lb knuckle after i owned it.Bearing underneath piston top needs replacement since last march 6000 or 7000 i did not have money to rebuild engine but i plan on it.I bought that skidsteer last febuary to put with my knuckle and engine went in march oh well.Slowly but surely i will get it done.John you use your asv just for picking up wood right.I dont things tracks good for snow plowing especially cause of ice.


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## John464

sharkfin12us said:


> John you use your asv just for picking up wood right.I dont things tracks good for snow plowing especially cause of ice.



I wouldnt use my machine anywhere near salt, so Im not sure how well it does pushing snow. Its too valuable to my tree business to put it through that abuse. I wont even put plows on my trucks because of the twisting it does to a front end. I only use it to pick up logs and pop out small stumps(root grapple).

If I, or my men, stayed up all night plowing the next day we'd be too tired to do tree work. Yes, we work in the snow.

So far we've had less than 5" this year. If I lived in an area like say Massachussets I would plow with seperate dedicated equipment/crews. Just never got into plowing. I like my sleep.


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## elmnut

ASV RC 50. Search forums, alot of info!


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