# Has anybody demo'd a bandit 2550xp all hydraulic grinder..



## OLD MAN GRINDER (Sep 27, 2012)

Bandit dealer bringing out a 2550xp tomorrow for me to look at, i am
concerned about the all hyd's losing some of the power over belt drive, it
will be a 38hp kohler machine, i have a 2150xp now with the 38 hp kohler but
would like to do away with all the belts etc, but not at the expense of
grinding ability,,,,,any thoughts....

Bob....


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## BlackOakTreeServ (Sep 27, 2012)

Let us know how it compares to the belt drive bandits....I hope 38 HP is enough for the hydro, I hear you can get the kuboto 44hp diesel, well I think soooo.


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## Cut 2 Please (Sep 29, 2012)

Have you demoed it yet? Also what are the pros and cons of your 2150? Can you compare it to a Carlton 4012? I am about to buy a small grinder and have just about narrowed it down to the Bandit or the Carlton.


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## OLD MAN GRINDER (Sep 29, 2012)

Cut 2 Please said:


> Have you demoed it yet? Also what are the pros and cons of your 2150? Can you compare it to a Carlton 4012? I am about to buy a small grinder and have just about narrowed it down to the Bandit or the Carlton.



Will have a better idea next week, have jobs set up, and the only true test will
be in actual use, grinder was dlvd late friday and did not get a chance to demo it, i
have allready sold and dlvd my 2150 so i have put myself in a bad position if it
will not perform as well as my belt drive unit, well let everybody know my opnion
early next week...

As far as deciding between a carlton and bandit, don't know, looking at the specs
and pics they look very much the same, i went with bandit because of dealer
availability, the bandit was a great machine, i had a sc252 vermeer and there was
no comparison, i allways dreaded big stumps with the 252, but with the bandit
no problem, i did a lot of stumps over 4 ft in diam, no problem, the only reason
i am making the change is because at my age 71, i am just tired of adjusting 
belts and changing out bearings, not because of performance of the machine, if
bandit had not came out with the all hyd machine i never would have even
considered changing it for any other make, i just hope the all hyd machine can
do as good a job as the belt drive machine or i have really screwed up..

Bob...


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## Creeker (Sep 30, 2012)

G'day Bob,

I read about the hydraulic machine and thought the same as you, those belts and bearings are a P.I.T.A.  , might be a chance to get away from them !

Hoping it demo's OK for you. I would put up with a bit slower grinding for the benefits of not having to adjust belt/pully shafts.

The time grinding is only a fraction of the job once you take into account travelling to/from, loading/unloading, site rehab. etc.

It would be appreciated if you let us know what you think please.


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## Cut 2 Please (Sep 30, 2012)

I read about belt adjustments, but I have not experienced that many belt adjustments on the Carltons that I have owned in the past. Do the Bandits require more adjustments? I know you have to grease both machines and could understand that being a pain. I have a chipper that I have to grease everyday so a few more fittings really is not that big a deal. Also is the belt that drives the cutter wheel on a Bandit a poly chain or a V belt and how does it hold up?

Thanks,

Charles


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## OLD MAN GRINDER (Sep 30, 2012)

Cut 2 Please said:


> I read about belt adjustments, but I have not experienced that many belt adjustments on the Carltons that I have owned in the past. Do the Bandits require more adjustments? I know you have to grease both machines and could understand that being a pain. I have a chipper that I have to grease everyday so a few more fittings really is not that big a deal. Also is the belt that drives the cutter wheel on a Bandit a poly chain or a V belt and how does it hold up?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Charles


The jackshaft belt is a 3 ribbed solid belt, have replaced once at 120 hrs and adjusted 
belt about every 40-50 hrs, 160.00.....the cutter belt i don't know, never had the side
cover off to look at it, it has an inspection port to check for tightness, u do not have
to take cover off, have adj it twice in 180 ttl hrs, same with the jackshaft belt, u just
losen inspection cover, push down with a ruler and then adjust belts at the proper
amount of deflection per handbook, i talked to another grinder with a carlton and he
says he adjusts about every 40-50 hrs also......hope this helps....

Bob....


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## Cut 2 Please (Sep 30, 2012)

Sounds like it is real close to the Carlton. I am going to try and get the Bandit rep to come demo a couple of machines to me. I will talk with him tomorrow. Other than the belt, did you have any problems out of your 2150? Also did you buy it new? What year was it? And if you don't mind me asking how much did you have to give for it? 

Thanks, 

Charles


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## OLD MAN GRINDER (Sep 30, 2012)

Cut 2 Please said:


> Sounds like it is real close to the Carlton. I am going to try and get the Bandit rep to come demo a couple of machines to me. I will talk with him tomorrow. Other than the belt, did you have any problems out of your 2150? Also did you buy it new? What year was it? And if you don't mind me asking how much did you have to give for it?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Charles



I bought it new in march of this year, put 180 hrs on in 6 months, paid 19300 total out
the door, 38hp kohler, at an avg of 100 per hr, it pretty much paid for itself in six mo..

Had a problem with taking dual wheels off, the bolts galled up, but bandit sent me the
new dual wheel setup, no charge and no more problem...

I looked at all the machines, vermeer, carlton, etc but mainly went with bandit because
of the 50 inch swing, i do a lot of large stumps and that was important, the 50 inch arc
actually comes down to a 44 straight line cutting width, so most stumps i do i can do
with one swing, would have liked the diesel but just out of my price range and at my
age i did not see much of an advantage, but if i was younger probably would get the
diesel, seen the new 2550 at dealer and really liked the idea of no belts etc, so sold
my 2150 to a guy for bal owed and bought the 2550, now my only concern is wether it
will have the power of the belt drive, i will find out this week...

Hope this helps...

Bob...


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## Cut 2 Please (Sep 30, 2012)

That helps. I started out in 2004 with a Carlton 2300-4. I traded it in on a Morbark D 52 when they first came out. I had it for 10 days and had so many problems the dealer took it back and I got a Carlton 4012 w/ Lombardini and San Vic. Good machine. A few months later a came across a deal on my 7015 and bought it. I sold my 4012. The 7015 weighs 4300 lbs and has been known to cause some damage in delicate areas, so after about 2 years I decided to buy another 4012 w/ 33hp kubota and San Vic. Once again good machine. After a few months I realized that the smaller hp machines w/ San Vic do not do so well on larger pine stumps we have here. I ended up trading my 4012 for a chipper and back to the 7015 as my only machine. Problem now is my 7015 is getting some age on it and quite a few hours. Would like to buy a newer smaller machine that is not as expensive to fix when there is a break down and just use the 7015 for really big stumps. With all that being said I am tying to figure out exactly what machine to go with. I do know that what ever machine I go with, it will have 900 Green Teeth. Try to decide between Carlton and Bandit and diesel or gas. I am interested in the 2550 but not so sure about the hydro.

Thanks, 

Charles


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## Mowingman (Sep 30, 2012)

Old Man Grinder and I bought machines at about the same time. I had several demos from the same dealer with Bandit belt/drive machines. I ended up buying a Carlton 4012, as it had a number of design features I liked better than the Bandit machines.
The gasoline engine is going to be weak on the hydraulic machine. I don't think you will be happy with the performance on big, or really hard wooded stumps.
I had a Bandit 2900T with a 90HP diesel and Greenteeth on the wheel. It was hydraulic drive. I sold it and downsized to a 7015TRX with a 60HP diesel and a Sandvic wheel. The 7015 flat outperformed the bigger 90HP hydraulic machine on any kind of stump. I feel that the hydraulic drive was eating HP big time on the 90hp machine.
My guess is that the 30 somethingHP with the hydraulic drive, will perform more like a 27hp belt-drive machine. I think you will loose about 10hp in the hydraulics. Might be wrong, but that is my guess.
I love my 4012 with the 44hp Kubota. 
Jeff


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## Cut 2 Please (Sep 30, 2012)

Mowing man,
When I bought my 7015 it had green teeth on it. I put a san vic on it right away. after 1200hrs the face of the wheel on the san vic had worn so bad it was eating the pockets on the side. I put my original wheel back on and this is when I realized how much power the san vic robs and how much better the green teeth go through pine. I believe it is because the pine is so sappy. For the san vic to work properly you need to use the side teeth when cutting, but you just can't do this with pine. I believe what I would really like is a 4012 with a Lombardini and 900 green teeth. I have run one of these machines before and it has cut the best of any small machine I have run. However I would like to have the 50" arc swing of the bandit. Also if the 38hp Kohler has good power it would be a much less expensive machine to operate.

Thanks, 

Charles


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## lone wolf (Sep 30, 2012)

OLD MAN GRINDER said:


> Will have a better idea next week, have jobs set up, and the only true test will
> be in actual use, grinder was dlvd late friday and did not get a chance to demo it, i
> have allready sold and dlvd my 2150 so i have put myself in a bad position if it
> will not perform as well as my belt drive unit, well let everybody know my opnion
> ...



I have a 252 them damn bearings dont last!


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## OLD MAN GRINDER (Sep 30, 2012)

Mowingman said:


> Old Man Grinder and I bought machines at about the same time. I had several demos from the same dealer with Bandit belt/drive machines. I ended up buying a Carlton 4012, as it had a number of design features I liked better than the Bandit machines.
> The gasoline engine is going to be weak on the hydraulic machine. I don't think you will be happy with the performance on big, or really hard wooded stumps.
> I had a Bandit 2900T with a 90HP diesel and Greenteeth on the wheel. It was hydraulic drive. I sold it and downsized to a 7015TRX with a 60HP diesel and a Sandvic wheel. The 7015 flat outperformed the bigger 90HP hydraulic machine on any kind of stump. I feel that the hydraulic drive was eating HP big time on the 90hp machine.
> My guess is that the 30 somethingHP with the hydraulic drive, will perform more like a 27hp belt-drive machine. I think you will loose about 10hp in the hydraulics. Might be wrong, but that is my guess.
> ...



Hi Jeff..
I sure hope u are wrong, but if i go out and u are right and it does no better than
a 27 hp machine i will be calling the dealer to come and get it, i do to many large 
stumps to have a problem like that, will let u know....would probably go to 
the 2450 with diesel, belt drive....

I have a job with 5 large stumps, one is over 50 inches, so i will know real quick...

Bob....


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## OLD MAN GRINDER (Oct 1, 2012)

*Update on bandit 2550 grinder...*

Did 5 large stumps today, all over 3 ft and 1 over 4 ft, not inc root flare, 4 hardwoods and
1 large pine....

The grinder performed flawlessly, i could see no difference in grinding ability over my belt
drive 2150xp, the hyd machine was much smoother to operate, was windy tho and i had
to continually blow the windshield off, it really throws the chips compared to the 2150, a 
little hard to see how deep u are because of the windshield but i will get that figured out..

Both machines had identical 38hp kohler engines, if it performs this well with the gas engine
i can just imagine how good it would be with the diesel, absolutely no performance drop
between all hyd and belt drive, if anything the hyd machine has the edge, have to keep
an eye on the screen on hyd oil cooler, it gets loaded up pretty quick and u sure don't want
the hyd oil overheating, so overall i was very impressed, all my concerns have been ans...

It has the 900 series green teeth and the 2150 had 700 series, so i am sure that made
a diff also, looks like the 900 series are holding their edge better than the 700's...

So in summation, it's a keeper and glad i made the switch..

Bob....


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## Cut 2 Please (Oct 1, 2012)

Bob,
How much does a 2550 like yours retail for? The rep for this area is looking for one for me to demo but has not told me a price. I have found a 2150 for a good price just having a hard time deciding. Will probably come down to price.


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## OLD MAN GRINDER (Oct 1, 2012)

Cut 2 Please said:


> Bob,
> How much does a 2550 like yours retail for? The rep for this area is looking for one for me to demo but has not told me a price. I have found a 2150 for a good price just having a hard time deciding. Will probably come down to price.



The 2150 was 19300 when i bought it in march....the 2550 i just bought was 25000 out
the door, i think u could prob get a 2150 with the diesel for about the same price or
cheaper, but u would still have the belts etc, which is what i was going to do in the event
the all hyd 2550 did not live up to expectations, but it did, i just wish i could afford it
with the diesel, that would be a great combination imo....

Bob....


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## Mowingman (Oct 1, 2012)

I am surprised, but also glad, to hear that the hydraulic wheel motor did not rob a lot of power. I am sure that Bandit has done a lot of design changes since I had the old 2900T.
The reason it is throwing chips everywhere, is bbecause of the Greenteeth. They are known for throwing chips 100 feet in every direction and creating a widespread mess. I much prefer the Sandvic system, or even the old Rayco Super Teeth over the Greenteeth. I also found the Greenteeth chip very easily when used in rocky ground.
Looks like the machine is going to be a winner after all.
Jeff


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## OLD MAN GRINDER (Oct 1, 2012)

Mowingman said:


> I am surprised, but also glad, to hear that the hydraulic wheel motor did not rob a lot of power. I am sure that Bandit has done a lot of design changes since I had the old 2900T.
> The reason it is throwing chips everywhere, is bbecause of the Greenteeth. They are known for throwing chips 100 feet in every direction and creating a widespread mess. I much prefer the Sandvic system, or even the old Rayco Super Teeth over the Greenteeth. I also found the Greenteeth chip very easily when used in rocky ground.
> Looks like the machine is going to be a winner after all.
> Jeff



Thx Jeff, i did not sleep well last night because of the concern over the hyd vs belt concerns,
but after doing the stumps today, i am really relieved, the hyd controled wheel spins much 
faster than the belt drive wheel, and the 2150 had 700 series teeth, the 2550 has the bigger
900 series teeth, plus it was very windy today and that had a lot to do with it, and also the
operator is much closer to the wheel on the 2550 since u have the windshield to stand behind.

I have not had to much of a problem with throwing chips unless i take the cutter wheel cover off
which i do when grinding in a big area, we do not have many rocks down here, but it is not
unusual to hit steel items buried in the stumps, i did 5 very large stumps today and the teeth
do not show hardly any wear at all compared to the 700's....

Just wish i could afford the machine with the diesel..
Have a good one..

Bob...


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## BlackOakTreeServ (Oct 3, 2012)

OLD MAN GRINDER said:


> Did 5 large stumps today, all over 3 ft and 1 over 4 ft, not inc root flare, 4 hardwoods and
> 1 large pine....
> 
> The grinder performed flawlessly, i could see no difference in grinding ability over my belt
> ...



Bob, thanks for the up-date....keep us informed how that 2250 performs through the months ahead


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## Creeker (Oct 6, 2012)

Report appreciated, thanks Bob & hope all goes well for you :msp_thumbsup:


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## stumper63 (Oct 7, 2012)

Bob,

How far from the cutter wheel does the hyd motor stick out? If I'm looking at things right it looks like you have to grind out the soil past the left edge of the stump at least as far out as the hyd motor sticks out to get much deeper than about 6", which looks like about how deep you can go before the hyd motor guard reaches the dirt.

Also, is there a bearing on the opposite side of the hyd motor holding the shaft, or is the cutter wheel just supported from the hyd motor side?

No spec sheet on Bandit's website yet, just an article. How long is the machine? 112", same as 2150xp?

Thanks for the info,

Stumper63


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## OLD MAN GRINDER (Oct 7, 2012)

stumper63 said:


> Bob,
> 
> How far from the cutter wheel does the hyd motor stick out? If I'm looking at things right it looks like you have to grind out the soil past the left edge of the stump at least as far out as the hyd motor sticks out to get much deeper than about 6", which looks like about how deep you can go before the hyd motor guard reaches the dirt.
> 
> ...


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## Creeker (Oct 13, 2012)

Good report Bob, thanks again


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