Mini loaders again.

[John Paul Sanborn]

Has anyone looked into these since we last went over them? I'm seriously looking at the Vermeer gas powered, they seem to have the best grappleI've seen so far. Lookes like theya re all priced around he same high teens...

 

[Menchhofer]

JPS, do you have a site for the mini loaders? I would be interested in taking a look to see what they are like.

 

[xander9727]

The don't look like they could load anything higher than a dump trailer. I also question the amount of turf damage they would do. Most jobs that have narrow gates have a section of fence that can be removed. I guess if I had a large loader, some extra cake and several jobs a year that required the use of this machine I would consider it. For me I would rather rent one for the few times a year that I would use it.

My $.02

 

[MasterBlaster]

Here are the mini loaders I usually deal with.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I've looked at Vermeer, Bobcat and Toro. Have only heard about the ditch witch.

Vermeer has a dedicated grapple fork. All the others so far have looked like an afterthought bucket modification.

http://www.vermeer.com/pdfs/S600_Brochure.pdf
http://www.bobcat.com/products/mtl/index.jhtml


The vermeer is suposed to get up into a 3ton dump box.

I'm (as a sub) regularly on jobs were my client has to make a second trip for a few big chunks, or they have to be diced up and loaded onto the chips.

I could make more then the payments by bringing the chunks back to my neighbors to burn. The loader time + the hauling fee would more them make the monthly payments.

 

[Menchhofer]

Those are all interesting and look nice.

Please continue thinking on the subject to be sure of your purchase. As you probably know, I strongly considered one of these units and eventually decided not to get it for a number of reasons. Slow speed, pickup capacity, bucket dump height, and most of all the terrain tear up issue. Either wheels or treads will mess with lawns.

But perhaps you will find the mini skidsteer to suit your needs.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

If it wont reach the bed of a dump, I would not make the investment.

 

[Koa Man]

I was going to buy the Toro Dingo with the bucket and stump grinder attachment. In order to get it I needed to sell my stump grinder first. I advertised it in the paper, but no calls. I would still like to get one. It will load a one ton truck from the back, or ifrom the side if has low sides, like a 2X12.

 

[preach it]

Are you interested in a loader on a trailer like this one at Baileys http://www.baileys-online.com/jms/jms-loaders.htm . You can mount one on your own trailer or a truck if you wanted. You can load another truck or trailer that was beside you if you wanted to. I plan on buying one later in the spring to mount on my own trailer. Loading trees by manual labor gets to be too much and I am getting too old for it.



"Swearing is the effort of a limited mind to express itself."

 

[NeTree]

The nicest thing about the trailer-mounted grapples (here anyways) is you don't need to pay insurance on a trailer... so you're not spending thousands to keep it on the road if you don't use it every day- just a couple hundred for the plates.

 

[kowens]

this is the loader we use and its not to bad on the turf

 

[kowens]

it will even feed the chipper

 

[NeTree]

Oh My... don't let the safety police see that photo...


Nice toy, looks like a timesaver for sure!

 

[Ax-man]

Kowens,

Is that a Swinger by any chance, I've been looking at those as opposed to a skid steer.

Larry

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Originally posted by netree
Oh My... don't let the safety police see that photo...


Nice toy, looks like a timesaver for sure!

Yeah that fellow by the chipper could get a scratch or two!

I don't understand the employer mentality of allowing no-PPE work. It is such simple CYA.

I had an idiot i was looking for a reason to can. He refused to wear PPE, got a twig in the eye and wanted W/C coverage. That was my reason to can him and disallow W/C and unemployment. The company won it too, because the injury report had fellow employees stating he was not wearing any of the provided PPE.

 

[kowens]

thats a tcm but kamatsu makes the same like i said real good
on turff but got to watch it on unlevel ground or when makeing turns got to keep the load low thay roll over we have a t300 also
very good strong mech. but not good on turff but it does have
ac heat and raido

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

a guy in my neck of the woods has just bought a AVANT articulated loader ,but then again hes got everything lol.as a tree service owner i often wonder how much more kit we tree guys need or think we need. personaly i think loaders would be a help but so would a tracked platform ,bigger stump grinder,bigger chipper .mini back yard chipper,fasttrac tractor with all the pto gadjets,big truck with grapple.little truck for tight spots ect .iknow the job would get done faster, but at the end of a financial year with all the extra gear would a man with just a chipper and truck or a man with all the gear and extra maintence be better off .a guy with all the gear in my neck of the woods who has got virtualy every bit of modern equipmen has completely priced his self out of domestic tree work and is even too exspensive for the councils too hire ,now the only work he gets are big nasty take downs most other firms dont want. back too the point of loaders yes id love one lol

 

[Dan F]

JPS-
The only tracked mini-loaders I'm familiar with are the Dingo and Bobcat models. I've seen the Ditch Witch at a trade show once.

For my money (if I had enough to buy one), I'd go with the Bobcat over the Dingo. While I've never actually used an MT50/MT52 for any work, I like the track configuration much better than that of the Ding TX420/TX425. The Dingo has almost NO ground clearance.

Plus, the new MT52's have a sulky attachment that allows your wieght to act (at least partially) as counterbalance. Not to mention any Bobcat attachment (for that matter any newer skidsteer attachment from any maker, I think) will mount on the MT50/52 models too. The Dingo's have a different mount.

I don't know if you know how the machines are rated for lift capacity or not, but I'm sure someone here doesn't know, so I'll tell you.

All machines are rated based on SAE standards. Lift capacity is rated differently for wheeled machines versus tracked machines, though the process is similar.

For both types, the boom is lifted to about 4 feet (not sure how high exactly), and the bucket is slowly loaded. When the machine starts to tip, that is it's tip capacity (duh). Now here's the difference: Rated lifting capacity for wheeled machines is 50% of tip, whereas rated lifting capacity for tracked machines is 35% of tip. So you want to keep this in mind too when you are looking at specs for different machines.

Little long winded, but hope it helps.


Dan

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Interesting, the differeance in safety factors.

Are tracked machines inherintly more tippy, or is this an arbitrary limit, like our rope MBS mandate?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Just palyed with the the Vermeer's bucket attatcment pushing snow around.

Not bad, it slipped a little in the snow, but pushed along.

They will have tracks coming midyear they say.

Still the only one with a dedicated grapple.

Now if they had a 15 hp snow thrower attatchment...