Toro dingo narrow or wide tracked?

[Trees CT]

Hi all,
After demoing the tx525 I have decided to buy one for my company. I have condsidered all other brands and some of their compromises I would not deal with, or dealer availability was over a hundred miles away. My question is about the tracks on the dingo.
Has anyone had any personal experience running a narrow tracked dingo 425 or 525. I tried the narrow on a dry lawn, I would not want to make any ruts or tear up the turf where the wide track would not once it gets a little soft. Also does the narrow feel any less stable when carrying a 10 or 12 ft log on the forks or in the grapple?
Any info would be greatly appreciated as I have not yet found much information on the subject. Most people in other threads say "I like the wide tracked", or "I have a narrow and can go anywhere with it." I am just trying to get an idea of a comparison.

Thanks.

 

[JCONN]

I have a 420 narrow track I tried the 525 before I bought mine. The best part of the 420 is that a can go through 36 inch gate. I have found that no matter which one you use when you put a log on it all the weight transfers to the front wheel so the track really doesn't play that much of a role. I always lay plywood down the nice thing is you can use one sheet lengthwise and still turn around on it. The other reason I went with the narrow was that every job I did seems either it was a 36 inch gate or I could get a skid steer to it. If the ground is at all softyou will put small ruts in if you don't plywood. The wide track was nicer when I used it to excavate for a patio. In my opinion I likethe smaller unit for tree work get the smaller motor also less weiight and maintenance to the diesel. The bigger motor only was better when I tried runninig attachments like a trencher things that had to run and move the machine. For trees its drive up scoop and drive out. Thats my opinion for what its worth hope this helps.

 

[Trees CT]

Thanks JCONN,

I really appreciate your input. Also I did not consider the fact that when there is a log on the front the weight all goes to it. I guess the extra width wouldn't really provide much extra stability on the wide tracked as much as an operator standing on the back. This unit will see its share of landscaping use too so the extra hydraulic flow with the diesel is definitely a plus for us.

In your opinion if you had the wider tracks would the plywood be unnecessary, or is the plywood more for not ripping up the grass when you turn? Have you tried any of the log attachments such as forks or root grapple? Just wondering what you find more useful.
Thanks again.:smile2:

 

[Mikecutstrees]

I have the TX425 wide track. I like the wide tracks and there certainly have been many times when the extra flotation has helped immensely. Rarely is gate width a problem where the narrow tracked unit would have been better. I have put many hours on mine and it has performed well.

Mike

 

[2treeornot2tree]

The wide track will make less ruts. Your gonna make marks no matter what machine you get unless you put down ground pads.

 

[JCONN]

I think any one you use will cause some damage unless its rock hard and you are only moving a few pieces. The time savings and labor saving by far out weighs the minimal amount of repair if you do do damage, and if you are taking out the stump and topsoiling I use the dingo to load the wheel barrels if its far away the foot print is so small a few barrels will go a long way. Mine came with the clam shell 3in1 bucket and I like it you can grapple a 18inch log no prob and its great for the little left over crap you can't scoop. I did demo a few of the grapples I ended up welding up a set of forks out of scrap steel and that works for me. There are some nice set ups out there its all what you want to spend I like simple, also when I tried some of the other fancy ones the guys just tried to always use the machine when sometimes you can't get away from manual labor.

 

[Trees CT]

Thanks for the input. It is great to hear from people with real world experience.