Gehl 540 vs Whacker Neuson wl30

[Gareth's Tree]

I have a al540, adding 3” wheel spacer greatly improved the machine. It can lift incredible weight.
-pros- lifts like crazy, and doesn’t tear up lawns. Great for pushing over trees.
-cons-difficult to feed chipper with brush grapple. Weights a 8000lbs+_ so towing it daily sucks.
It goes out 1 a week or 1 every other week after I bought my ditch witch. It weight half as much so it easier towing, feeds the chipper much better, still room in trailer for logs and machine. It can also move dam big wood. If I were to do it again I would buy a mini first. Much more versatile machine. I have 1000hrs on my witch in 2 years, 450 hrs on my loader in 3.5 years.

Thanks for the insights.

2nd that. if you don't have a mini loader yet, thats the first thing to buy. Ours is handy but only goes out on big projects. I don't like my guys driving the gehl because of the tipping potential is so much higher. I'll send them out all day with a mini though.

We currently have a Gehl al20dx articulated loader. And while we like it for a lot of things, it is pretty small. I also have a tractor we use for the big stuff. My goal is to get down to one machine that does it all. ( Isn't that always the dream?lol)

 

[islandedge]

2nd that. if you don't have a mini loader yet, thats the first thing to buy. Ours is handy but only goes out on big projects. I don't like my guys driving the gehl because of the tipping potential is so much higher. I'll send them out all day with a mini though.

I'll 3rd that Lol. I sold my swinger since i got the treemek. Was to impractical in tight city work. My mini goes to work every day. Now id like to buy a 2nd to have 2 on the job site.

 

[Gareth's Tree]

I'll 3rd that Lol. I sold my swinger since i got the treemek. Was to impractical in tight city work. My mini goes to work every day. Now id like to buy a 2nd to have 2 on the job site.View attachment 51440

I can understand that for tight city work, however, most of the work we do is not in very tight yards. I almost never have a problem accessing with my tractor that is 6 feet wide. What were the specs on your swinger? Specifically how wide was it and how much was it tipping capacity?

 

[TopNotchEquipment]

Another option for mid sized loaders is Giant
The 452 and 6004 are a great replacement for a Gehl 340 or 540 loader and have wider tire options than Gehl had.

 

[TopNotchEquipment]

The Giant 6004 X-Tra with electric Tandem auxiliary pump (17.8 gpm) and standard full size skid attachment plate.
60 hp Kubota
Weighs 7260 lbs
Lifting capacity 6420 lbs
17" wide tires

 

[Gareth's Tree]

View attachment 51523 The Giant 6004 X-Tra with electric Tandem auxiliary pump (17.8 gpm) and standard full size skid attachment plate.
60 hp Kubota
Weighs 7260 lbs
Lifting capacity 6420 lbs
17" wide tires

What does something like that cost? One of the biggest reasons I am looking at the machines I'm looking at is I can find used ones for under $30,000.