Avant Thread!

Treetopflyer said:
Rented the avant for a month from our local guys Ace power when the hydraulic drive pump shit out on my 755 d.w. but Modern Equipment who I purchased my last 18xp chipper and sg40 stump grinder through are very good about letting us try stuff out they bring it let us utilize and get to know the machine and they trust us not to beat their shit up lol..
The controls with Avant using foot reverse forward and using your hand to manipulate the load only seemed more intuitive for new and seasoned users alike today. The switching of direction forward /reverse on hand limited everyone's ability to chip as fluidly quite noticably..I've seen ace operating on these giants so I know it's learnable to work safely and proficient, but we all agreed the Avant was easier to operate overall after 2 day comparison. Albeit we have had the Avant for couple weeks already now so were cheating there.
We did Crack the plastic front corner on Avant when 2 mats of top of a 1 stack slipped from grapple loading over side of trailer . Non issue on Giant if occurred. The side boom on avant way better visibility than straight on and with good reason if your not articulated from rear sitting loader it's slightly limiting with hanging grapple not so bad either way.The Avant smoked the giant in the heavy lifting department... the Giant felt more equivalent to the 423 than 528 .. I'm taking down large oak trees 3 times a week minimum so that in itself almost rules the Giant out, we had to cut stuff way small to lift today or use the 528,, But I've herd stories of boom failures on Avant! I'd be curious on that and a local guy to me i know here had his 528 mounting plate just broke.. I will report back on what that means coming out of his mouth in quick conversation for translation through pictures and more inspection into what actually broke. I'm hoping to find more out soon. The Giants have overbuilt boom compared to what they lift I guess which is better in regards without question IMHO. Ponder more later
Welcoming any input or things overlooked, thanks for everyone input thus far!
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Here's the picture of cracked mounting plate from my friends 528. It had 1700 hard tree work hours upon cracking. Dude got upgraded German steel 1900$ plate instead of 1200$ stock replacement. Took 10 minutes to change out.
 

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lots of steel has been failing lately... huge support beam on carowinds' fury 325.(roller coaster)
But seriously, would not have expected a failure there... good to know there is a sound replacement available, hope I don't ever need one.
 
Mick Dempsey said:
A lot of it is user induced, bouncing along with a heavy load, high up is murder on booms and heads.
As an owner operator I insist on booming in before moving heavy stuff, keep it low and slow.
Hold heavy stuff crossways and properly balanced.View attachment 88983
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I agree wholeheartedly. I always feel so lucky when I lift something heavy with equipment , no need to go fast in that regard the works definitely getting done with right machine. Just glad my back is being saved. Have you had many avants? What's been your experience overall I get impression you fancy this style loader and I'm liking your grapple style
 
Treetopflyer said:
I agree wholeheartedly. I always feel so lucky when I lift something heavy with equipment , no need to go fast in that regard the works definitely getting done with right machine. Just glad my back is being saved. Have you had many avants? What's been your experience overall I get impression you fancy this style loader and I'm liking your grapple style
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I had a 750 for a year, then went up to the 760.
The dealer is 15 minutes away so that’s a big plus.
My overall experience is very positive, really great machines, very well thought out.
I had three Multiones before and I consider the Avant a superior machine.

As an aside, resale value is very high, I’m planning on retiring in a couple of years so keeping my machinery as new as possible ready to sell at the end is another factor.
 
I think we have finally settled on the 528! The 2 speed 530 is not great to need to stop to shift and it felt rather weak in high gear. Touch more pulling force which isn't a deal breaker. I think the speed thing in my market , no big deal after using 528 for awhile. About doubled from d.w. 755 anyway.. Slow is smooth , smooth is fast. 20230721_091139.jpg
 
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Forked out for a heavy duty flail to replace the one I have.
Good on brambles and thin woody stuff.
 

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I’ve been having some challenges with my Avant 528. A few months ago it was under a year old and had less than 200 hrs on it when I blew a hydraulic hose inside the machine. Upon further inspection, more hoses were frayed and needed to be replaced. The mechanic was told to go through the whole machine and check all the hoses and put protection on them to keep it from happening again. Fast forward a few weeks and I’m on a job and start leaking oil again. That original mechanic had forgotten to tighten a fitting properly. In my haste and frustration I over tightened it and messed up an O-ring. That was a quick and easy repair. Less than 10 hours of operation later I’m on another job and blow another hose. So yesterday I took it into the dealer and they tore into it and found more frayed hoses that the mechanic who now doesn’t work there didn’t bother to replace the first time.

Thankfully my dealer is treating me well but it is a hassle dropping the machine off in Portland and picking it up again each time this keeps happening. Fingers crossed that this trip into the dealer fixes the issue. Another issue is some of the hoses have special fittings that have to be ordered from Avant. Would be nice if they were all easily replaced with locally available parts. I love the machine and how it operates but it can get a little frustrated when things like this keep happening.
 
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I was curious where this line was when you originally posted regarding the issue. Sorry to hear it's giving you trouble.
RyanCafferky said:
I’ve been having some challenges with my Avant 528. A free months ago it was under a year old and had less than 200 hrs on it when I blew a hydraulic hose inside the machine. Upon further inspection, more hoses were frayed and needed to be replaced. The mechanic was told to go through the whole machine and check all the hoses and put protection on them to keep it from happening again. Fast forward a few weeks and I’m on a job and start leaking oil again. That original mechanic had forgotten to tighten a fitting properly. In my haste and frustration I over tightened it and messed up an O-ring. That was a quick and easy repair. Less than 10 hours of operation later I’m on another job and blow another hose. So yesterday I took it into the dealer and they tore into it and found more frayed hoses that the mechanic who now doesn’t work there didn’t bother to replace the first time.

Thankfully my dealer is treating me well but it is a hassle dropping the machine off in Portland and picking it up again each time this keeps happening. Fingers crossed that this trip into the dealer fixes the issue. Another issue is some of the hoses have special fittings that have to be ordered from Avant. Would be nice if they were all easily replaced with locally available parts. I love the machine and how it operates but it can get a little frustrated when things like this keep happening.
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