Mini skid steers tracks versus wheels

[frashdog]

Wrong....(re Menchoffer's post)

Typical thread of unhappy owners who made a mistaken purchase and try to talk themselves out of that fact..

You lose the zero turn radius and time associated with your Austin Powers like manuvering with a wheeled machine.

Dump trailers are the key and simply 1 sheet of 3/4 by 8 foot plyboard...cut in half (2 total halfsheets) ...is all that is needed. One turn by the work and one by the dump trailer is generally all that is needed. Veering well fore planned causes little damage with my 2300 lb. Dingo. Wheels...primitive...relatively stupid.

Yeeehawww...I screwed up (again) ...and want the world to know lol

Yea baby....That's funny.

So,treepet, my mini "skid steer" ramrod 900t does not have a steering wheel and it does not have wheels that steer either...nor do you sit on it.

So, I really do not see the point you were trying to make there. Even though I do love Austin Powers.

Certainly not a smooth as a tracked mini, but my mini will do zero turns on most turf and packed dirt and stone, or wheelie/nose wheelie on a dime. I do have turf tires on it. I bet it would not with wide dirt/traction tires. It will not zero turn on clean dry pavement with out bucking, due to the rubber having too much traction.

My wheeled machine does rather impressive in the snow, I imagine due to greater ground pressure and the sips in the tread pattern. I have no experience with tracked minis on snow.

The reality was the tracked ditch witch I had for 3weeks , required lots of those back and forth movements , and yes huge veering when the back yard allowed. Yes we had to protect known turns with plywood.

We have a dump trailer, it's great.
Our steer rides in the back of the one ton. Sweet. That ditch witch had no chance of getting in the back of my one ton.

I do how ever agree that my mini skid might be primitive when compared to an articulated loader. Relatively stupid, I respectfully disagree. I bought the machine for $5500. In 6 years of owning it I replaced some hoses. Just recently did I replace a $200 hydraulic pump, (2) $250 drive motors and a $2000 motor. I can pull the motor out in 20minutes. I am so happy I bought this machine.

 

[frashdog]

Mine has the kohler engine. They are junk. I have had to replace a head gasket and it cost 1500. Most all that was labor to remove the engine. They did some other stuff at the same time, so it's prob not an extremely accurate price on what the head gasket was, but most of that price was the gasket. They go about every 300 hours. No matter how much you maintain them, they always go!

I do not think kohler command pros are that bad if you take care of them. They are not a Honda, but I don't believe they are a 300 hour engine either. Did your mechanic tell you that?Maybe I'm wrong, but would love to see some evidence of that being true or even common among kohler engines.

The kohler 22hp that was original with my mini lasted over 10 years, 6 years with me.

You spent $1500 on a head gasket? How did you know it needed a head gasket?

I bought a brand new kohler command pro 25hp motor for under $2000 to my door. Takes me 20minutes to get the motor out of my machine....Four bolts on the floor, exhaust clamp, two hydraulic lines, fuel line and the hot lead to the starter, done.

 

[frashdog]

Well said Royce,I feel the same way about our ditch witch sk650. That things a beast and unstoppable. Has a turbo diesel Kubota and a bullet proof pump to go with it. Controls are awesome as well. Try out a ditch witch if you haven't already, they're worth a shot. I've demo'd the dingo tx1000. I was impressed except with the controls, not as user friendly as ditch witch. Salesman said the 1000 lbs was tipping point witch is 33% of lifting cap. Sorry for derail

Yes the sk650 is a beast. Def don't like the controls, have to switch hands to operate the grapple. And right turns require quite the left elbow shoulder twist move there. Wtf with those motors hanging up on everything. Took a while for us to realize what was happening under there, till we ripped one of the guards off.

 

[frashdog]

Royce, I'm curious.... what model Dingo do you have? I'm getting serious about shopping for a mini skidsteer, and I want to buy one with enough lifting capacity.

I almost bought a dingo. Probably more of them on the used market then any others. Parts are easier to get then ramrod for sure! I really was torn between the ramrod and dingos. Happy with my choice. Now looking at complimenting our mini with an asv50-60...for real lifting.

Make sure you need a mini. More lifting for your buck with sit inside units.

 

[frashdog]

Grapple is a BMG. They are pretty good. It has held up really good for me so far with one year use on it. We use that grapple for everything.

They are great.
That said ours is so sloppy after 6 years, the grapples some times don't mesh and foul each other not allowing closure. The hose routing thing is terrible, they get caught, twisted, pinched often. About ready for a rebuild with modifications.
Still, worth every penny.

 

[southsoundtree]

Its important not to spin the hoses round and round. Make sure the side facing the operator is marked. It comes with a sticker that wears off.

Sounds like after 6 years, it needs some tlc from a welder. Are the holes 'egged out' and bolts worn down?

 

[frashdog]

Its important not to spin the hoses round and round. Make sure the side facing the operator is marked. It comes with a sticker that wears off.

Sounds like after 6 years, it needs some tlc from a welder. Are the holes 'egged out' and bolts worn down?

Word. We have an accomplished welder/fabricator and all his toys in our shop now. On the to do list. We might make an upgraded clone or two...

 

[NE Tree]

They are great.
That said ours is so sloppy after 6 years, the grapples some times don't mesh and foul each other not allowing closure. The hose routing thing is terrible, they get caught, twisted, pinched often. About ready for a rebuild with modifications.
Still, worth every penny.

Have the exact same issues after 3 years. We've beat the piss out of our BMG and is still going. Have a welder friend who keeps reinforcing it when needed. I put one of those long springs from the hoses on a semi on ours to keep the lines out of the way. Seems to be working well for now.

 

[treeandland]

They are built pretty stout the Bob Cat's. A rental company close to me just bought a brand new one. I am very interested in renting it to try it out and see how it operates. I was pretty impressed with it. One dis-advantage is the ride on platform. I find the style that just hangs off the machine really takes a beaten. Where we are very often we use then in the woods. They get caught while backing up on rocks, stumps, and other things and it dents them a lot.

I think the Bobcat has a flip-down platform with a little caster wheel under it....that might not be great in an uneven terrain like the woods. Hopefully you can take it off. I like the sound of a platform that flips up if you want to walk instead, like on your Dingo. Some of the Vermeer models have a "rider presence" sensor that probably prevents you from driving it unless you're standing on it....that sounds like a pain. Anyway...tell me what you think of the Bobcat MT55 or MT52 when you test it, I'd like to hear how you'd compare it to the Dingo.

 

[climbhightree]

I think the Bobcat has a flip-down platform with a little caster wheel under it....that might not be great in an uneven terrain like the woods. Hopefully you can take it off. I like the sound of a platform that flips up if you want to walk instead, like on your Dingo. Some of the Vermeer models have a "rider presence" sensor that probably prevents you from driving it unless you're standing on it....that sounds like a pain. Anyway...tell me what you think of the Bobcat MT55 or MT52 when you test it, I'd like to hear how you'd compare it to the Dingo.

I disabled my operator present switch on my Vermeer...sort of. I actually wired it into a flip switch, do I can still use it as a parking break.

"Kiss My Axe"
Associate degree in forestry from PSU Mont Alto
Certified Arborist
Owner/operator of Climb High Tree Service established in 2002
www.climbhightree.com
https://m.facebook.com/ClimbHighTreeService
https://www.youtube.com/user/climbhightree
https://www.youtube.com/user/2treekiller2

 

[ROYCE]

I disabled my operator present switch on my Vermeer...sort of. I actually wired it into a flip switch, do I can still use it as a parking break.

"Kiss My Axe"
Associate degree in forestry from PSU Mont Alto
Certified Arborist
Owner/operator of Climb High Tree Service established in 2002
www.climbhightree.com
https://m.facebook.com/ClimbHighTreeService
https://www.youtube.com/user/climbhightree
https://www.youtube.com/user/2treekiller2

Are you admitting to tampering with the manufactures safety features; thereby putting you and your company in violation of the ansi standards? I say that with a smile on my face. I am in the middle of some paper work for a government job and I have had to put that we will not tamper with the manufactures safety devices. I would have done exactly what you did.

 

[climbhightree]

Are you admitting to tampering with the manufactures safety features; thereby putting you and your company in violation of the ansi standards? I say that with a smile on my face. I am in the middle of some paper work for a government job and I have had to put that we will not tamper with the manufactures safety devices. I would have done exactly what you did.

I didn't tamper with it...I made it better

I would get the operator presence switch, if it was standard across all mini skids. My Vermeer dealer told me that lot of guys completely disable it, and at least you wired in a flip switch.

Plus I pretty much had to do this, so I can load the mini onto my platform without help.

"Kiss My Axe"
Associate degree in forestry from PSU Mont Alto
Certified Arborist
Owner/operator of Climb High Tree Service established in 2002
www.climbhightree.com
https://m.facebook.com/ClimbHighTreeService
https://www.youtube.com/user/climbhightree
https://www.youtube.com/user/2treekiller2

 

[Pete G]

Wheels all the way. Tracks were too rough

 

[Menchhofer]

Wrong....(re Menchoffer's post)

Typical thread of unhappy owners who made a mistaken purchase and try to talk themselves out of that fact..

You lose the zero turn radius and time associated with your Austin Powers like manuvering with a wheeled machine.

Dump trailers are the key and simply 1 sheet of 3/4 by 8 foot plyboard...cut in half (2 total halfsheets) ...is all that is needed. One turn by the work and one by the dump trailer is generally all that is needed. Veering well fore planned causes little damage with my 2300 lb. Dingo. Wheels...primitive...relatively stupid.

Yeeehawww...I screwed up (again) ...and want the world to know lol

fyi. We purposely buy wheeled machines due to the turf friendly issue. What a jerk

 

[frashdog]

I actually read some where that the tracked minis might need plywood on pavement too. What a great job to have right? Running around putting plywood down for the royal mini everywhere the king wants to make a turn. Wonder why everyone is not crying for tracked articulated mini loaders?

 

[Pelorus]

Not very many paved driveways up here for the king to worry about, so it's no biggie. The king is also benevolent, and he doesn't mind helping his serfs make plywood highways, with or without a red carpet. Laying out and removing plywood is a small price to pay for the time and effort the DitchWitch SK650 saves me.

 

[frashdog]

Not very many paved driveways up here for the king to worry about, so it's no biggie. The king is also benevolent, and he doesn't mind helping his serfs make plywood highways, with or without a red carpet. Laying out and removing plywood is a small price to pay for the time and effort the DitchWitch SK650 saves me.

You are right on about all of it sir...in case you did not know we rented a sk650 for over a month. Might buy one. Blessed be our being of duality by nature...tracks have a place, not on grass, you nailed it, on the non paved drive ways, we thank you for you honest sharing and...backing up my point.,

 

[Pelorus]

A SK650 is a grass sociopath.

 

[Bucknut]

A SK650 is a grass sociopath.

Yeah, but as usual a sensible operator goes a long way. I've seen a landscape forum where they show the Diamondback Prowler tracks on the SK650 and it seems to make a big difference on grass. Still can't do 360 turns, but it's those huge lugs on the DW tracks that leaves the turf dented.

 

[Nish]

Tracks can get expensive. I just received a service quote from Vermeer for my S600TX: $4,847.05 for normal maintenance repairs on the sprockets, rollers, and what not (but not including any new tracks). There's less than 700 hours on the machine and the service rep tells me it's not unusual.