MINI SKID STEERS

i just wanted to chime in, i bought a Branch Manager grapple w/ the 6' rake last fall. it's really a big help! the first job i took it out on 4 austrian pine rmvs. back yard! worked great! really designed well to feed chipper steady diet of chunks. i was just as happy with the 6' rake. it can do most of your raking on some jobs. used it to sweep snow out of work zone at a few jobs! it's mounted on a track mini (friend had a used one) but i kind wish i got a wheeled mini (tracks can be tough on lawns)
 
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Frans, actually I would by the Gehl AL20 b4 the boxer (money wise) - but I'm lazy and live in the flatlands

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You could just be like me and buy both.
I have a Prowler (same machine as the Boxer, different color).
I use the Gehl whenever I can because I can run over wet lawns and make tight turns with no worry about ripping up the grass.
 

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i like the new beaver mini. I think the hydraulic grapple rotation is a big plus. probobally worth the extra money.

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2.6K extra? I am sure it is a nice grapple, but have you ever run a standon/walkbehind miniloader? Why any body would add another 100#s of weight to your already limited payload I can't see the advantage/value. Also if your mini, like most has only one auxiliary Hydraulic output, you would have to flick a electric switch manually between rotate and grapple functions not to mention working the rotator control spool in conjunction with going around curves, swinging brush into the chipper. What a hassel!

A rotator on a grapple would be an asset on any sit down machine, where your strapped in. Operators get lazy when they are sitting, you don't want to get off and on. But one of the nice things about the stand on's you will find 90-95% of the time you can manipulate the knock around grapple on to the load and those few times you fug it up, you walk over and turn it. Butt simple.

I believe the pic is the exact same rotator as on the squeezer/ryan etc. 2.6 is alittle steep (I can install one for 1.8K), But I would honestly never recommend it to any mini owner . . . .less you have lots of extra cash and want to carry less brush and logs out /forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

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I have Dave's grapple, and I think it is a great piece of equipment. I checked out the Beever mini grapple and as Dave mentioned, it weighs quite a bit more. I was shocked at the price. For that amount of money, I'll just step off and turn it manually, plus I always have a couple of guys at the chipper when we machine feed it. One to raise and control the feedwheel and one to direct the load while I push it under the feedwheel with the machine.
 
i agree with you koa man, all the times i've run my mini skid w/grapple, rotation has never been an issue! one side usually hangs a little lower, you just bump that side on the wood, pull-up, and it rotates enough to get your bite! here's a job today with a tight (35" gate) fit. i sure would've missed that extra 100 lbs. (not to mention the 2.6k) on todays jobs! (see photo)
 

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Hey Mike, saw you in the ISA catalog btw (ok I admit seeing the truck then you).

Anywho, on a job with similar access we would have likely spent 5 min taking down and 10 min putting back up the fence next to the gate. Less chance of bumping the house and such. This is assuming there was more to the tree than that one log /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif.


No truck access on that job? I cant help riding around and working thinking of how helpful yours or Mark's would be.
 
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here's a job today with a tight (35" gate) fit. i sure would've missed that extra 100 lbs. (not to mention the 2.6k) on todays jobs! (see photo)

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ooooh you scare me that close to the siding, reminds me of the time the boys got the rayco stumper alongside a garage like that once . . . guess where the muffler pointed , I'm used to broken fences, sidewalks . . . but melted vinyl siding was a new one /forum/images/graemlins/zbanghead.gif
 
hey lumberjack the guy in the picture with my truck in the i.s.a. catalog is urbana, il. city arborist mike brunk (alot of people at conferences mistake him for mark chisholm- they do look a little alike) i'm the guy a few pages back climbing with a crane remote control on my back. getting back to the job- i couldn't do it w/crane. utility wires everywhere through the trees: 2 house drops, 2 phone, 2 cable, guy wires, direct contact w/ secondaries!, etc. the branches had to be pieced out so small(some of them wrapped around and grew into)that dragging the small pieces wasn't an issue. had to use a hot stick (clean and freshly wiped w/silicone) to get branches off secondaries. the 8-9 logs came out good but guess what tnt when i stopped cody to take the photo i bought a piece of siding! AARRRGHHH! if i wouldn't of stopped him it would have been fine. left a brown stain so i offered to buy a piece.
 

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Craig, you'll NEVER wonder how you've been without it.

ummmm.....thats not what I mean.

Craig, you'll wonder how you've EVER been without it.
 

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Mangoes,
in that last pic you show a mini loading a rolloff? with a crane folded up on the truck? is the crane just for removals or what?

My dream setup is a small knuckleboom loader(maybe 30'extendable),dump box with removable roof, 9" chipper, and mini w/grapple. One truck, 3 guys, lotsa climbing and chainsaws, lotsa firewood. Mini skids firewood and short logs within reach of loader, knuckleboom loads truck. Only problem is the BIG stuff, maybe rent a crane on those jobs.
Sorry just daydreaming.
 
Ok not to open up a can of monkeys but in all of the mini skidsteer operaters out there what would be the first three brands to look at. We are a small group and are starting to get older and getting into some bigger wood that starting to kick our behinds hauling it on dollies. We just rented a dingo and where inpressed but what are the best 3 in everybodies opion?
 
The wheeled dingo and thomas are the most economically priced machines out there. Wheels are easier on the lawns and less maintenance then the tracks long term. I am willing to bet that either of those machines will do 80~90 percent of what the spendy models will do!

my 2 cents
 
IMOP, Vermeer, & Bobcat

I think service is very important and with these brands service (at least here) is top notch. Parts are almost always carried in stock and when more technical repairs are needed then the machine isn't usually down for long.

I think the tires are prob only easier on the turf when you're dealing with hard ground. Get into anything remotely soft and you'll be stuck or leaving rutts with a wheeled machine.
I'll trade higher maintenance and cost for the ability to work in all conditions any day.
 
TreeJunkie, what are you running for a mini. I've been learning the pitfalls and strengths of mine, and feel I would be very interested in buying the wheels for it so I can switch.
 
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