Hey man. What do you think about the Thomas? I'm thinking about buying the 45 DT. Are they overpriced?
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Mini Skids
- Thread starter wyoclimber
- Start date
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flyingsquirrel25
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- South East, PA
I loved it for quite a few years. I bought it used from a guy here on the buzz. It's only a small wheeled ride on 25G, but for what I did while working part time it was great. When we went full time it wasn't fast enough. They are very durable machines, a couple guys on here have them still. I will be sorting out a slight carb issue with mine and it will be up for sale sometime this winter, we just don't see the need for it with the ditch witch power and speed and it's tying up valuable space and capital!
I hear ya. Thanks for that. The owner quoted me $25,000 and said he could come down a little on the 25 hp diesel track machine. But that's factory direct. I'm just learning the market so I don't know if that's a good deal compared to top name brands. This seems to be more of a no frills work horse
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monkeylove
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Roslyn, Pa.
monkeylove
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Roslyn, Pa.
islandedge
Participating member
- Location
- downriver
I demoed the tx1000 not long ago and was disapointed with the controls.. Are the ditch witch controls the same way? Which model dw is comparable to the t1000?
islandedge
Participating member
- Location
- downriver
In my kanga i can drive, tilt/lift arms and grab or release grapple all at the same time.. With t1000 i would have to take the hands off the bucket control in order to operate the grapple. I felt i was going backwards not upgrading.. Kanga makes the 8 series for 32k i think i will be going that way soon. Especially since next year there supposedly going to start building here locally.
islandedge
Participating member
- Location
- downriver
There isn't an exact comparison in any brand to the TX 1000. It's about middle ways between an SK 800 and an SK 1050. It has the similar ROC to the 1050 and less hydraulic hp. It has a 24.8 hp Kubota like the SK 800 but the engine has a little larger displacement and a little more torque.
All of these brands have a model that runs some form of 24.8 Kubota but all 24.8 Kubotas are not created equal. There are I think 4 or 5 different versions. Some are small block and some are big block having different bore and stroke. They put a small block 24.8 in an SK 600 and it makes that 24.8 hp at 3600 rpm. The TX 1000 has a big block that makes 24.8 hp at 2300 rpm and has about 30% more torque.
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Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
That's good to know and watch out for. I would have thought they were all the same engine.
I did too until a few weeks ago. I was talking to a salesman and he kept making reference to an engine being a big block and having more torque so I got on the Kubota Engine website and pulled up the specs on their models. They have a chart and spec sheet on all of the engines which provide all of this information. The most common models used in mini skids are the D904-E4B, the D1105-E4B, and the D1505-E4B. They are from smallest to largest in that order.
Kind of pisses me off that most manufacturers make no attempt to educate potential customers on stuff like this. These are not cheap investments and it seems like getting all of the truly important spec information out of these guys is almost impossible.
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Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
I totally agree with the disappointment and upset you express here. I don't make or have enough money in life to just randomly going around learning from my mistakes on equip purchases. We had one resource to combat this who posts here as "Lumberjack" he was a end product user doing a full on tree business and went on to become a dealer for many of the different machines.
The info you could get from him before making a choice between different machines was of so much value that I always felt any profit he made was far less than I wish I could have given him as additional compensation. Sadly he is out of that game now.
Lumberjack
Branched out member
Oh I'm still around, out of the mini/loader game though.
Great! So tell me. I'm not sure what the mark up is on a mini skid so how cheap of a price should I expect from Thomas factory direct. Owner says he'll give me dealer wholesale price. Spec wise, the 45 DT has the same engine as a SK 800 but not near the ROC, no high drive sprocket undercarriage and it seems to just be a little more no frills. It does have that hydraulic combiner/flow control cicuot that allows you to manually prioritize flow to tracks or aux circuit Other than engine and hydraulic flow it actually specs closer to an SK 600. Ditch Witch quoted me over the phone $25,000 on 800 and $23,000 on the 600. If you were a dealer what price would you have to expect from Thomas to make the machine competitive with Ditch Witch and still make a profit? I just don't see how a small company like that can expect to retail for around the same price as a top tier brand like Ditch WitchOh I'm still in a few games.
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Merle Nelson
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
Not speaking for Lumberjack but...
Lumberjack (Carl) has so much info and perspective that in my opinion the written (typed) word is not an effective communication medium.
Carl could a person ever hire you to consult over the phone???
Lumberjack (Carl) has so much info and perspective that in my opinion the written (typed) word is not an effective communication medium.
Carl could a person ever hire you to consult over the phone???
evo
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- My Island, WA
I would drop some funds for an objective, educated, unbiased pov before I buy my skidsteer.
Why is that? I thought that was your bag baby?
Lumberjack
Branched out member
A manufacturer/distributor that will sell to the public at dealer cost has an abhorred business model... think about it, what's the point of being a dealer and spending literally hours on the phone, forums, social media, etc if your supplier will sell direct for the same price you pay? Where is the incentive to offer support on the product?
Part of my falling out with the former party involved my being a dealer for their product and finding out they were selling "$40k" machines that cost me $36k for $31k to end users. They accused me of being greedy and only caring about money. They went out of their way to remove me as their competition on an articulated loader line that I was a dealer for directly. There were loads of other issues like randomly being billed $18k for a gaggle of invoices that had already been paid but the payment(s) were misapplied... ironically turns out that the secretary/office manager/book keeper was fired for embezzling a few months back.
I've found another avenue of business outside of trees or equipment that attracts my time and capital for a multitude of reasons; although I still do tree work and Compact Equipment Store still sells Nifty Lifts.
Part of my falling out with the former party involved my being a dealer for their product and finding out they were selling "$40k" machines that cost me $36k for $31k to end users. They accused me of being greedy and only caring about money. They went out of their way to remove me as their competition on an articulated loader line that I was a dealer for directly. There were loads of other issues like randomly being billed $18k for a gaggle of invoices that had already been paid but the payment(s) were misapplied... ironically turns out that the secretary/office manager/book keeper was fired for embezzling a few months back.
I've found another avenue of business outside of trees or equipment that attracts my time and capital for a multitude of reasons; although I still do tree work and Compact Equipment Store still sells Nifty Lifts.
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