Off Brand/Chinese Equipment

Serf Life said:
Damnit Oceans, I’m trying to not by more equipment!
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Sorry, brother. I might be a pretty bad influence in that regard. :) I was definitely speaking your words up until 7 years ago or so.

It’s a double edged sword, though. Quipment. Gotta pay one way or another to keep it running…time or money or both.

Well, as they say, gotta spend some to make some!
 
Serf Life said:
Most definitely, revenue’s jumped with each purchase. I suppose worries are there with or without more overhead. And even if one’s net is the same after an equipment investment, worth it if the physical strain is less. Maybe I should just get a grapple excavator…
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In more rural areas, I can’t really imagine a more practical or versatile tool. I bought mine with hopes to open new service offerings.

Just a bucket and thumb alone is an awesome start. The mower is clutch. The rigid rotating grapple is next to perfection. Add a saw to the rigid rotating grapple and it’s near nirvava! I’m almost there.

You’re coastal ME? Can’t help but imagine you might end up being busy busy busy with an ex…
 
oceans said:
In more rural areas, I can’t really imagine a more practical or versatile tool. I bought mine with hopes to open new service offerings.

Just a bucket and thumb alone is an awesome start. The mower is clutch. The rigid rotating grapple is next to perfection. Add a saw to the rigid rotating grapple and it’s near nirvava! I’m almost there.

You’re coastal ME? Can’t help but imagine you might end up being busy busy busy with an ex…
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The grapple on an excavator seems the most logical for me too. A mini bob is nice, but like you said, rural areas. I can do a lot with a mini ex and rotating grapple.
 
a mini or small ex is certainly very versatile, more so if you ever want to diverge and do some digging. Not the quickest for forwarding material long distance, that is where loader platforms shine.
They are also MUCH heavier than mini skids but way more versatile. If I were more of a generalist I’d get one hands down. I’ve toyed with the idea of a mini backhoe modded for tree work, could be sumthin there.
 
evo said:
Oooor….. pipe dreams for functionally and versatility

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Mmmmm, yeah, I’d likely pass on that JCB. My opinion is it’s still a bit of a club. In my experience, it’s nearly impossible to beat the ability to sit in one place and work 360 degrees. In regard to forwarding lots of material, a dolly or very small bunk trailer can carry mountains of material and limit trips in/out. No silver bullet, I know I’m different than most, but that‘s me and my market.
 
Serf Life said:
Most definitely, revenue’s jumped with each purchase. I suppose worries are there with or without more overhead. And even if one’s net is the same after an equipment investment, worth it if the physical strain is less. Maybe I should just get a grapple excavator…
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Other than my cranes, it's the best money I've ever spent. It's been so good, we just bought a second one. Our mini skids sit at our shop unless it's to narrow to get the excavator through.
 
oceans said:
Mmmmm, yeah, I’d likely pass on that JCB. My opinion is it’s still a bit of a club. In my experience, it’s nearly impossible to beat the ability to sit in one place and work 360 degrees. In regard to forwarding lots of material, a dolly or very small bunk trailer can carry mountains of material and limit trips in/out. No silver bullet, I know I’m different than most, but that‘s me and my market.
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Totally respect that. I can totally see how the 360 would be bomber in certain situations, I just find myself forwarding fairly long distances. A ex would stuff a chipper very efficiently
 
oceans said:
Mmmmm, yeah, I’d likely pass on that JCB. My opinion is it’s still a bit of a club. In my experience, it’s nearly impossible to beat the ability to sit in one place and work 360 degrees. In regard to forwarding lots of material, a dolly or very small bunk trailer can carry mountains of material and limit trips in/out. No silver bullet, I know I’m different than most, but that‘s me and my market.
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A lot of times we will carry 3 or 4 bundles
evo said:
Totally respect that. I can totally see how the 360 would be bomber in certain situations, I just find myself forwarding fairly long distances. A ex would stuff a chipper very efficiently
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It does. Especially from big piles. Our chipper has way less idle time vs when we used a mini skid with a bmg.

We regularly forward material 100 plus yards. It can move 3 times what we can move with our mini skid and it's about half the speed. Either one works well, just have to do each a bit different to make them work well.
 
there is a company who supposedly once build the older all metal avant loader‘s and is now still building them like that. they are about half the price of a new avant but resale value is probably lower than original idk.
 
Fivepoints said:
A lot of times we will carry 3 or 4 bundles
It does. Especially from big piles. Our chipper has way less idle time vs when we used a mini skid with a bmg.

We regularly forward material 100 plus yards. It can move 3 times what we can move with our mini skid and it's about half the speed. Either one works well, just have to do each a bit different to make them work well.
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I’ve seen your excavator with the wood-auger-splitter-dingus, can’t remember what sized grapple you have.

We mini-forward everything to the chipper (15xp) neatly arranged for minimal run time as well, but can believe the small ex would be faster. Recently had a job with sloped terrain and ice patches, after a few turn and feeds of brush the mini was spinning, bet the ex would have fed better in that scenario for sure as you’re doing more rotating and less driving.
 
We sometimes have a mini wheel loader forward to the ex which then feeds. It’s much faster because the mini is on its way out for another hitch while the ex manages feeding.

Similar to a larger scale clearing, a skidder will drop a hitch at the chipper and something else takes it from there.
 
oceans said:
We sometimes have a mini wheel loader forward to the ex which then feeds. It’s much faster because the mini is on its way out for another hitch while the ex manages feeding.

Similar to a larger scale clearing, a skidder will drop a hitch at the chipper and something else takes it from there.
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Like two hands playing different notes on the same piano song and it sounds beautiful!
 
Here’s an example from a recent job. Vista prune over a 5 acre piece of conservation wetland. Most of the trees hadn’t been touched in 20 years. I subbed in 2 spider lifts and a few other climbers. We were there for 2 weeks. Most of the material came from over 1,000 feet away through a path that got impassable unless it was frozen. We would forward with the Giant 254 in the sub-freezing mornings and stage on the lawn. The picture is showing less than 1/3 of the brush.

The chipper was set up about where I took the photo from. We skidded with the Giant up to the landing and quickly drop the hitch and race away for the next one. I fed the chipper with the ex. Each hitch was big enough that I had to break them down in 1/2 or 1/3 to keep the feed going. I’d be pulling my hair out watching a mini try to feed these hitches and then play fetch while the chipper was screaming away.

IMG_3941.jpeg
 
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