Vermeer Mini skid steer

[Patriot Arborist]

Already put it to work today. I think we're gonna get along just fine. I normally would have cut this thing up into firewood size stuff so I could load it in the truck. Also saves on clean up since there is so much less saw dust.

is that a rotator log grab? I saw a unit like this and the rep showed how you can set it for horizontal grab

 

[SomethingWitty]

is that a rotator log grab? I saw a unit like this and the rep showed how you can set it for horizontal grab

You can also set it at a 45 in either direction to make feeding a chipper super easy.

 

[Patriot Arborist]

I have been running minis for about 6 or so years now. My choice has always been ditch witch but the Vermeer units are side by side. I never cared for boxer or bobcat and never saw a toro. I ran BMG from the begging and its awesome. We started by hand and within 6 months bought a sk755 and a dump trailer with high sides. Now in 2018 we currently have 2 minis are original sk755 with 6000 plus hours and an sk850. The units are a game changer in tree industry. I would admit this unit is what made us what we are today.

I am looking at getting my first mini. The DW1050 unit they had has two knobs for controlling the tracks versus a single joystick type. He thinks the two knob set up is superior. What do you think? Thanks!

 

[evo]

I am looking at getting my first mini. The DW1050 unit they had has two knobs for controlling the tracks versus a single joystick type. He thinks the two knob set up is superior. What do you think? Thanks!

I have a Vermeer with a joystick and some big heavy equipment background. Two levers for the tracks is much better

 

[SomethingWitty]

I have a Vermeer with a joystick and some big heavy equipment background. Two levers for the tracks is much better

SO MUCH BETTER

 

[Reach]

I am looking at getting my first mini. The DW1050 unit they had has two knobs for controlling the tracks versus a single joystick type. He thinks the two knob set up is superior. What do you think? Thanks!

I am one in the opposite camp, I too have substantial heavy equipment experience, but I much prefer a single stick for control.

 

[Treetopflyer]

How do you turn on a dime without dual sticks? I've got zero experience with anything but dual track control..

 

[Reach]

How do you turn on a dime without dual sticks? I've got zero experience with anything but dual track control..

Push the joystick all all the way to one side or the other, it will counter-rotate that direction. Much easier to do with a joystick than with two sticks. Counter-rotation is hard on the tracks and carriers, but is still a very quick way to change directions in a small space.

 

[Patriot Arborist]

1/2 has been working for our ditch witch (3200#). They do loose there rigidity but I found that kinda helps a little. They still spread the load quite well and as long as they aren’t all broken up (turning and catching a corner in the tracks does it every time).

You could try the adapter but remember that adapter is going to add distance between your lift pins and the load. Not a huge deal but capacity may suffer slightly.



Grabbing with the grapple (BMG or root) works great for 3’ mats (as long as you can have them up off the ground to pick them up) but I wouldn’t do plywood. The power needed to grip and hold is too much to apply without busting the wood up.
We don’t like piling it on the machine either. Too much handling = time/wasted energy = less productivity. And it scratches my pretty paint .
With the forks 2 guys can unload (with our setup) and lay out 20 sheets in 10-15 minutes. Our new mats (because we haven’t got a system yet) took us almost half hour Monday to unload by hand and lay out. I expect 10-15 minutes when we get our new rack built.
Also it’s really nice to have the forks with you. Tuesday we did a 36”+ Pine and the BMG wouldn’t hold the pieces. Threw the forks on and it went right onto the trailer, no issues.

Are there any drawbacks to getting a 16' dump trailer as opposed to the 14' they all push on you?

 

[flyingsquirrel25]

Are there any drawbacks to getting a 16' dump trailer as opposed to the 14' they all push on you?

I would say yes in our market. Our biggest draw back of any trailer is where do you put it in our tight driveways, tight road ways and all. Since I commented on this thread before we have changed our operation up quite a bit (its always a work in progress). We now have a dump truck (550) with a skid steer trailer that carries all of our implements and matts. The dump trailer became too much of hassle when we wanted other implements, matts and something to haul debris. The dump truck covers the debris (and second chip truck if needed) and the trailer has everything else without the 4000 lb of a big dump trailer. Once we get a truck for our lift we will be going back to this model.

 

[Reach]

Are there any drawbacks to getting a 16' dump trailer as opposed to the 14' they all push on you?

Aside from the longer trailer being more difficult to park, it is also heavier. If that’s not a problem for you, I don’t see any reason not to buy the longer trailer.

 

[owScott]

I have a 14ft dump 14k. Wish i went with a 16ft 16k. I run a vermeer ctx 100 because it goes through a gate. i have no storage issues. Basically with material handling bigger is better IMO. Also i like 3ft sides with no wood extension makes loading easier, then i use big starps. I do a fair amount of big removals and this set up works well. The next step up would be a grapple 50yard.

 

[colb]

Are there any drawbacks to getting a 16' dump trailer as opposed to the 14' they all push on you?

You lose rated payload because you've got more steel, but you gain illegal payload because you have more volume/area.

Those short sides won't hold the brush in. My dump roll off can be rolled off and thus I have high sides on my bin. Keeps the brush in, or accepts a 24" pine in a single load. 12' long.

 

[evo]

How do you turn on a dime without dual sticks? I've got zero experience with anything but dual track control..

You drag one track

 

[rugger01]

Individual track control is the only way to go. Much more responsive. To spin push one and pull the other. I own a DW sk800 and run a Vermeer 725 in my other job. No comparison 2 joysticks is WAY better.

 

[Fivepoints]

Twin sticks all the way. I've run both.


On the dump trailer, it depends. If they are both 14k trailer then the 16' you are loosing hauling weight capacity. I've seen some 16' dump trailers that were 18k so you are gaining weight hauling capacity vs a 14k 14' dump trailer. Be aware that either one hauled by a 450 or larger truck requires a class A cdl in most states. In our state, gcwr of 26,001 and up plus a trailer gvwr of 10,001 and up means class a time.

 

[SomethingWitty]

Are there any drawbacks to getting a 16' dump trailer as opposed to the 14' they all push on you?

The same ones that always exist when going bigger.

Off the top of my head, load limits really stand out. Ours gets awfully close to max load pretty regularly, and the two 7k axles are the limit for pulling behind our 3500 without our combined gvwr exceeding 26000. 10k in wood doesn't take much space. I have never been checked.... I don't know what happens when you're driving a CDL truck without a proper license.

 

[Patriot Arborist]

I ended up with 5/8" plywood and cut the sheets in half, so they are 4' square. I used them as turning stations and connected the dots. As wet as its been I was very impressed with how this all went down today. The mini will spin easily on the half sheet. When I would go into a pick on the log I would put a sheet right behind the mini. Back up, rotate and take a straight line to my next square, used three pads to get me to the truck. The yard looked great when I was done and its been wet.

I have a dump trailer now, but its a 6x10 over the wheels, so its kinda high. I agree its super nice to be able to dump. But with my tractor at base camp I used the forks and sorted saw logs, firewood logs and junk as I was off loading. I was considering replacing the dump trailer with a low profile one, maybe a 7x14, but I think I'm going to replace my equipment trailer with a deck over. Then I'll be able to haul my mini and my stump grinder at the same time. That would have saved me a trip today, as I went back to grind the stump and then I had to run back and pick up the mini. And if I have a deck over and the logs are too heavy for my tractor I can just roll them off.

So to recap for my first week with the mini. Used it on 4 jobs and only one would have been accessible with a grapple trailer. Very happy with it.

Thanks for all the input with getting this thing up and running. I also found out that the grapple works good for pulling up surface roots. ;-)

I have to get a loader! I would have been there all day cutting those up into pieces humans can lift into the truck!

 

[Patriot Arborist]

I have a 14ft dump 14k. Wish i went with a 16ft 16k. I run a vermeer ctx 100 because it goes through a gate. i have no storage issues. Basically with material handling bigger is better IMO. Also i like 3ft sides with no wood extension makes loading easier, then i use big starps. I do a fair amount of big removals and this set up works well. The next step up would be a grapple 50yard.

Can only dream of a nice grapple right now

 

[Patriot Arborist]

I just use 3/8" plywood for my mini (vermeer 650tx).It is plenty to spin on and keep out any ruts or track marks. Obviously though not enough to bridge gaps etc unless doubled or tripled.

My petite wife can lift and load a 4x8 sheet into our truck storage rack. Plus they are $ cheap.

If I need to more a full stack of plywood with the mini and bmg, I just slide them between the bmg and skid arms (on top of the connection plate.

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what do you think about the mini and bmg? would you prefer a rotator grapple?