Re: Ingersoll-Rand Bobcat A220 AWS...
JM III - Whaddaya tryin' ta do, make me public enemy #1? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Well, here's a couple of quotes from previous posts:
<font color=red>In response to a message from Phatboy, mentioning the JCB TLB as an alternative to the EF and asking why I hate skid steers:</font color=red> "The JCB is about 40% more expensive and doesn't have HST. If you're a new member, you may not have been around for all the HST vs. whatever discussions, so you may also not remember my motto "No HST - no interest."
I hate skid steers because 1) I hate the skid steering concept specifically (in a tire vehicle) 2) I hate the skidding, and the damage it does to the surface 3) I hate the ingress/egress method 4) I hate the confined cabins 5) I hate all the operator lockouts 6) I hate the suspension, or rather the complete lack thereof 7) I hate only having one implement at a time 8) I hate the visibility. That's the best I could come up with in less than 3 minutes, and I'm sure I left out a lot, but that gives you an overall idea - like I said, I hate skid steers. I don't claim to have given them a completely fair shake, but I've used them a couple hundred hours, and I still hate them. No, that's not quite fair - actually, I loathe them."
<font color=red>In response to a message from Rat asking if I'd heard about the new all-wheel-steer Bobcat:</font color=red> "Yeah, I've heard about it, and looked through a copy of the owner's manual for one at a dealer. It's not a T190, though - that's the track loader. I forget the model designation of the new one, but it hasn't been formally announced yet, I don't think - that's supposedly going to be at the FL equipment show, whenever that is - soon I think.
It looks very interesting, and proves my point all along - that there are a lot of folks who aren't impressed by skid steers and won't be convinced to ignore their shortcomings because of popular opinion and millions of dollars of advertising. The dealer who showed me the manual did so after telling me at least a dozen times - in response to my list of the reasons I hate skid steers (he asked, so he started it) - "Well, there's a lot of people using them for what you're doing." Finally, I told him "Look, you're not going to convince me by telling me that lots of other people are using them. Most people don't think. They do what the dealer tells them to do, or what the dealer tells them "everybody else" is doing. Give it up. Either address the issues, or just listen." (I was nicer about it than the printed version of my statement sounds. Actually, I liked him - he was genuinely trying to be helpful - he'd just been to too many "dealer sales seminars" and I must not be his average customer. ) At that point, he listened a while, then said "Have you heard about the new Bobcat with 4-wheel-steering and crab steering? It hasn't been announced yet, but I've got a manual for it." You can imagine what my reaction was. "Why did you just spend 3/4 of an hour trying to convince me I'm wrong, then give up and prove to me that Bobcat corporate knows I'm right?"
All that said, the new machine is no EarthForce, by any stretch. Then again, I guess most folks don't need an EarthForce. The biggest difference between the EarthForce and the new Bobcat, other than capacity when you get into the EF-3 class and up, is the ability of the EarthForce to have a backhoe (or whatever else will attach to a backhoe/mini-excavator) follow it around all the time. Of course, there's some mobility/space requirement compromises in favor of the new Bobcat there, too. Nothing comes without compromise..."
Does that help? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif