</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I got an email from Bobcat myself which will shed some additional light on this. BTW, I've been impressed by how responsive the Bobcat folks have been to questions! I hope the local dealer is as good as they are. Here are the questions (even my novice ones) and their responses, which agree with your information, but give additional detail:
<font color="blue">1. Will the C-Series improvements to the Toolcat, which are now under production, be available for both the regular 5600 and 5600 Turbo models?</font></font>
The C-series comes in both standard 5600 and turbo versions. The new lift arm and boom tower will not be retrofittable to the older (A and B-series) machines, however.
<font color="blue">2. One of those improvements is a redesigned tilt linkage that will provide assisted leveling of the bucket and other attachments. Can you give me more information about how this feature will work and make it easier to level the bucket as you're raising the arm?</font>
The new geometry for the tilt linkage reduces the tilt angle throughout the lifting curve so the load is fairly level to truck bed height (60"), but then tilts back more as the arm gets past mid-lift point. Thus, the operator does not need to roll out the attachment very much to keep the load level if desired. This is what we mean by assisted leveling. This is a benefit because a heavy pallet can be difficult to control if the operator does not have a lot of experience and has not acquired the "touch" necessary to keep a pallet level without making the machine bounce from the weight. Older versions of the Toolcat tilted back a great deal -up to 85 degrees at max lift vs. only 30 degrees for the C-series. A greater tilt angle is good for keeping dirt in the bucket when lifting, but it's difficult to keep a pallet load level.
<font color="blue">3. I'm curious, is it technically feasible for the loader to automatically maintain whatever bucket angle the operator sets before he starts to lower or raise the arm, if the operator doesn't move the joystick to the left or right (curl or dump)?</font>
That is what we call parallel lift and, yes, it is technically feasible. Given the versatility of the machine with 30 plus attachments, we feel it would not benefit our customers a great deal to have this feature. The assisted lift mentioned in question 2 is a variation on this that allows the use of many other attachments that wouldn't benefit from parallel lift.
<font color="blue">4. I also understand that the lift capabilities and rollback force of the loader have been improved. Could you tell me what the new ratings are?</font>
The new rollback force is 2,500 lbs on the C-Series vs. 670 lbs for the older version. The lift capability improvement is simply the ability to lift a 2,000 lb pallet to flat bed truck height (60") vs. 47" for the older Toolcats. The rated operating capacity is still 1500 lbs, however.[/i]</font> )</font>
Gosh! I've studied Bobcat's answer to your 4th question and I still don't get it. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif (1) If lift capacity is 1500#, how can it lift a 2000# pallet to 60"?
A pallet is 48" forward of the lift pins, to lift a 2000# pallet the Toolcat would accually have to be able to lift over 2500#. Right? Is anyone else confused?
Also, a pallet of sod that's not satuated with water weighs around 2000#. Does that mean the new "C" series will be able to pull a pallet of sod off a flat truck? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif If so, this Toolcat is a real Hoss! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Listen Rolando, that means the next time a stray "B" series tractor shows up on your property telling you that your dumb for paying so much for the Toolcat. You'll be able to get out the forks and hoist them onto a flatbed, and send them back from windst they came! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Sorry, that wasn't nice. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Remember: The real "cost" of a machine is not what purchase it for. It's what your paid for it when you "sell" it /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
