After visiting all the sites, this is what I did. I bought a Fecon FTX90L (made by Rayco)mulcher, it only had 100hrs and was still under warranty ($85,000) sells for around $95,000, the new ones are FTX100L. I talked to many people that owns ASV's, Bobcat, Cat, etc. Here is a list of problems, they were/are having
not enough cooling, rubber tracks not lasting, weak undercarriage, no forestry package, no pressurized cab, no winch, etc.
This is the reason I spent the extra money, the Fecon was built to do this work, Im not saying its perfect, Im not real crazy about a Duetz engine (but they are tough) but it has all the stuff that the other manufactures are trying to put on theirs. The Fecon uses the Fecon head and so does alot of others, I was/am convinced, its the best head Ive ever used, who wants to spend time, (after you have worked all day) sharpening teeth, not me. The Fecon does offer two other style teeth now. The new model with the 100hp, I hear, is doing a great job.
There seems to be a bunch of ASV's out there, they do have a history of catching a fire, I think part of that is customers, not cleaning out the debris, from the engine compartment, has/had history of exhaust manifold coming lose and setting this debris a fire. The Fecon has a blanket on the exhaust and muffler. Rough terrain is bad on the rubber tracks (Fecon has steel tracks, tripple grousuers) ASV's has weak under carriage supports, a friend of mine, just broke his in too and had to replace the whole support assemblies.
I might have seen a winch on other models, not sure, but in most cases this is a must, now I know someone is getting ready to say this, so I'll beat them to it. If you dont have a tree to hook onto, a winch is no good. True in most cases, Ive got myself out using a boat anchor (Danforth style, no I dont carry a anchor with me), I always carry a extra 100 ft of cable on top of cab, if I think I might need it, also extra rope in truck, so I can reach around 250 ft., do some pre-planning, if you are working in a bad area, sometimes not cutting down some smaller trees in a bunch, you can put the cable around a bunch of small trees, if there is no large trees, to get you out.
OK, I should stop, but I did a bunch of research, before I bought anything, but this is my opinion and Im sure Ive offended someone. So do your own homework, make up you own mind, cheaper, is not always the best way to go.
See how many Fecon's/Rayco's are for sale, used, not that many. Most people like me are keeping them. Look and see how many of the others are for sale, check out the condition and hours.
On the plus side I hear Cat and ASV, has a great finance program for first time buyers. I leased mine, so I can write off almost 100% of cost, costs a little more in finance charges, but the tax write off, is almost double.
ASV and Cat are strong machines, talk to owners, in most cases they will talk to you, look up websites that are out of your area and send them the questions.
Im almost finished, what you going to pull in with and on. You can find many opionions about this, but the fact is, if you are towing something over 10,000 lb, you need a class A CDL. Lots of people out there with no CDL and are getting by with it. If your equipment looks good and you are not trying to pull 10,000 lb with a Ford 150, they may not stop you, but if you get caught in a check, you'll have to get someone to come get the truck, with a CDL or Lowboy ( I learned this one the hard way, I didnt listen)
Thats all, good luck, do your research wisely, lots of good machines out there for sale, times are tough, but we are hoping it will pickup
