Now what do I do

[cbturf]

OK here is my delima. The Prentice is perfect for the work that I am doing right now and with the Fecon knives installed will probably do a good job back in TN. The Barko will do what I am doing right now and will do all of the mulching back in TN easily. If I sell the FTX-140, the Stump Hog and the 10 ton trailer my payment will not go up at all if I buy the Prentice. I can sell everything and the F-250 that I will not need anymore and buy the Barko and my payment will go up about $400 per month. I had the chance to run the Prentice for 10-15 minutes and it is pretty sweet. I was able to drive the Barko around but it does not have a head on it yet was not able to grind anything but it is SUPER SWEET. Quite as a coffin with a Blauplunkt radio, digital AC system and full guage and diagnostic package.

What would you do?

 

[Cat_Driver]

No brainer get the Barko.

 

[Schwartz04]

What are your plans for transport? Hire somebody everytime or buy a bigger truck?

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Well.....here's a few questions.
1. service, both at home and traveling
2. H.P... isn't the prentice 260 and barko 305? 40 ponies isn't much..BUT
3. I really like the Prenitce/hydroax liniage, been around awhile
4. I think the are close enough that both will serve you well
5. Money is money. 40 h.p. isn't worth 400. a month.

I was at a local forestry dealer Friday and That Prenitce is a BAD dude. The tractor is so high flying debri would rarely be a problem.

 

[cbturf]

This Prentice is the 190hp. and carries the Fecon BH120. The Barko is 305hp and carries the Lynn Hendrix smooth drum BH250 that only Hendrix sells.

 

[QwikDraw]

I'm not familiar with the smooth drum...how about a picture of it.

 

[cbturf]

This is the 375hp machine but you can see the new head, notice that it looks a lot like a Fecon but it does not say Fecon on it. It is a 24 in diameter drum and the teeth are only about 2 inches tall and they are supposed to cut awesome.

 

[QwikDraw]

If you have the work, I vote for the BARKO

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

If I were picking a Prentice I would use the bigger unit. But in your case CB I think you need the most available H.P... H.P. is time, you pay for that with increased fuel burn and initial cost but save time on every job. For me locally the Prentice would win, I don't need the extra H.P. because I would be running the very effecient CIMAF head. But until you can run a CIMAF head you will need every drop of H.P. And as I said earlier both are awsome units. The Prentice I saw Friday had optional tires that were even larger than stock 6' plus high and almost 4' wide. They mount them for floatation and to stay out of rutts. Keep us posted on your direction. In the near future we working on a Prentice/CIMAF demo unit here in GA.

 

[cbturf]

Robbie,
I talked with Hendrix about the larger Prentice machines and they start getting pretty expensive and with all of the standard features the Barko becomes a better value. The Barko is loaded with a lot of neat stuff, the Prentice is also very nice but I have to weigh all of the other factors like fuel burn and material. If I think that I will be working strickly in hardwoods the Barko is the no brainer but the Prentice is a tried and true machine that will do all that I am working in right now and will probably get the job done if I install the knives in the future. Both machines are perfectly tuned by Hendrix so I will get the most out of each machine, so the question is how much do I need?