New ASV PT-100 forestry package

[ice.patriot]

I just wanted to jump in and offer some experience. There has been many changes made with the new PT100 forestry. I have experience with the machines and would be more than willing to answer any questions that anybody might have. I think it is safe to say that the new machine has been designed to mulch and do it effectively. Remember all track loaders are tool carriers first, they are designed to do many things well. I think it is safe to say the PT100F is the first tool carrier built for the Mulching industry.

Can anyone give a ball park on the fuel usage per hour? Thanks. Also realisticly what is the max diameter size tree you can take down and mulch with it. Any ball park on acres cleared per hour would be beneficial too for this machine. Thanks.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

First to Palmetto. Not sure what blades your running but we two different blades. If you haven't I would suggest trying the harder forged blades. They hold there edges better in the dirt. If you would like call for we can now sell blades for our heads as well as Gyro's.
Now for the normal usages. You can figure a 100 will burn 5 gph at full song working. Roughly fillup at morning and then again at lunch while you blow the tractor off. As for what if will cut that depends completely on what head you use. With a carbide 8" max to stay productive and not push the tractor beyond it's limits. Intermittently up to 10". Yes they will cut a little larger but with carbides they take such big bites it begins to get rough on the loader arms, pins and bushings etc. Plus it will take much longer.
Now if your running a planier head (CIMAF,or GYRO) you can mulch up to 10-12" productivly and move up beyond 12" and not stress the tractor. We take small bites out of the wood and chip at it. I personally have cut 16" standing pines up in under 10 minutes with a 100 h.p. ish skid with our 180D. Plus the finished product our heads leave is far superior to other heads.
Now how much can you clear?? That is the most frequent question a mulcher is asked,,,,and the hardest one to answer. It greatly depends on the head choise followed by what your getting into. Rough guess is if you can't walk thru it and it's under 6" 4 hours an acre. That worst case, More open and a good operator can easly half that.
I personally like to bid by the acre and then let the machines speed get-r-done..

 

[ice.patriot]

First to Palmetto. Not sure what blades your running but we two different blades. If you haven't I would suggest trying the harder forged blades. They hold there edges better in the dirt. If you would like call for we can now sell blades for our heads as well as Gyro's.
Now for the normal usages. You can figure a 100 will burn 5 gph at full song working. Roughly fillup at morning and then again at lunch while you blow the tractor off. As for what if will cut that depends completely on what head you use. With a carbide 8" max to stay productive and not push the tractor beyond it's limits. Intermittently up to 10". Yes they will cut a little larger but with carbides they take such big bites it begins to get rough on the loader arms, pins and bushings etc. Plus it will take much longer.
Now if your running a planier head (CIMAF,or GYRO) you can mulch up to 10-12" productivly and move up beyond 12" and not stress the tractor. We take small bites out of the wood and chip at it. I personally have cut 16" standing pines up in under 10 minutes with a 100 h.p. ish skid with our 180D. Plus the finished product our heads leave is far superior to other heads.
Now how much can you clear?? That is the most frequent question a mulcher is asked,,,,and the hardest one to answer. It greatly depends on the head choise followed by what your getting into. Rough guess is if you can't walk thru it and it's under 6" 4 hours an acre. That worst case, More open and a good operator can easly half that.
I personally like to bid by the acre and then let the machines speed get-r-done..

Very helpful information. Most of what we get down in Florida where I am from is palmetto scrub and flatwoods mix. On most clearing jobs its leave anything bigger than 8" dia and get rid of hte rest. Usually its not too thick except for the palmettos as far as walking through. I realize that its a super tough question as it greatly depends on what the woods are but thanks for your ball parks as that is what I am looking for. A ball park of best case job vs thick and nasty. I am thinking of buying one of the PT100Fs but want to hear from real life users to know what I am getting into. Thanks.

Curious what your bid per acre usually is on a easy job vs the tougher one you described.

Lastly, is this machine capable of preparing property for planting pine trees? Basically how far below the surface can this machine really get to soften things up for either hand planting or vplowing them in? thanks

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

We have palmetto here in south Ga as well and it mulches pretty good.

You need to charge as much as your market will bear. You need to know what your competition charges and what equipment they run. It will also depend on what your cost per hour comes to after your purchases. Usually hourly needs to be above 150.00 per hour or your just making the notes. Acre would be calculated from hourly.

Carbides will go several inches below the ground but I have never tried to plant trees after mulching. DENIS CIMAF heads you don't want to engage dirt so I would use a different approach. Maybe a size bigger tractor or two and a smaller V-plow. Maybe use the PT-100 and make/find a plow for it. The more you keep your mulching head out of the dirt (whatever you use) it will greatly lengthen it's life span.

Where in Fl are you located?

 

[palmettobrush]

Hey robbie still waiting on the excavator demo

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

The mounting bracket is being made now. I'll give you an update as soon as I have one.

 

[ice.patriot]

We have palmetto here in south Ga as well and it mulches pretty good.

You need to charge as much as your market will bear. You need to know what your competition charges and what equipment they run. It will also depend on what your cost per hour comes to after your purchases. Usually hourly needs to be above 150.00 per hour or your just making the notes. Acre would be calculated from hourly.

Carbides will go several inches below the ground but I have never tried to plant trees after mulching. DENIS CIMAF heads you don't want to engage dirt so I would use a different approach. Maybe a size bigger tractor or two and a smaller V-plow. Maybe use the PT-100 and make/find a plow for it. The more you keep your mulching head out of the dirt (whatever you use) it will greatly lengthen it's life span.

Where in Fl are you located?

Central Florida - Polk County (Between Tampa and Orlando)

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Do yourself a favor and go down and see the guys at Supertrak. That's all they do and are knowledgable. For your first machine the TL150 they do is pretty tough.

 

[mrob2012003]

Compact1 , Your probably still playing but do'nt keep us in suspence any longer . I was quoted $118,000 for one yesterday . A mulcher is another 40+ . It seems a lot of money to spend , i wonder if it is possible to make some money with one after all the cost's ? My excavator is a dead loss , too many $ to shift it around , people just wont pay . How much fuel does it burn ? Is the pressurized cab as good as they say ? How noisy inside ? Thank's .

I can put in my 2cent on this. I bought mine for 88,000 with cutting head now this was a demo model with 10 hrs I think they are 105 new no hours. I bought mine from compact power out of lewisville texas but for the price i think I would drive and go get it.

 

[Waltgr]

i have a supertrak TL150 with fecon head, bucket and rake attachments. I have been mulching for a couple years. great machine, enjoy the work.
But I have arthritis and I have a serious neck problem, even though the vibration in the machine I think is very minor, it is enough to aggravate my neck problem to where I had to get an epidural shot 3 times.
this caused me to avoid doing very much work with the machine. I still run it around my property for short times, and I do small jobs for neighbors and friends. I am considering selling, even though this is not the greatest time to be selling.
but since I am afraid to go on jobs. I don't want it to just set.