I can't say that I'm impressed with my RC100. I've dealt with Buck over at ASV before. In my case it was because my idiot dealer, who I bought my machine from brand new, didn't catch that there had been a factory service bulletin on my RC100. Even though I had brought my machine in to that same dealer a couple of times after the service bulletin was sent out, they didn't catch it and as a result my undercarriage cracked completely in half on one side and both sides had to be replaced. The dealer was so "generous" that they ended up selling me the new undercarriage at their cost plus labor, so their missing the service bulletin ended up costing me only about $10k. Then, I had a final drive failure on one side. Come to find out that my genius of a dealer had been putting the wrong fluid in my machine when I brought it in for servicing by them (one time they put Kubota UDT fluid in the hydraulic system and the next time they put in Kubota AW46 rather than the thinner Rycon AW32 fluid speced by ASV, and this is documented on their repair records). During the final drive failure I talked to Buck and a couple of other people at ASV. I could never get any help from them on the issue even though their dealer was clearly an idiot and at fault. At that point I switched to a different dealer and had them replace the final drive, then I had to have them replace the other side final drive about a year later, probably due to damage caused by the "servicing" of the previous dealer.
My new dealer seems to try hard - they aren't great dealing with the machine and figuring out problems, but they try hard and they try to work with me on their billing because they recognize that my machine was trashed by the previous dealer. Presumably they try to bill me reasonably enough that I don't just dump my machine and move on to a more reliable machine.
I should have sued the first dealer over the undercarriage failure and the final drive failure which I believe was caused by the out of spec fluids they used, but I'm just not the suing kind of guy. I am, however, happy to give the facts to other people considering buying ASV equipment. In my opinion ASV tried to grow their dealer network too fast and then didn't stand behind customers who got hurt by their pathetic dealers. My case was not the only one for the dealer in question - one day I pulled up to pick up my RC100 and there was another RC100 being unloaded from a trailer with two pretty pissed off looking guys. I talked to them and they were having very similar problems to mine and in their case they had concluded that the machine was unsafe to work with because the out of spec hydraulic fluid made the movement of the machine unpredictable in relation to the control stick movements and they couldn't risk running into a clients building or hurting on of their employees. I currently have those same control problems that they described but because I generally work alone I don't have to worry about maiming someone.
Every couple of months I talk to my Bobcat dealer to find out if they have come out with a machine that rivals the ASV in terms of top ground speed - for me that is a critical factor and in fact is the only reason I haven't gotten rid of my ASV. I should mention that I don't use the machine for mulching. I basically use the standard bucket, a 4-in-1 bucket, a hydraulic auger, and the Davco mower deck branded by ASV to be used with that machine, so my use of the machine is in no way outside of the expected norm of what the machine was intended to do.
Buck, if you're still reading this thread the service bulletin was ASVRC007 and I dealt with that issue back in 1/2008, then I started dealing with my first final drive failure in early 2008. That's when I spoke with you and others at ASV and got the run around over the fluid that Sound Tractor of Everett had been putting in my machine. You didn't do a reasonable job of sticking up for your customer, but I notice that since then you appear to have gotten rid of Sound Tractor as one of your dealers. I admit that there are some qualities of your machines that are hard to beat, but the dreadful experience I had dealing with ASV directly and with Sound Tractor was probably enough to drive me away for good. In contrast to that experience, I bought a mini excavator from my local Bobcat dealer and have nothing but great things to say about them - there have been some problems with the machine, but the dealer handles problems quickly and reasonably, and bottom line they know how to work on the machines.
