Compact articulated loaders

[Chrissleurink]

Hello,

I was wondering on your opinions/experiences with compact all wheel loaders. I live in Europe and they are all over the place here, but I dont see them in the US!
They can be compared to the skid steers in a lot of ways, but on the other hand its a totally different machine with other abilities.

To give you an idea of what I mean, check the images below.




Kind regards,

Chris

 

[diesel lover]

I have experience operating pay loaders. One was a Michigan and one is a komatsu WA180 with a Cummins 5.9 . Both are smaller but no where near that small.

That being said I would love to operate one that small! The articulated steering is just great on a payloader no matter the size! I think a loader that small would be so practical. It would have smaller steering radious than a compact utility tractor.

 

[GManBart]

No idea, but I want one! Very cool. How do they compare to compact tractors in loader capacity and lift height?

 

[davrow]

I want an EarthForce EF3, but they went out of business long, long ago - so out of the question for me. McChalkey on TBN had an EF5, I think. (these are not articulated but are 4 wheel steer)

 

[paulharvey]

Koomatsu Wa75, JD-344, Cat-906? They are popular with many landscapers and road way sod crews. They have longer tire life, larger bucket capacity, and higher ground speed than tracked skids and wheeled skids. On the down side they have higher center of gravity and in some ways worse in tight spaces, worse traction (than a CTL).

They are said to be significantly cheaper to run, with the same lift capacity machine having less horse power and burning less fuel.

 

[pinetree10]

I don't know much about what bales weigh but that at least looks like a lot of weight on those forks and it's pretty far away from the center of gravity. I'm surprised the back end of that thing is still on the ground. In the right application it must be a great piece of equipment to have around.

 

[GManBart]

Had no idea Kubota made them....very cool.

R Series - Construction Equipment

Gehl makes them as well:

http://www.gehl.com/equipment/articulated-loaders

 

[TSO]

There's one (Kubota) at the local landscape yard ... and the city I work for has one in their public works garage (also Kubota I believe).

To me, it seems like a nice mix between a front end loader & a forklift. Like many different types of machines, I would imagine it excels at certain things, can handle other things reasonably well, and then can't handle some other things at all.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have a Kubota R510 with Cab and backhoe. It is an awesome machine! I could go on and on about it's many attributes. I wish I had a newer articulated loader, like a Case or JD, but would really miss the backhoe. That is a full lift of roof sheating.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Sorry. Don't have the hang of importing pictures. Heres another I had posted in pictures of Snow Weapons.




Edit: Maybe someone can tgell me, why sometimes the pictures shows up and other times only the file name.

 

[diesel lover]

I have a Kubota R510 with Cab and backhoe. It is an awesome machine! I could go on and on about it's many attributes. I wish I had a newer articulated loader, like a Case or JD, but would really miss the backhoe. View attachment 355212 That is a full lift of roof sheating.

Nice equipment! I haven't even seen a backhoe/ loader combo like that before. All tires are the same size. And I want to know how to post pictures as well.

 

[ferrari99]

What about these. 12-49hp, telescopic boom, 170 attachments, articulated and 4wd.
Multione - Multi-purpose utility tool carriers - Excavator tool carrier - Compact wheel loaders - Multifunctional vehicles

 

[Industrial Toys]

That is the beauty of wheel loaders. The four equal sized tires. Solid axles without ball joints or U joints on the axles for steering. The rear wheels track the front perfectly. Backward is no different from forward in traction or geometry. Very easy on turf. Very close turning radius.

Wheel loaders are notoriously unstable though, when handling a load on uneven ground! I've had one front wheel in the air many a time! You just have to keep your cool and know what to do.

My particular machine is a bit of a Rube Goldburg as the selling dealer stated. It has the larger (Bradco) hoe on the back which is just a bit much for this machine. The normal hoe is the smaller fold up one. I think reach is absolutely everything in a hoe and would probably not want to have to live with the smaller one, but despite them loading the front tires almost full with Calcium, it is still rear heavy! The approach angle is also quite miserable!

The top speed of this machine, which has two speeds, is too slow to want to travel any great distance.

I switched the coupler to a hydraulically controlled skid steer type. I don't need side shift forks as the machine does this on it's own with the articulation, but I did attach a scrapped fork carrier that has hydraulically adjustable forks and that is one slick affair. You can also pinch things and pick them up, within reason

 

[TSO]

There's one (Kubota) at the local landscape yard ... and the city I work for has one in their public works garage (also Kubota I believe).
.

Just snapped a pic...

 

[woodlandfarms]

There is the American version (manufactured in Tennessee.

Versatile Tractors,Compact Tractors,Trailer Packages,Landscaping,Utility Vehicle Rentals,Mowers-Power Trac

The Gehl is a much fancier version, and having the extending front forks is cool, but the price..... hold on to your hats when you get the bill...

 

[diesel lover]

Just snapped a pic...


View attachment 355230



View attachment 355231

Wow! That Kubota is such a nice size! So, what model is that? I would like to look up the specs. I hear Kubota makes very good construction equipment that competes with the more well known brands when it comes to construction machines.

 

[bcp]

Kubota compact loaders

R Series - Construction Equipment

Bruce

 

[Chrissleurink]

Thanks for your reactions, much appreciated. To give more info on myself, I am intending to start offering wheelloaders from 'Giant' to the US this year. They offer wide range of types and implements and can offer you the machine you want. Need a bobcat attachment bracket? no problem.
Here's their site: Tobroco Machines the wheelloader specialist! - Giant Tobroco Machines

 

[Tags]

We have a Kubota R520 with the side shift hoe and in my opinion, it is best for planting jobs. It will pick up 5000lbs and has a bucket pin height of 11 feet when fully raised, which for smallish wheel loader is excellent, especially if you need to load material into a tri axel dump. The hoe digs well but I never use it for more than digging tree holes or very short trenches, it's annoying to relocate when trenching due to its layout and it is also very hard on the center swivel/ pivot joint.

 

[Chrissleurink]

No idea, but I want one! Very cool. How do they compare to compact tractors in loader capacity and lift height?

A 45hp wheelloader I want to start offering in the US: tippingload in straight position, without extra couterweights, is 1000/1100 kg.
Lift height will be 3 meters.

you can check out more technical data on different types here: Leaflets English - Downloads - Giant Tobroco Machines

kind regards

chris