asv rc100

[paco]

It has been interesting reading the different comments regarding different track loaders and mulching heads. I have been debating buying one for months now. I have ran the asv rc100 and the cat 287. I will demo the bobcat t300 in the morning. I believe the asv is the unit of choice by many. Any regrets from asv owners or advice? Thanks, Mike

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey Mike, I think we covered the good, bad, and the ugly in the other skid steer thread. Tests drives are the best way to determine what tractor is best for you. The only advice I can add is to really look at proposed services you are going to offer, buy the attachments you need to do those. The catch is to think of were those services could lead you and be prepared for that. Example, I run a mulching service, I have laid sod and A little lite grading, I have had to turn down work because I do not have a grapple. I originally planned to buy one with the tractor but just didn't, I plan to remidy[spell] that next week. Also if you plan to mulch heavily I would strongly consider some form of forestry package. ASV's is pretty good but I prefer the one magnum shows on there web site. I didn't do this for at the time I was very green to the whole deal. I do however have the rear guards asv offers, they will do for now. I have a friend who owns a cat and is very pleased but it is a smaller wheeled version. I far as timing I think now would be as good time as any. Time to get everything going being woods turn green again. Good luck, Robbie

 

[Maka]

Hi Paco. I am a dealer and since I am I will leave others who are owners to answer your specific question. I just wanted to say that I have an ASV RC100 coming in about an hour. I have a grapple and 8' snow blade coming with it and since the snow is coming down hard I am looking to use the blade a bit.

I have the machine with cab and all options and am looking forward to it arriving. I have seen and operated the RC100 but being a new dealer this will be our first we inventory.

We already have RC50, RC60, SR70 and SR80's in inventory so the RC100 should round out the machines I believe will be the most popular.

Best of luck,
Maka

 

[paco]

Thanks for your imput. I did a demo with the bobcat t300(new k series)today. The machine was very impressive but seems to be much more sensitive as you mulch the 6" material. I am still leaning toward the asv because of horsepower and the track system. More bells and whistles with increased cost when it comes to repairs. I bought two stump grinders from the Vermeer dealer(also asv dealer) and they have agreed to leave me the rc100 for a week or so to demo a second time. I have lined up several jobs with one potential big job. I hope to close some deals with potential customers during the demo week. After that I guess I will pull the trigger. I have been very fortunate with my stump removal business I started five years ago as a part time business. I ran it full time this year. I am ready to diversify my business at this point and this seems to tie in real well with my existing business. I have a one ton 4wd cummins dodge dually, 20' big tex gooseneck already. I have many contacts with tree services,landscapers and developers as they have been customers for several years. I just feel this is the direction for me to go. You can research equipment to no end with good and bad things being said about all brands. I love to talk with owner/operators because they tend to take better care as they have to pay for the equipment.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey Mike. First things first,the natural progression you talked about with your stump grinding bus. leading into this is the absolute best and safest approach to mulching. Good for you. As far as price, when I was comparing tractors before purchasing Bobcat quoted a T-300 high flow at almost 10k more than ASV. Not sure if it was my area,a miss quote or what but for the money and what you get I feel you can't go wrong with an ASV. Plus I'm not sure other brands can cool hyd suffeciently. Also sounds like you have a good dealer, a big plus. As far as power when encountering trees my tractor head will run down on a 6" hardwood and barely change engine pitch. You didn't mention what brand head you were demoing or what brand you plan to buy. I've done an increadible amount of research on different heads so let me know what brands and I share what I've found. I am running a 73" cutting width Timberax, It makes great use of H.P. but has it's drawbacks. I go into detail later. Right know I also have a carbide cutter demo at a job site to run and see what I think. I have given stump grinding a little test but around here to much competition and that's not really the direction I would like to go. But I'm glad it's a good bus. for you. Talk soon. Robbie
Maka, I received your email and I be in touch with him this weekend.

 

[paco]

Robbie, the head I used today was the loftness carbide cutter(63" cut), sales rep wanted me to run the timberax. I told him my demo with cat( with cat brand head) and asv(with fecon head) had been with carbide cutters and prefered to run the carbide cutter so he agreeded and had one shipped in from another location. Overall I liked all 3 cutters, but I prefer the fecon at this point. Material stopped up the heads at least twice on cat and loftness head but not any on the fecon head. Overheating is a key concern for me also. bobcat claims to have addressed that with the 06 models. 07 models will have an increased cooling capcity of 30 percent. They will also have a forestry package and a bobcat head made by fecon. Price is basically the same on the 2 machines coming in around 75 grand. maybe you can PM me about price should you feel prices are unreasonable, also to discuss hourly rates for work. I have a good feel for my hourly rate along with what the market is getting in this area. Thanks, mike

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey Mike, The cat head has to be made by someone, it's probably a magnum or something. not bad just narrowing down the search. My dealer recently watch a fecon thought it left to big of shreds. You can further process them by going back over if this is an issue. You need to run a Timberax just for comparision. I like mine because it takes more material to bog down than carbides and leaves finer chips in one pass, But at the cost of having to sharpen every 2-8 hours. It's just choosing your battles. The 75k sounds pretty good I must have been miss quoted by bobcat here. I will PM you with other info soon. Robbie

 

[burnetma]

Did one of you guys by the Loftness Carbide Cutter off of eBay (250061116831)? Let me know.

I wasn't sure if it was a scam or not. Smelled a bit like a scam, but if not, it was one good deal.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hello all. I sure didn't, my demo head and timberax came from my local dealer. My dealer even had to replace the drum on the carbide cutter for it was out of balance. Try doing that without factory backing. I'm not a real fan of ebay, My sister-in-law runs a business on there but I still don't like it. I like to touch and feel what I'm buying. Really like to demo first too. Robbie

 

[paco]

Yes, I stated the cat 287 to have a cat head simply because the cat rep claimed to have no idea who made it.I have not used a blade cutter due to the issue of frequent sharpening. It may be a bad decision but I feel the carbide cutter is a given. I am very impressed with the average life of the carbide cutters. I have very much experience with the carbide teeth on stump cutters. I always tell customers the end product can be anything they desire if money is not an object. If I cannot do it,I will sub-contract the necessary services to achieve the end result. Correct me if I am wrong, but does any cutter truely leave fine mulch such as that sold in bags at Lowes.I am not going to promote my services as a park like setting when finished.(as far as the mulched material) Also, the 75 grand included the forestry package.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey Mike, If sharpening is an issue forget the timberax. The way we make money is being able to go from job to job everyday. Not having down time for sharpening blades as I have to do know. At the time of purchase they gave me a very good deal on it and the replacement set of blades was only 500-600 $,they also included a set with purchase. Know they have changed the metal they are made from and know a set is about 1200 $. Plus I'm not getting anywhere close to the life expectancy I would like therefore that's the purpose behind the carbide demo. By no means is it a bad decision just what works for you. As far as the size of mulch left behind look at the loftness web site and look at the carbide cutter page and timberax page, they both show mulch size. Unless your comparing side by side I have found the customers not that concerned with actual size. I would compare chip size to what you would by by the truck load at a nursery. Also you dealing with carbide teeth already that is a plus, also you would know if you can sharpen them or reface. I have heard you can and cannot?? The price sounds very good. I did a lot of homework when buying my stuff but you have raised the bar buddy. Another point with customers could be tell them you leave mulched material on ground and not be as specific so to avoid conflict of material size, but are also right in that you can go back over and mulch finer if they so desire. Good conversation. Robbie

 

[Diesel24]

The CAT labeled mulcher head is made by FAE (Italian).

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Thanks for the info Diesel24, I knew it had to be made by one of the top major manufacturers I just have never seen one labeled cat. I probably could have figured it out if I saw personally for they each have distinguishing features. Thanks again. Robbie

 

[paco]

My older brother has been in the tool and die industry 25 years, he has sharpened my teeth for years,(for stump grinder). I do not believe the teeth for the mulching heads can be sharpened. If it can be done I do feel I have an outlet. I do believe the head on the cat was produced by fae.It is identical to some heads labeled rayco brand. Iwould assume fae makes some models for rayco. Something I found interesting was the cat sales rep suggested the loggering track system as opposed to the asv tracks for my application.Robbie, do you service your machine? Oil changes? I am hearing the asv is very difficult to access. Thanks,Mike

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey Mike, When you get your head and can determine if you can indeed sharpen please let me know. I'm fairly certian rayco makes there own heads but i'm not sure. I had a rayco dealer who leaves near by approach me in a parking after seeing my tractor and we talked a while. He gave me some literature on there 87 hp tractor and 130 hp one if I was interested in moving up. Long story short there prices are competetive and they seemed pretty capable. He said we can do a demo in spring sometime. The interesting thing about them is they run the same 37-41 gpm but at an amazing 6000psi. He said that is where the torque comes from. Just thought it was interesting. I have heard the same statments about the track setup, not sure where that comes from?? I do all the day to day greasing and checks, dropping of the skid pans to clean, etc. My dealer services it free {oil and filter} because I purchased there so if it needs anything else I let them do it to help on tradin value when I'm ready, and its already there.I would much rather have my engine mounted front to back than side to side anyday.If you raise the cab access is pretty good and raising is fairly simple,two bolts. Side note FAE is building a new plant on the other side of Atlanta from me. If you have time you can watch my tractor run on our web site, it's www.trinitymulching.com.I I'd be honored if you have a look. Talk soon Robbie

 

[paco]

If I purchase the asv, my dealer is 130 miles, which means I will do most of the service work myself. Very professional web site, definitely gives credibility to your business. Do you pay a monthly fee for your web site? thanks, Mike

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey Mike,Thanks for the feedback on our web site,I'm glad you like it. The site fee was very seasonable and I believe we opted for quartely updates [new pictures,videos, services,etc.] which had a yearly fee but it also was not that much. You can talk about these tractors all day long but seeing in action is priceless.I think there is a link on our site somewhere you can get in touch with the lady who does them and she'll be glad to give you a quote. We designed our entire site via emails.I'm extremely pleased with it.
Yes 130 miles is a bit far so I understand you serviceing. Also by running my tractor w/head exclusivly I do not put as many hours on it as say a contractor doing grading would so that will help you. Fortinutly{spell] my dealer is 20 miles at the most and a couple of the sales reps live close by so its a win win for me.
You will also like this, my head design is most similiar to a tree chipping machine, once the blades get ahold of the tree they pull it into itself as it goes, so it will eat a 20' tree in about 4 seconds. It's very impressive to watch. That's the part my wife likes the best.You can see a little of that on the first video as our web site opens.
I hope all works out for you for right know would be a prime time to get going and be ready for spring. Good luck and keep us posted. Robbie

 

[gamble77]

Robbie, maybe I missed it but what head are you running with you RC100?

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

I am running a loftness timberax 73" cut. I demoed a carbide cutter today and will not be getting rid of my timberax anytime soon. I have an issue with heads throwing debri back at the tractor. Timberax's are the only head I know of that run reverse form others. Keeps debri out front, which means cleaner machine. The carbide cutter can handle a larger tree but that's about it. I could out perform a carbide toothed head any day. So far it has worked extremely well on my RC-100. It takes alot to bog it down. Robbie

 

[burnetma]

Robbie,

Once again good input.

All,

What kind of fuel economy are you getting with your ASV RC100's? I am assuming it will range from 4-6 gal/hour depending on application with mulching being very demanding.

Thanks
Mark