Darth_DMack
Gold Member
I needed a brush cutter that was more heavy duty than my "bush hog" type PTO Rotary Cutter. So, looked around at local rental companies, found one that was fairly close (30 miles) from my property.
I called them up, and reserved an ASV VT-70 Compact Track Loader (CTL) and a 6' Blue Diamond Extreme Brush Cutter.
I was scheduled to pick the equipment up on Saturday morning and bring it back on Monday. So, I called on Friday to verify that the equipment was ready for me to pick up, they verified it was indeed ready.
I took my trailer over to the rental place, got there at 0800 on Saturday morning, only to find out that the equipment was NOT ready, in fact, it was not even on sight. After much hemhawing around, they told me that the ASV and Brush Cutter was located at one of their other stores. The counter guy asked if I could go get it, and I said I would. He said he would take care of me, as far as the rental fee, since it was an inconvenience.
So, I drove another 25 min further, to the other rental location. I had to bring the door for the ASV VT-170, since the door was not on the machine. When I arrived, the machine was FILTHY and the brush cutter was not hooked up. An hour later, the brush cutter was hooked up, and the door was installed on the ASV. I had to load it on my trailer, and use my chains and binders to secure the machine. I asked if they wanted to inspect my binders to see if they were comfortable, I was told "You look like you know what you are doing. It's ok."
The rental company has a "Return Full of Fuel" policy, so on my way home, I decided to stop by and top it off, just to see if it was indeed "full". NOPE. I pumped in 15.8 gal of diesel, to a machine with a 23 gal tank... that was supposed to be full. I saved my receipt, and called the rental company. They apologized and said they would refund that cost back to me.
Got the machine to my property, and unloaded it to get to work. I put about 7 hours on it Saturday and Sunday, and cleared a good 2 to 2.5 acres with it.
Bottom line... I did not like the ASV VT-70. It felt like it did not have enough flow to run the brush cutter effectively. I also think the blades were super super dull. The ASV had 1710 hours on the engine, when I first started running it... It had 1717.6 on it when I took it back.
I pressure washed the exterior, got all the mud out of the tracks that was there before I got it, and I put another 13.5 gal of diesel in it to fill it up before taking it back.
I'd love to run that Blue Diamond Extreme brush cutter on a machine that can get the blade speed up, and also, run it on a machine that was not completely worn out.
In the end, they discounted my rental by 50%, due to the inconvenience, but I also established myself with them as being honest, and returning the equipment cleaner than I got it.
Now to find a company that would rent me a more powerful unit with a disc mulcher!
I called them up, and reserved an ASV VT-70 Compact Track Loader (CTL) and a 6' Blue Diamond Extreme Brush Cutter.
I was scheduled to pick the equipment up on Saturday morning and bring it back on Monday. So, I called on Friday to verify that the equipment was ready for me to pick up, they verified it was indeed ready.
I took my trailer over to the rental place, got there at 0800 on Saturday morning, only to find out that the equipment was NOT ready, in fact, it was not even on sight. After much hemhawing around, they told me that the ASV and Brush Cutter was located at one of their other stores. The counter guy asked if I could go get it, and I said I would. He said he would take care of me, as far as the rental fee, since it was an inconvenience.
So, I drove another 25 min further, to the other rental location. I had to bring the door for the ASV VT-170, since the door was not on the machine. When I arrived, the machine was FILTHY and the brush cutter was not hooked up. An hour later, the brush cutter was hooked up, and the door was installed on the ASV. I had to load it on my trailer, and use my chains and binders to secure the machine. I asked if they wanted to inspect my binders to see if they were comfortable, I was told "You look like you know what you are doing. It's ok."
The rental company has a "Return Full of Fuel" policy, so on my way home, I decided to stop by and top it off, just to see if it was indeed "full". NOPE. I pumped in 15.8 gal of diesel, to a machine with a 23 gal tank... that was supposed to be full. I saved my receipt, and called the rental company. They apologized and said they would refund that cost back to me.
Got the machine to my property, and unloaded it to get to work. I put about 7 hours on it Saturday and Sunday, and cleared a good 2 to 2.5 acres with it.
Bottom line... I did not like the ASV VT-70. It felt like it did not have enough flow to run the brush cutter effectively. I also think the blades were super super dull. The ASV had 1710 hours on the engine, when I first started running it... It had 1717.6 on it when I took it back.
I pressure washed the exterior, got all the mud out of the tracks that was there before I got it, and I put another 13.5 gal of diesel in it to fill it up before taking it back.
I'd love to run that Blue Diamond Extreme brush cutter on a machine that can get the blade speed up, and also, run it on a machine that was not completely worn out.
In the end, they discounted my rental by 50%, due to the inconvenience, but I also established myself with them as being honest, and returning the equipment cleaner than I got it.
Now to find a company that would rent me a more powerful unit with a disc mulcher!
