Compact articulated loaders

Chrissleurink · Jan 15, 2014

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 · Jan 15, 2014

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 · Jan 15, 2014

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

davrow · Jan 15, 2014

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 · Jan 15, 2014

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 · Jan 15, 2014

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 · Jan 15, 2014

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 · Jan 15, 2014

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 · Jan 15, 2014

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.