Buying Advice Debating buying an Avant 528 loader

[anomad]

What's proprietary about them?

I guess with an adapter plate you could hook up to just about anything.

 

[2manyrocks]

The issue with adapter plates is you might have to have them fabricated and then they add weight that reduces the net lifting capacity of the loader. Plus, you can get into some issues trying to figure out the angles needed to make the adapters work right with implements that weren't designed for that OEM lift system.

 

[4570Man]

I guess with an adapter plate you could hook up to just about anything.

That wouldn’t be my first choice especially if I was buying a new machine. If you had hydraulic locking pins which I’d definitely want an adapter takes away that ability. It also cost you lift capacity both from added weight and moving the load farther away.

 

[rScotty]

It sounds like you want a backyard do everything machine.... I'd get myself a brand new Kubota B26 TLB. They are sort of like a tractor but made for light construction instead of light ag. Kubota has made the same TLB, since 2007, so by now they should have it right. They aren't common, your dealer ay not have one on the floor. It's half the weight and price of the Avant, and has similar power but with a much lower center of gravity for better stability. Optional 3pt and thumb.

 

[Fixastuff]

Seems like better bang for the buck cutting out the middle man - with no dealers. The Avant with no implements is $49k and the Power-Trac 1445 is $35k. However, shipping to Hawaii would eat all of that savings up and then some. It cost $13k to ship a container here from the PNW - self packed. Thanks for the suggestion though - it's a good one.

After reading about power tracs on this forum for quite a while, to compare them to Avant is kinda laughable to me.

 

[Hay Dude]

I sold my house and my Kioti DK40SE along with it. Moved to a smaller property (sloping 2 acres) and got older along the way. I'm planning landscaping and an orchard. I'd like advice on what the Avant 528 can and can't (or shouldn't) do. I would get a 4 in 1 bucket, forks, auger, and flail mower. These seem like the basics. I need to cut paths into the rocky hillside, dig holes for trees, remove "islands" of grass to be replaced with good soil for landscaping, put in a metal stake fence, move lots of dirt (bark, compost, etc), mow the orchard, and remove felled trees.

I know I may need to rent equipment for things the Avant doesn't do well. I'd just like to know what that is up front.

The first question is around leveling paths on the hill. Currently, the ground is a mixture of rocky volcanic soil and shredded bark. I want to level 6-7 foot wide paths that are a foot or so sloped from upper to lower point. Is doing this with the Avant 4-in-1 bucket advisable, or should I hire someone to come in with the "right" equipment?

Part of the property is covered in thick grass with hard packed rocky soil underneath. We need to remove sections of it, bring in new soil and get it ready for trees and shrubs. Can the Avant 4-in-1 bucket cut through the grass and soil - either as a bucket or with its jaws?

Both the above tasks seem more like a dozer or excavator type task. On my Kioti, I had a backhoe for digging tasks. Can a 4-in-1 bucket handle anything like this?

About 1/2 acre that is currently grass will end up as orchard. Will a flail mower "mow" the rough grass and be appropriate on the Avant for the task of weaving around trees? Right now we hire guys with zero turn mowers to mow the mostly empty lawn area.

I'm hoping the Avant is stable enough and has the traction to get around the hills. I'm curious how it compares to the stability of my old Kioti with filled tires. Are they similar? After we get the paths in, it shouldn't have any issues.

It's a $70k investment with implements - which includes a premium for my remote location. It's not quite equivalent to what I paid for the Kioti with all its implements ($55k in 2014). The Avant is far less powerful and the implements are far less capable as well, but its nimbleness will (hopefully) allow me to get around the whole property where a tractor couldn't. Plus it won't destroy the existing grass. I need something to handle the tasks of rural living, and am hoping this has the right combination of capabilities instead of the wrong set of compromises.

Thoughts?

After reading your thread, I was wondering if you could find something like this? I would love to have this for tree work. Tracks would give you traction. Kubota Diesel. Backhoe. Bucket has 3rd function. This one sold in a week for ~$15,000 which even used, seems like a steal.

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