Demoing a t870 with bobcat head tomorrow

[cat 297c]

My local bobcat dealer wants me to demo a t870 before I decide on a machine. I know one thing I love bout it already is the cab nice size have leg room an most important have plenty of room for my nuts. Wished they would have widened the cab on the cat 299d. Ill fill y'all in tomorrow on the performance.

 

[redprospector]

My Bobcat dealer didn't have one to demo, and didn't want to have one to demo. One of my competitors bought an t870 late last year. My dealer wanted me to call him and ask if I could borrow it for a couple of days for a demo. :laughing:
I decided "to heck with it", I'm not going to ask my competition to borrow their livelyhood so I can see if I want to buy one and compete more with him.
I do like Bobcat's, and a friend has a t320 so I looked his over good. I found one in Oklahoma, went & tried it out, and brought it home. It's a back up for my Fecon so it's not mulching full time.
To sum it all up: The guy I bought the 320 from is happy, I'm happy, and the dealer is wondering why I didn't buy new from them.
Oh, and my competitor said he is happy too. I didn't ask, so he didn't have to tell me to kiss his ..............:laughing:

I'm glad you have a dealer willing to demo.

Andy

 

[Rio_Grande]

WELL??

 

[cat 297c]

Well got to spend little over 8 hrs in the seat of the 870. An it don't feel like it, after 8 hrs in the 297c I just bout need crutches. Plenty of room in the cab to stretch out, an the ac never had it blowing over it lowest setting an it was 90+ down here today and dry very impressed with the ac. As far as engine and hyd temp goes the engine stayed in check the hyd temp ran fine til the screen above the coolers had bout 4-6 inches of debris piled on it. But it still never over heated was border line but never did. Once I cleaned the screen off did fine did that twice during the demo but I was in some thick thick stuff. The hyd performance was bout wat I expected was better than the 297 thou. The bobcat/fecon head was impressive it never wrap anything round the rotor and never lodged anything inbetween the rotor an housing to stall it out. I cut serval pines 10-14 inches in diameter no problem the two speed motor really helps and the large diameter rotor to. I got a rough measurement on the rotor looks to be 21 in., the fae rotor in the Rayco 140 is 18in. Diameter. Had to go over the material serval times to get a finer mulch but the head didn't have a hood/ trap door I think with the hood on there it would do great. The dealer didn't have time to put the whole Forestry package on, but even without the vinyl boot that goes around the hyd cylinders that seal off the engine bay it was still clean few leaves, once the boots gets installed the engine bay will be tighter than a frogs butt. The roller suspension really makes a difference rides just as good or better than the 297c. All an all great machine and would defently recommend it for mulching.

 

[cat 297c]

Here is a before and after shot of one area I mulched on the back side of pond dam.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

Have you run the FAE 2 speed? If so, how does it compare to the Bobcat 2 speed?

Thought you would like the 870.. the cabs are very nice. The debris kit, in my opinion, is necessary. I had a fire when I first got my s750. Wasn't fun and did quite a bit of damage. Now the engine compartment stays pretty clean even when mowing grass.

 

[cat 297c]

Yellowdog, yea I have ran the 2 speed fae on a supertrak 140 either last year or the year before ran it for 8 hrs on some property of mine. I ran good but even with the supertrak pushing it, the fae still lodged chunks inbetween the rotor an counter teeth causing the rotor to stall. I've always been a fan of the fae but after running the bobcat/fecon don't know anymore the bobcat never lodged yesterday and o i tried to. Now the old paddle rotor fecon no fae all the way, but the smooth drum on the bobcat/fecon and two speed its a jam up mulcher head.

 

[PAfarmer]

Yellowdog, yea I have ran the 2 speed fae on a supertrak 140 either last year or the year before ran it for 8 hrs on some property of mine. I ran good but even with the supertrak pushing it, the fae still lodged chunks inbetween the rotor an counter teeth causing the rotor to stall. I've always been a fan of the fae but after running the bobcat/fecon don't know anymore the bobcat never lodged yesterday and o i tried to. Now the old paddle rotor fecon no fae all the way, but the smooth drum on the bobcat/fecon and two speed its a jam up mulcher head.

Don't you think for all of that motor in the 870 the hydro power would be much greater ? I was dissappointted in the 870 personally.........your thoughts ?

 

[cat 297c]

Thought it was better than the 297c I had, the dealer told me they turned the psi on the pump up. So that may have made the difference, all and all I'm impressed depending on wat numbers they come back with I may be in one.

 

[Digdeep]

Are you comparing the T870 to a 297C or a 299D? I can see the T870 being slightly better if it is a 297C- bigger engine in the Bobcat and more flow. But I have a hard time seeing better performance over the 299D all things being equal. The engines are the same displacement (3.8L), but the 299D puts out more hp. The 299D has a standard higher system pressure of 4,000psi and a direct driven load sensing piston pump compared to a lower system pressure on the T870 and a belt driven gear pump. Interesting. Thanks for sharing your experiences.