Fecon Bullhog On Cat 287B

[turfguy1969]

We have demo'd an ASV RC-100 with a Fecon Bullhog. It Rocked. We also demo'd a 287B Cat with the HM 312. It was not as good and bogged down easier on the same brush. My question is if the Bullhog with the 287B will perform like the ASV did? When measuring hydraulic horsepower the Cat is actually a little higher than the 287B even though the engine is smaller in HP. Thanks

 

[rutwad]

I have noticed the Cat having more Hyd. HP and wondered the same thing. Plus Cat sells a mulching head that cuts 47"s, while I am runnng a RC100 with a cutting width of 57"s. So with more hyd. HP and less cutting width I thought it may be a better setup. Whether it is or not, I do not know because I never demo'd one.

After more thinking, I realized that the Cat uses some hyd HP to turn its cooling fan and the RC100 does not. So the Cat probably does not have as much hyd. HP for the mulching head, just more overall hyd. HP.

Cat is coming out with a 297 mid-year. It may be worth looking into.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey fellas,
Not sure where your info is coming from but let me go over a few numbers.

First if you put a 48" head on a RC-100 it would spin the total crap out of it. That's not a good comparison.

Second a cat has 78 motor hp. you loose 20% of that hp comverting into hydraulics, plus you loose hp running belt driven ***. like A/C and alt. so your down to around 55 hp. I also read cats numbers and I saw what ya'll did. You just can't get 70 hyd hp from only 78 motor hp. That is why ASV has 77 hyd hp from 100 motor hp. And they use the best pump going.

Third I have learned from a demo if you have more theoretical hyd hp (psi x gpm divided by 1714) than engine hp it will cause the engine to stall before the relief valves do stalling the engine. You can't raise the head fast enough and it will bog all the time. That's bad for the motor.

If you want more hyd hp for more cutting the only answer is more engine. No replacement for displacement. Robbie

 

[Terra Firma Scott]

Hey all, New to the site and glad I found it cause there is alot of chat/info going on.

What do you think of a 63" or 73" timber ax on a 257B High Flow? Anyone seen the small frame track loaders with a mulching head? Alot of talk about RC100 and Cat 287 larger tracked animals..

My 257 runs 26 GPM High Flow circuit/46 Hydraulic HP...4 cyl turbo diesel 62 HP.
I priced the timber ax 63 inch with the #5 motor yesterday at $20k.
Wondering if I might want more hp and or cutting width later? Do i make the investment on the 63 head or wait for a good deal on a larger machine and different head? At this point my business only operates weekends and have been pondering getting into mulching aspect as well.

Any opinions /advice greatly appreciated!