OP
MChalkley
Elite Member
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2000
- Messages
- 3,198
- Location
- Eastern Virginia
- Tractor
- EarthForce EF-5 mini-TLB (2001)
Re: EarthForce EF-5
OK, time for another update on the attachments.
I've settled on D&E Manufacturing, http://www.demfg.com, for the custom stuff. After numerous discussions with Jim @ D&E, I've come to the conclusion that he's good folks. They're building a 78" wide 1.6 cu. yd. (struck) light material loader bucket, backhoe thumb, backhoe quick attach coupler, 18" and 24" backhoe buckets w/couplers, a coupler for the McMillen auger head, and a ripper tooth w/coupler, all to my specs and heavier duty than I've seen elsewhere, for less than I can buy off-the-shelf stuff for. And as if that wasn't good enough, their factory is less than 10 miles from the Summerville, SC EarthForce N.A. distribution center, and he'll have it all built in time for me to pick it up when I drive down to pick up the EF-5 and save the shipping charges.
I decided early on that I was going to need to have the light material bucket custom built, but the couplers and the rest of the stuff just worked out that way. The theory is that when I'm transporting all this stuff to and from the job site, I can put the auger on the backhoe, the two backhoe buckets in the 4-in-1 bucket, and the 4-in-1 bucket chained nose-in into the light material bucket, which will be mounted on the EF-5. That way, the whole bundle doesn't take up any more space than the light material bucket by itself would. Then, I should still have room for the soil pulverizer, pallet forks, Switch Hitch, and grader rake on the front of the trailer, if I build a little framework to mount the pieces to.
Sometimes things just seem to work out so well that it makes up for the rest of the time. I must've called a dozen different manufacturers and didn't get anybody that came even close to being able to put the whole package together. I found some items for less money (and less quality), but nobody that could do it all, not even counting the shipping savings. And then, to find out, after we'd come to a tentative agreement on the terms, that they were in the same neighborhood as the EarthForce distribution facility, well that was just plain weird.
But, as I said, D&E seems to be a really class act. If anybody needs anything built to spec, give 'em a chance to quote it. They really seem to know their stuff.
MarkC
OK, time for another update on the attachments.
I've settled on D&E Manufacturing, http://www.demfg.com, for the custom stuff. After numerous discussions with Jim @ D&E, I've come to the conclusion that he's good folks. They're building a 78" wide 1.6 cu. yd. (struck) light material loader bucket, backhoe thumb, backhoe quick attach coupler, 18" and 24" backhoe buckets w/couplers, a coupler for the McMillen auger head, and a ripper tooth w/coupler, all to my specs and heavier duty than I've seen elsewhere, for less than I can buy off-the-shelf stuff for. And as if that wasn't good enough, their factory is less than 10 miles from the Summerville, SC EarthForce N.A. distribution center, and he'll have it all built in time for me to pick it up when I drive down to pick up the EF-5 and save the shipping charges.
I decided early on that I was going to need to have the light material bucket custom built, but the couplers and the rest of the stuff just worked out that way. The theory is that when I'm transporting all this stuff to and from the job site, I can put the auger on the backhoe, the two backhoe buckets in the 4-in-1 bucket, and the 4-in-1 bucket chained nose-in into the light material bucket, which will be mounted on the EF-5. That way, the whole bundle doesn't take up any more space than the light material bucket by itself would. Then, I should still have room for the soil pulverizer, pallet forks, Switch Hitch, and grader rake on the front of the trailer, if I build a little framework to mount the pieces to.
Sometimes things just seem to work out so well that it makes up for the rest of the time. I must've called a dozen different manufacturers and didn't get anybody that came even close to being able to put the whole package together. I found some items for less money (and less quality), but nobody that could do it all, not even counting the shipping savings. And then, to find out, after we'd come to a tentative agreement on the terms, that they were in the same neighborhood as the EarthForce distribution facility, well that was just plain weird.
But, as I said, D&E seems to be a really class act. If anybody needs anything built to spec, give 'em a chance to quote it. They really seem to know their stuff.
MarkC
