Hydraulic accessories for the RTV

[Robert_in_NY]

I was on the RTV website and see they have a long reach hydraulic pruner for the RTV. Does anyone know if they have the hand held pruners also as this would be ideal for what I want to do. If they don't, does anyone know of a company that makes hand held hydraulic pruners that would work or am I just dreaming?

 

[deereguy]

Just purchased a RTV, took delivery TODAY!!! I asked what good the hydralic tools would be and here's what the salesman said... they cost around $1500/ea (I asked about the pole pruners/etc), and you have to stay close to the vehicle (whatever length the hoses are). Why would you spend this kinda dough to be tethered to a machine?? Recently purchased a 2 cylce Stihl Pole Saw- I can go away from the machine and not be tethered + the cost was around $700.00.

Does anyone have a Curtis Cab for a RTV...does it sound like a tank in the cab??

 

[darkday]

Yeah that's outragous for a tool. If you were to be using whatever the tool is day in and day out for years it might be worth it because they would never break but for the average user it's not going to be worth it. However if you have other equipment like a log splitter I'm sure the RTV would be useful for that.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

How long is the hose and do they have the hand held pruners? We just bought an apple orchard and vineyard so as long as there is 25-50' of hose I would be fine as you just keep moving the RTV down the aisle as you trim both sides of the aisle. It will get a lot of use but I would still have to weigh out my options before I commit.

 

[deereguy]

I'm thinking it was 25' or so. I liked the freedom of an seperate engine and the price of the Stihl. You may be hard pressed to find a dealer to stock accessories like that for the RTV, mine didn't want to stock due to price and probable lack of turnover.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I don't need a saw for trimming. I need hand held pruners which is just for snipping small limbs. Right now the orchard has been left alone for two years so there is a lot of work to be done before it gets too far out of hand. The pole saw is nice and I want one for keeping the limbs cut around my fields so they don't hit the tractor. For that use I would not worry about the hydraulic version but buy the Stihl from our friends shop. For trimming the apples and grapes I will be with the tractor or utility vehicle anyway so it isn't as big an issue to be tethered to it.

I really don't know what I am going as far as a trimming system yet so I am looking at all my options and weighing them out.

 

[nolefan]

If I'm not mistaken the hydraulic tools only work with the RTV Worksite Utility model which has some additional features that allow you to use the hydraulic tools they offer. They are a few thousand dollars more than the regular worksite model in addition to the cost of the tools!

 

[radman1]

How long is the hose and do they have the hand held pruners? We just bought an apple orchard and vineyard so as long as there is 25-50' of hose I would be fine as you just keep moving the RTV down the aisle as you trim both sides of the aisle. It will get a lot of use but I would still have to weigh out my options before I commit.

You could probably add extra hose if needed, but then there would be more weight and harder to drag around. Seems like any tool with a cylinder or the word hydraulic in the description is expensive. I bought a hydraulic tamper for posts a few years ago for $1200 and that was a good deal.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Hydraulic tools are expensive but on the plus side they are generally reliable and rebuildable. My other options are manual, air or electric. I am not a fan of battery powered tools for longevity and when the battery dies or something fails you have to search for parts and a place to repair them. Air is fine but then I have to buy a compressor as the one that we use to use on this farm went to one of my old neighbors sons who does a lot of grapes and sells a lot of roots. Manual labor does work and I have no problem using hand powered snips for all of this work but I would prefer to go mechanical for the majority of it.

I did think about the weight of the hose and I am use to dealing with hoses anyway so all I would have to do is fashion something up to anchor the hose to my waist as once you get to each tree you can do the majority of the work from just a few spots. Being in a row you just keep moving down the line slowly. The few tall trees that are left will have a different treatment if we decide they are worth maintaining.

Was the tamper for the RTV? I saw one listed on the RTV site and if I did any amount of short fencing it would be something to consider but the fencing we do is a little bit larger then what that tamper can handle.

 

[radman1]

Robert in NY
The tamper was not for an RTV. I got it from company called Fairmont Industries. I use it on my tractor and bobcat 873. The SS runs it a little fast at idle and the tractor runs about 3/4 open. I would guess it requires 5-12 gpm flow for most uses. 9-10 gpm is probably ideal rate. What is the flow rate on the RTV?
It works great for tamping in posts. One person runs the tamper and the other holds the post and kicks in the dirt. With a couple of people, tamper and hydraulic auger on Bobcat, I can put in fence quickly.