I take delivery of an Avant 528 tomorrow

[BX tent guy]

After a bunch of thought put into converting my BX into something useful for my business I've decided to just spend the money and buy an Avant mini (micro?) wheel loader. I'm in the tent rental business and I need something to drive stakes, pull stakes push center poles and carry materials to and from the jobsite from the truck. The most important factor is that the machine can NOT damage the lawns of the customers. I brought my BX with front and rear forks on a few jobs. It did ok but the limited lifting capacity and small front tires didn't leave the lawns unscathed. I had toyed with the idea of a hydraulic stake puller and breaking hammer to drive stakes. The problem was it would be a from scratch build with questionable results.
Then a new machine became available and someone has built the attachments specific to tenting. Tentox.com is that company. After prolonged negotiations I bought the Avant 528, driver, puller, forks, a snow bucket, etc etc. The big bonus to this machine will be that, though it weighs about 3000# it will lift a ton of pellets. More than double the lift capacity of the BX, and it lifts several feet higher. If I find any problems with it I'll post them here. THese things are pretty new and there are not many out in the real world.

 

[dave1949]

Interesting that a machine would be designed around commercial tents. I hope your new machine does well for you.

 

[BX tent guy]

Interesting that a machine would be designed around commercial tents. I hope your new machine does well for you.

The machine isn't designed around tents but an enterprising group of folks have adapted implements for it to use with tents. The machine is an agricultural/construction machine in general but there are over 300 attachments for it that cover almost anything you'd want to do.
A couple of people have made tent industry specific machines, they never worked out.

 

[dave1949]

The machine isn't designed around tents but an enterprising group of folks have adapted implements for it to use with tents. The machine is an agricultural/construction machine in general but there are over 300 attachments for it that cover almost anything you'd want to do.
A couple of people have made tent industry specific machines, they never worked out.

Oh, I see. I should have read your post more carefully.

Those huge commercial event tents have sure changed things by allowing the creation of a temporary venue just about anywhere. They have gotten so popular for weddings and other personal events too. I can see how the put up and take down speed and ease matters for the tent business.

 

[BX tent guy]

Oh, I see. I should have read your post more carefully.

Those huge commercial event tents have sure changed things by allowing the creation of a temporary venue just about anywhere. They have gotten so popular for weddings and other personal events too. I can see how the put up and take down speed and ease matters for the tent business.

To your point, we have 6 hours to set this up. Speed matters and this thing puts 240 stakes/hr in the ground with one operator.

 

[GManBart]

Pretty cool little machine! It seems that small wheel loaders might be gaining some traction here in the U.S. based on a few recent threads. I can see a number of tasks where they would do a great job. If you think of it, some pictures of the attachments would be cool!

 

[dave1949]

View attachment 417785 To your point, we have 6 hours to set this up. Speed matters and this thing puts 240 stakes/hr in the ground with one operator.

Yikes! Six hours would be humping it for sure.

 

[ddbackhoe]

After a bunch of thought put into converting my BX into something useful for my business I've decided to just spend the money and buy an Avant mini (micro?) wheel loader. I'm in the tent rental business and I need something to drive stakes, pull stakes push center poles and carry materials to and from the jobsite from the truck. The most important factor is that the machine can NOT damage the lawns of the customers. I brought my BX with front and rear forks on a few jobs. It did ok but the limited lifting capacity and small front tires didn't leave the lawns unscathed. I had toyed with the idea of a hydraulic stake puller and breaking hammer to drive stakes. The problem was it would be a from scratch build with questionable results.
Then a new machine became available and someone has built the attachments specific to tenting. Tentox.com is that company. After prolonged negotiations I bought the Avant 528, driver, puller, forks, a snow bucket, etc etc. The big bonus to this machine will be that, though it weighs about 3000# it will lift a ton of pellets. More than double the lift capacity of the BX, and it lifts several feet higher. If I find any problems with it I'll post them here. THese things are pretty new and there are not many out in the real world.View attachment 417640

IMO, great choice. too cool. That is what I've been daydreaming about changing to. They Avant website leaves some things lacking and the closest dealer is hours away. What is the actual height to the bottom pins with the lift arms extended? Is lift calculated with the arms extended or retracted? Does it feel super bouncy/tippy lifting a full load?

 

[BX tent guy]

IMO, great choice. too cool. That is what I've been daydreaming about changing to. They Avant website leaves some things lacking and the closest dealer is hours away. What is the actual height to the bottom pins with the lift arms extended? Is lift calculated with the arms extended or retracted? Does it feel super bouncy/tippy lifting a full load?

I agree about their website. More info is available on the UK version of the site as the machine is more popular over there. I'll take some measurement once it gets in. Regarding lifting capability I believe the figure is retracted but I don't see why that would matter in the fully raised position. As in, if you pick up 2100# (the machine rating) and try to extend it straight out that might be a problem. However, if you lift it all the way up and then extend it should be ok as it's going more "up" and less "out". I have a few tons of pellets around to experiment with. Regarding the bouncy factor, there are counter balance weights for the machine, I plan to adjust those to suit the job. For tenting I'll need no weights, for pellets the 400# side weights and maybe a 70# rear weight or loaded tires.

 

[BX tent guy]

If this thing has one advantage to anything I'm familiar with it's how the implement hydraulics connect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-a...a-_6wryT9K3Fjl2vh7&index=1&feature=plpp_video