New ASV PT-100 forestry package

[cbturf]

Both of my machines are rockin and rollin. The 148 has a whopping 80 hours on her! The machine is awesome..I thought that I had a power problem because I was cutting these HUGE ceder trees that only had about a 6-8 inch trunk but each of them had a thousand brances that went all the way to the ground because they were growing by themselves out in an open pasture. There were so many 1/2 inch branches that got in and wrapped around the head that I thought I was down on engine power. Late yesterday and all day today I was clearing in "normal woods" and this baby kicks butt just like I hoped it would when I bought it. Yesterday afternoon I cleared about 1.5-2 acres of very thick cedar trees in about 3 hours.

 

[Digdeep]

I have been having axle problems on my machines the rear on breaks then the front one breaks about 20 hours later does anyone have the new pt 100s because according to asv they have over four hundred running and my two are the only two with axle problems and by the way if your are going to mulch get a dedicated machine thats going to be my next purchase

You just said this on the 8th of July, "I have 1000 hours on one pt and 750 on the other and only one trip to the dealership", and now you're having axle problems. Did this just start in the last 23 days? I hope they warrantied the break down.

 

[palmettobrush]

i dont according to asv im the only one with a pt 100 that the axles have failed on

 

[WestshoreConstruction]

Both of my machines are rockin and rollin. The 148 has a whopping 80 hours on her! The machine is awesome..I thought that I had a power problem because I was cutting these HUGE ceder trees that only had about a 6-8 inch trunk but each of them had a thousand brances that went all the way to the ground because they were growing by themselves out in an open pasture. There were so many 1/2 inch branches that got in and wrapped around the head that I thought I was down on engine power. Late yesterday and all day today I was clearing in "normal woods" and this baby kicks butt just like I hoped it would when I bought it. Yesterday afternoon I cleared about 1.5-2 acres of very thick cedar trees in about 3 hours.

Must smell real good while your working hey CB.. Glad you like it. I'm on my way to look at a machine in Alberta hopefully its as good in person as it is in pictures.

 

[cbturf]

Whatcha lookin at. We want to see the pictures too. It smeels good when I get out but I really do not smell the cedar while I am running the machine. I really love this baby. I put 40 hours on it in the last three days!

 

[palmettobrush]

Asv covered the engine in the one with 1000 hours on it and sent me new axles for the other one just got them in the machine last thursday. I am wondering what is causing the axle failure because we have broken two sets on both machines and the old ones i had never had problems with the axles any ideas

 

[TMTS]

Have to throw my $.02 in here. I just finished 80+ hrs of mulching in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont- rented my brothers new (278 hrs when I started) PT-100 Forestry with my old Fecon head on it. I was very impressed- I ran this thing 12+ hrs a day with only two "break downs"- one I had one of the balancing weights fly off the Fecon and the other I had the air pre-cleaner get pushed off the back hood by a apple tree limb and then I ran it over...so no fault of the PT on either. The AC and pressurization worked extremely well- almost too well- as I had to turn the AC off 3/4 of the time since it was too cold. Cab is sealed well, and the guarding is well thought out. Cooling was excellent- hottest it got outside was 85, but the engine temp always stayed below 180.

things I did not like- when you have the high flow on and full rpm's, the loader arm lift function is slower than I would like it to be. I know it is because the PT's only use one pump- and you have to rob the high flow to run the loader arms. Okay- but means when you have a bigger tree and you want to mow from top down it takes extra time to raise the head. My old 4810 with the multiple pump set-up was way faster for cycle times. Also didn't like the smaller fuel tank. Could only safely get 3 to 3.5 hrs per tank. 4810 I could get 4.5 hrs and never fully ran out. I ran out twice in the PT-100. Also operator error- no fault of the PT.

If I were to get back into mowing, I would certainly be shopping for a PT-100 forestry. heck sign me up for two for under 200K - Not to be critical of other folks choices- just what makes sense for my check book.

 

[palmettobrush]

i have two with gyros you can get for around 160 with gyro trac heads if you want them i ran a new gt 16 from gyro last week and wow is that a machine couldnt hardly stall the head and the grouser undercarriage is so smooth this might be my next choice of machine

 

[cbturf]

The problem with the other machines is not when they are new. The problem with ASVs and the other small machines is after 800 or a thousand hours. The reliability issues really seem to start around that point. A lot of people forget that I had an ASV for a while. It was not a PT but after I bought the FTX 140 I have been able to tae jobs that any ASV could only dream about. Since the beginning of th year my 140 has cleared almost 1000 acres. Now that I have the 148 in the stable too, I think that I will clear at least 50 acres per week. The terrain out in NM is brutal and rubber tracks need not apply. A poor guy showed up with an SK 120 and only completed 1/4 of his contract and has had to declare bankruptcy. He was not ablte to keep he posi-trac undercarriage alive.

 

[TMTS]

I would completely agree with CB on the HR's vs break down issue. This PT-100 will be traded in when it hits 1000 hrs. hopefully the depreciation vs. income from its use will make it worth the ownership.