Ordered a Kodiak B160 today

[cbturf]

I made the plunge and I will be a two machine mulcher soon. Hopefully I will be able to add the excavator soon.

The Kodiak seems like a pretty good machine and the company seems really interested in making the best machine possible. I had a couple of suggestions for improvements and they are putting them on a machine that was half way done. When I asked them to add compressed air and a winshield blower to the machine they basically said "OK, no problem". The engine is the new 6.7L Cummins and has a provision to put an engine powered compressor on it. They will put the tank in the hole where the winch would be with the chuck fittings in the cutout for the fairlead. Best of all they are putting a pipe from the tank to the front windshield and a timer to open up and blow the dust off of the windshield.

The machine is pretty sweet you have to really slam the door to close it because the machine is sealed so well. They run the 6.7L (160HP) Cummins on a direct drive with a 750 lb/ft torque conveter. They said that the possibility to turn the engine up may exist but it depends on Cummins and the size of the turbo. The direct drive is tons more efficient than hydraulic drive and I hope there is less maintenence issues as well. After a few hours at 6000psi on the Fecon she wants to start leaking a little (actually a LOT). The drive and lift-tilt system is only 2500psi so leaks should be less of a problem. Another huge issue that I like is the direct drive creates much less heat than hydraulic systems. The hydraulic oil cooler is only about 1/3 the size of the one on the Fecon...less heat through the radiators means more power to the mulcher. The head is a smooth drum spiral type seems pretty tough, Ill let you know after I get her in the woods. I took some pictures of the two machines that are under construction but they cam out really blurry so I will not bother to put them up.

The two machines were not done so I was not able to run one yet but my dealer is very confident that they are good mulching machines and will stand behind them.

 

[cbturf]

I forgot to mention that the two machines will be the new Kodiak and the Prentice 2470.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

When are the delivery dates for the new babies? You know you have the wrong heads on those two units!! How much does the Kodiak weight?
How do you think the K would have done in NM?

 

[cbturf]

The Prentice should be done in 10 days or so and the Kodiak in a week or two. I wish I had the Kodiak and the Prentice for that matter in NM. I will get the right head when I get the excavator if I can get the salesman to get me the final price on the head! HAHA. I still plan to demo your head and the excavator on the job here in Nashville if we can work it out.

The claim is that the shipping weight is 13,900 lbs.

 

[QwikDraw]

So why did you decide on the Prentice...cost vs performance against the Barko?

Kodiak seems like a sweet machine, I got to check one out in Hartford, CT at the TCI show. What's the MSRP for that rig? 160HP seems about right....

 

[QwikDraw]

I'm really at the end of my rope with the ASV...I'm straight out right now for the next 6 weeks and want somethign different..tires or steel tracks.

 

[cbturf]

Prentice vs. Barko decision was made by God and not me. I was leaning heavily towards the Barko when the one on the yard sold along with the next two coming in! I either had to take the Prentice or wait two months to upgrade. I was trying real hard to talk myself into the Prentice anyway since it can run the knives in the right terrain and the very knowledgable salesman said it would cut with the Barko with the knives. The bone stock Kodiak is $170k, I do not have a price on mine yet probably about $175k.

The torque jump on the 6 cylinder engine is huge. According to the Cummins website it is pushing 540 lb/ft at 1400 RPM this is 135 lb/ft more than the Cat engine in the FTX-148L. Add to that the hydraulic efficiency loss and this machine may be double the FTX power to the head. The ASV only has 304 lb/ft max torque, running through the hydraulic pumps the new Kodiak is probably triple the mulching power.

 

[cbturf]

There seems to be some confusion as to my machine line up so I thought I would clarify for all those interested. I will be running the new Kodiak and Prentice machines on some new big jobs that I have picked up and the FTX-140 will get put out to pasture while some issues are resolved. My dealer has begged me to trade it in but it is not right to do that until a few things are settled first. In fact right now the 140 is sitting on a mountian top in NM, while I am back in TN, disabled by a broken frame rail. The area where I was working is closed due to extreme fire danger and I can not even get back in to retrieve the machine without a special permit!

 

[Gamma]

cbturf,

Where on the Fecon 140 is this broken frame rail?

Is it possibly the frame that connects the left & right track frames to each other?

I've been looking at some Berco literature & they have oscillating track frames available. Do you think that would have helped in the rough conditions that you were operating in out in NM?

 

[cbturf]

G.

I have come to find out that almost ALL of the FTX-140s have this failure regardless of the operating environment. I have been talking with several other 140 owners comparing notes and most issues seem to be across the board problems. Fecon already has a retrofit that they install on the new machines but the early ones are only fixed after they break. We have been out of the rough stuff for a while now. For the last 85 acres I have been cruising around on a ridgeline watching the dust blow grinding very soft juniper trees.