Purchasing a Telehandler

40Kchicks · Feb 15, 2007

I’m just starting the process of possibly replacing my CAT 216 skid steer with a telehandler. Right now I am looking at the CAT TH220B
Caterpillar: Products>Machines and the Bobcat VersaHandler TTC V723 VersaHandler TTC V723 . Eventually I would also look into what JD, NH, and JB offer in this same class.

Last year I rented a 9K capacity Gradall telescopic forklift. It was much to slow and uncomfortable for doing anything but forking material around. It would lift like an OX. We spent about $10K to rent it for the summer. I’ve decided that I’m not going to give that much money away on rental again.

After expanding my poultry operation I was planning on purchasing an old wheel loader to load trucks with manure, high stack manure, and load spreaders with bedding and manure. Recently I have been reconsidering the wheel loader in favor of a telehandler but I wondered if I could find one that worked fast enough. The gradall certainly wasn’t. So this week I test drove a CAT TH220B. It might be just what I am looking for. It was fast, had three modes of steering, and was really comfortable. Unfortunately they are on the high end of my budget. The ones I drove were 05 models with 300-500 hour for about 50-56K each. They looked and drove like new. The old wheel loaders I was looking at were 25-30K but they are 25years old and well past their prime. Also these telehandlers are low enough to work inside my barns. That is a big plus that a wheel loader can not match.

Do any of you have any thought about this subject and any opinions which one is best?

Thanks Eric

dsb5610 · Feb 15, 2007

Eric,

I don't have any experience with telehandlers. FWIW, I spent a lot years at a large grain/cattle operation. They have numerous rubber-tired loaders. Two JD 444s are used daily for loading feed trucks out of a pit, feeding round bales and this time of year pushing snow as well as periodic manure scraping and loading. Those have quick attach and they use various attachments with them. The bigger loaders only use buckets.

A while back someone brought out a telehandler for them to try. Don't recall which brand. It was not there long and they never pursued one.

dsb

EddieWalker · Feb 15, 2007

The difference is realy gonna be in what dealer you like the best and how far away they are. Cat is gonna cost the most up front, but also have the best resale value. Most of the others will do the same thing without one really being all that better than the other.

I'd have thought that after your JD, that you'd buy from them again? Prices for same sized machines are usualy less, but in my area, the dealer isn't one of my favorites. Same with Cat. New Holland is my favorite for parts and support by a large margin, but they have done some wacky things lately with they hydraulic cylinder rebuild kits. But to show why I like there parts department so much, they regularly send me to other places where I can get better parts for less money.

Another example is the starter on my New Holland 555E went out on me. It's a piece of junk Eastern European brand that costs several hundred dollars to replace. The parts guys told me abouta Alternator/Starter business that rebuilds them for allot less money and has other brands that work too. They sold me a brand new Bosch starter for about a third the price I'd have to pay at New Holland.

It's all about the parts guys and what they will do for you.

As a result of my praise of them, my neighor walked away from buying a brand new Case backhoe and spent $72,000 on a loaded, brand new New Holland backhoe. He also sings the praise of the parts department there.

Good luck,
Eddie

ScottAR · Feb 16, 2007

Our new Terex TX51-19 telescoping boom loader
Here's one man's take on several machines...

http://www.forestryforum.com/members/bibbyman/
Here's his/their homepage...

HTH

40Kchicks · Feb 16, 2007

Thank you all for the good information. I talked to the CAT dealer again and they have about 10 of them in their inventory. I told them I would swing by with my wife in a couple of weeks and let her test drive one. I sure would want to make sure she would be happy with it because she would most likely have to give up her favorite tractor which is the Cat 216 skid steer. She doesn’t have much to do with the Kubota tractor, she likes the JD dozer but would rather I use it, but she loves that skid steer.

We will see what happens but it won’t happen right away. I’m just looking.
Eric

plowrup · Feb 22, 2007

I am a Gehl and Terex (Genie) Dealer for TeleHandlers, and IMHO the Manufacturers' of these units are trying to make these Units multi-functional. The problem I see is that there really isn't a very wide Carriage compared to, say, a Wheel Loader, so we will see how well the Carriages last in a Loader application-after all, they were originally designed as a Forklift-

40Kchicks · Mar 1, 2007

I took the wife out to test drive the TH220B telehandler last Tuesday. It was a very stormy day so she really didn’t want to spend much time outside but I did get her to make a few turns and work the hydraulics. She was intimidated by size of it and in particular that she couldn't see the edge of the bucket. It is much bigger than our skid steer of course. I have decided to keep the skid steer for now so I don’t see her using this machine much. The SSL is just too handy to sell for the amount of money I could get for it.

On the 45 minute drive home we discussed this possible purchase. Do we really need it? Are there other options ect.?

Basically what it came down to was we are going to need a way of high stacking and loading manure. This could be done with a wheel loader but a decent wheel loader or even a really big skid steer would cost the same money and not be as good at forking material around and getting inside the bars to work. So over the next couple of months I intend to test out the available telehandlers. I will have at least one of them brought out to the farm to use during one of our clean out times to make sure it will do what I need it to do. I’ll also get pricing and make my decision before June.

Eric

EquipmentJunkie · Mar 2, 2007

I personally like JCB Loadall (the world's first telehandler). JCB is still a privately-owned, British company with a long history of innovation. JCB would be my first choice for a telehandler.

Due to your space considerations and your wife's reservations about a bigger machine like the Cat TH220B, check out the smaller range of JCB Loadalls. The little JCB 520-40 or 524-40 are very compact, versatile machines and I believe that they have the option of a skid steer-compatible quick attach. The 520 or 524 may be the perfect solution for your needs. Call your dealer for a demo.

My local dealer has recently taken on the JCB line and is extremely pleased with the JCB product compared to what they were selling before. Better performance and better company support.

D7E · Mar 4, 2007

EquipmentJunkie said:
I personally like JCB Loadall (the world's first telehandler). JCB is still a privately-owned, British company with a long history of innovation. JCB would be my first choice for a telehandler.

We've been using telescopics since the early 80's , manitou , cat , sanderson , matbro (now terex ), bobcat .
JCB is still the best they sell more telehandlers and backhoes than any other company worldwide ,Merlo would be second choice.