Rayco C100

[springx7]

I was wondering if anyone owns or has demo'd the new Rayco C100 crawler. I have been talking a lot with Rayco and GyroTrac, and I would love to hear everyone's opinion. Right now, I'm leaning towards a C100 with a Denis Cimaf head.

Also- what GPS system does everyone use/recommend for a mulching business? Thanks

 

[WestshoreConstruction]

Just look through the post's, the Fecon machines are made by Rayco so If the Fecon machines are having problems I would believe that so will the Rayco machines. Cbturf has a Fecon and if you ask him I believe you will find he doesn't like it much.. Just my observation though.

 

[cbturf]

DUDE...RUN RUN AWAY!! I would not buy either machine that you are looking at. Cimaf head may be a good choice but not a Rayco or Gyrotrak carrier, find a decent tractor to put it on. If you just got to have one get the Fecon version at least they will warranty it for a year. Rayco will say "must be customer abuse" and not fix it. Just read some of my past rants. NUFF SAID.

 

[cbturf]

Once again I have to do a little backtracking. Eventually I will learn to keep my mouth shut...eventually but probably not today. I have a buddy who has both an FTX-140 and an FTX-90 and he is having to downsize and he has chosen to sell the 140. Other than the original engine that had to be replaced with the Yanmar he likes this machine a lot. Drawing on his decision I dropped by the Rayco shop yesterday to see the C100. It looks very similar to the 90 and has the exact same cab but there is a lot that is different.
After standing around and talking the dealer asked if I had a place that we could run it and we took it to a little job that I had been sitting on and I am afraid that I might like it.

It is very agile and quick. It cuts really good for a small machine. I was impressed. For all of the guys complaining about your AC look at the C100 it worked great yesterday and it got pretty warm around here. I still need to run one with some hours to be fully repentant but I like the C100 for now.

 

[cbturf]

What I like and what I don't

Loader arms look at the reach, it will come in handy all the time.

Smooth drum head, it cuts pretty good but does not give me the shredded material that the Fecon head does a little more stringy.

Huge cooling. I am working up around 8500 feet and overheating is an issue. The density of the air (or lack of density) is letting the Fecon overheat. Once the temps get over 70 degrees we are having to cool down about twice an hour. This has never been an issue before, last summer we had temps over 105 down in TN and never overheated. Rayco promised me that the coolers will keep up even at high altitudes.

I am not sold that this machine is what I need, I may require more horsepower but I am wiling to give it a try now. But, however, I think that Rayco has made many steps in the right direction fixing the problems that gave me so much grief on my 140 and it may be a very good machine for lower volume producers.

What else doe they need to fix..I am glad you asked. From what I know right now it still needs a reversing fan on the engine cooler, the cab needs to be isolated and raise up for maintenance and it needs some sort of on board air for cleaning filters and windshields. That is a pretty short list especially compared to the list on the 140 when it was brand new.

 

[vegman]

CB, I am glad to see you giving Rayco a chance. They have worked hard to produce a good machine. It looks like the best machine available to me. In the small machine market anyway. No other machine is that size/horsepower range can touch it. I have about 3-4 hours on the machine and can honestly say it will double the production of my Supertrak TL150. CB, I think people value your opinion a lot. I wish you would slow down a little before giving "negative feedback". You are a good man for stepping up and admitting you may have jumped the gun. I am glad your 140 is running well.

 

[Mowermoney]

CB

This machine looks a lot like an Asv RC-100 frame and cab. Are they related?

I'm thinking of demoing on soon.

David

 

[cbturf]

V-man when I have an opinion it is almost always out of personal experience. I have had more than tons of trouble out of my 140 and Rayco had problems with Deutz engines on both the 90 and 130 so I think that there was plenty of room for skepticism about the 100. That being said it is way better than any skid steer machine and they may have gotten it real close to perfect for its power range other than the few things I mentioned earlier, only a couple thousand hours will tell the whole story.

This is in no way related to any skid steer machine. If I am consistant about one thing it is buying a purpose built machine, I will never eat crow on that one. It is so much better equiped to handle mulching than any converted or adapted machine available. The cooling and steel tracks alone have it in a class all by itself for the 100 hp machines.

 

[vegman]

Well said, CB. Keep up the good work.

 

[cbturf]

OK we'll know what this machine is made of in a couple of weeks. As of right now I think we have a plan to demo it up in my mountians. Rayco seems very confident that it will do a good job and volunteered the machine for a high altitude demo. If it can hold up in NM I will bless it for all others to demo and buy. Sorry I thought I was special there for a minute.

 

[C.G.S.]

I Keep seeing the FTX 90 that have engines and under carriage replacements at less then a thousand hours so I am wondering why the tracks don't hold any better. I figure the engine failure are the Deutz, but the under carriage is really pretty poor durability. Considering dozer and highlifts get 4000 to 7000 hours per under carriage.Wonder how long the steel tracks on the SuperTrak are holding up.

 

[cbturf]

I really like the look of these. The pictures are on a C100. I do not know if they will last in the rocks but I think I gotta try them. I am pretty sure that when the rubber coat wears off they can be relaminated and made new again.

 

[C.G.S.]

Looks interesting. It also has a broken bolt in the rock guard. Durability in a steel undercarriage means weight and size. Who is make the undercarriage parts? Do you think it will tend to pickup debris between the pads which will increase pin and bushing wear. I have had trouble with steel track machines where undercarriage parts were not made by people who knew what it takes to make it hold up.

 

[cbturf]

The chain is still Berco, they know how to make the parts pretty good. All you do to install these is un-bolt and remove the regular single bar pad and bolt these in its place. It would take a month of Sundays to change all of them out but it may be worth it.

 

[C.G.S.]

Berco make a good product. Is it a pressed master pin or a SALT chain with a bolt together link? If the other compents are Berco as well I would say it should be worth looking in to farther.

 

[Landwise]

CB, I am glad to see you giving Rayco a chance. They have worked hard to produce a good machine. It looks like the best machine available to me. In the small machine market anyway. No other machine is that size/horsepower range can touch it. I have about 3-4 hours on the machine and can honestly say it will double the production of my Supertrak TL150. CB, I think people value your opinion a lot. I wish you would slow down a little before giving "negative feedback". You are a good man for stepping up and admitting you may have jumped the gun. I am glad your 140 is running well.

Veg man, what head are you running? My Tak 150 is no more productive than my ASV (Except that it does not go in the shop...) The head made the biggest difference. What kind of flow/pressure does the 100 run?

 

[vegman]

I have a Fecon and an FAE head. That closed loop on the Rayco is what makes the difference. Add in the 2 spd. motor and the recovery time is almost instant. All that and still under 100 HP. My TAK will burn between 5-6 GPH versus the Rayco at 4-5. It really will almost outcut my TAK by 2 to 1. I wish I was not upside down on my TAK. If I could get rid of it I would have the Rayco tommorrow. I think the Rayco loop is running 40 GPM @ 5500 PSI. The Tak has been one tough machine though. Basically, I had to replace a P3 pump and that's it!! 1500 hours. Oh yeah, 1 set of tracks. I really want steel on my next machine.

 

[cbturf]

I think that the two speed motor in the head is an awesome addition. My 140 has the closed loop hydraulic system and the head won't grunt like the 100. I am confident that every head built will have a 2 speed motor soon because of the difference I see in this machine. I hope it works out good on the demo next week in NM. I like the thought of saving some fuel for a while. The FTX-140 is draining the 52 gallon tank in about 7-7.5 hours. It stinks to not be able to work a full day on $200 worth of fuel!

 

[vegman]

I have a friend who has a 140 and he ran the c100 for a few minutes. He claims it may outcut the 140 by a little bit. What are your thoughts CB?

 

[Eagleview]

The FTX-140 is draining the 52 gallon tank in about 7-7.5 hours. It stinks to not be able to work a full day on $200 worth of fuel!

That's 197 litres @ $1.75 at the moment in OZ = $344.75 . Sometimes you feel it's just not worth it ..........