skid steers and cutter heads

[ShearHeadMS]

hey guys, my compay is needing a new skid steer with a cutter head on it. iv been looking at ASV and John Deere, but i cant make up my mind. i just need a good sized skid steer for basic land clearing on smaller jobs. oh and could anyone tell me how good the Denis Climaf heads are on machines like this?

 

[redprospector]

Well, it's my recently formed opinion that if you're going to do a lot of mulching that a skid steer isn't the best choice, especially the ASV (Terex).
Terex dosen't want to stand behind their product, or their dealers.

Andy

 

[trailbuilder]

I have an ASV PT 100 it is 3 years old and I use a Fecon Mulching head. It has worked well for me and the machine has not had any issues other than some AC issues. Nothing to keep me from working it and making money.

 

[fishfactor]

Someone posted a demo review on a John Deere machine running a mulcher a while back. I don't think they were impressed. We run a Bobcat T320 and it has held up good. I did a demo on a Terex and the new Bobcat T870. Both had considerable more power to the head than the T320. But... there have been lots of reliability concerns with the ASV/Terex. Some guys have them and have no problems, but others can't keep them out of the shop. See this thread. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/land-clearing/211755-out-frying-pan-into-fire.html

The Cimaf head will cut good and increase your productivity but you must keep it out of the dirt and rocks. Sharpen the teeth everyday. It's a great head, but if you were only going to have one you may want to go with a carbide hammer head unless you know you won't be in bad conditions.

 

[05rammer]

FishFactor I was wondering how your rubber tracks on your Bobcat hold up in the woods mulching?

 

[Extreme Mowing]

hey guys, my compay is needing a new skid steer with a cutter head on it. iv been looking at ASV and John Deere, but i cant make up my mind. i just need a good sized skid steer for basic land clearing on smaller jobs. oh and could anyone tell me how good the Denis Climaf heads are on machines like this?

I recently got the new Kubota SVL90 and put my Gyrotrac 500hf on it. pushes the head ok but i had to educate the dealer and its still an ongoing project. Have a roof mt. cooler coming and kubota is slow on coming up with a lexan door. I wanted local support and the 0 down 0% was the factor I needed. The quick couplers had to be changed as they were not for high flow. That was a issue at first but resolved after I suggested a flow check. Also purchased a high flow turbo saw with rotator but have not used it yet.

 

[fishfactor]

FishFactor I was wondering how your rubber tracks on your Bobcat hold up in the woods mulching?

900 Hours on the first set. Have about 900 hours on aftermarket taiga tracks now. One could break anyday as we have 2 of the steel crossbars torn out, the other one has a lot of cuts, but still holding up OK.

 

[fishfactor]

I recently got the new Kubota SVL90 and put my Gyrotrac 500hf on it. pushes the head ok but i had to educate the dealer and its still an ongoing project. Have a roof mt. cooler coming and kubota is slow on coming up with a lexan door. I wanted local support and the 0 down 0% was the factor I needed. The quick couplers had to be changed as they were not for high flow. That was a issue at first but resolved after I suggested a flow check. Also purchased a high flow turbo saw with rotator but have not used it yet.

I hope it holds up OK. I stopped and looked at one and the dealer was very informative. He knew about mulchers and had sold many other CTL's to run mulchers. He said the Kubota wasn't ready to run a mulcher. They were working on one with more HP and more flow but it may be a few years. I would not under any conditions run one without a lexan door. A local guy tried it and spent hours at the ER having glass pulled out of his face.

 

[Rustyiron]

It seems that all you mulching guys only run track machines. I've done plenty of woods work, (but not mulching) and run ovre the tire steel tracks and short of the flotation that (rubber) tracks offer, the OT tracks give many times better traction. And that brings me to my point, Gehl makes a monster of a machine that has a hyd flow of close to 30 gpm on the regular hyd and 100 HP motor. But is is only offered as a wheeled machine. Check out the specs. on a 7810 for the heck of it!

 

[coastalcutter]

Look at the Cat 299 they are coming out with steel track option. Our Cat dealer has been really great in helping us with the 289c. They cost more on front end but when you are out of warrenty and they have found ways to cover ac repairs it makes up for higher price. They realize what lost time is and if we need even a fuel filter our rep will bring it to us no other dealer in our area would think of doing that. If you combine the 299 with a ciemf head it would make a pretty good combo. That dealer support is worth the extra cost. Good luck