Hey guys, I’m thinking about purchasing a new Asv RT-75 track loader. A lot of the post in here are old. Anybody running them? I would love to hear your experiences. The good and the bad. reliability issues, honoring warranty, resale value. these machines seem badass to me! I love the Cummins engine and the track system. I’ll be doing a lot of work around peoples houses, so the low ground pressure sounds nice to me. I install swimming pools.
Have an ASV PT-50 that I purchased new around 2009. I’m just a homeowner, do personal use only on about 14 acres in snow country. Mine has the Perkins engine. No issues. Great in snow. Have a 6’ Erskine blower.
I used to have a 4810 many years ago. Strong machine for its size. I had 7 track derailments within the first 70 hours, some of which were in swamps and bad hillsides. I was not a happy camper with my purchase of the ASV. Yes, I purchased it new. The track anti-derailment kit they "gave" me solved many of the problems but certainly not all. The cost to replace the undercarriage parts and the fact that I could not side hill it reliably made me learn to hate it. It was a bitch to clean out the undercarriage and it cost more to rebuild than a D6 undercarriage. Tracks wore quickly and it was a lot of maintenance. I also called it my "pitch and puke" machine as I got sick to my stomach so many times after running it. Watching a wall of green matter falling down in front of me while traversing uneven terrain often caused a re-appearance of my latest meal...at violent, upward vertical speeds. No other machine has ever caused me so many issues as that one did. It made me money and it was good in some scenarios, but I will never own that type of track system again unless I move into sand dunes or silt loam. Any rocks or gravel will just devastate those rubber tracks if it is not run with care. Oh, and repairs were not always easy. Try replacing some of those hydraulic hoses that run direct off of the pumps after they blow and you can't move the machine. Your vocabulary will not be acceptable to your mom while working on that machine. I was constantly replacing cylinder seal kits after the machine got over 1500 hours on it. For my business, those machines are built too light and fragile to handle the rigors of what I do with mulching. If you are working a golf course or finish work around houses, they are likely a great machine for that if they are run carefully and kept out of any rocks. The Cat/Perkins ran great with few engine issues other than difficult access to some components. It all depends on what you plan to do with such a machine if you are looking at purchasing one.
I appreciate your response. But that machine was designed 20+ years ago! anybody with a newer machine?
I've never owned an ASV and can't add anything as far as the new units go, but I did own a Cat 287B with the ASV undercarriage on it. I do general excavation and landscape work and it was a good unit....my original tracks lasted 2200 hrs and were still on the unit when i traded it in. I do belive they lasted that long because I was very careful to not spin the tracks much, constantly did three point turns instead of spinning the unit around, and I was always very cautious when working in rocky ground conditions, and I was the only operator. I did replace some boggie and idler wheels along the way though, not the easiest undercarriage to work on and it constantly held a ton of dirt/mud, and god forbid if you blew a hydraulic line to the track drive, you had to set a side a better part of the day to fix it. The newer style units "look" like they are better designed and are a bit more user friendly as far as accessing components. I would be more concerned with their dealer presence and their ability to stick around, they seem to have had quite a roller coaster ride over the last several years as a company. Dealer support means a lot with a piece of equipment like that, there is no doubt I would demo it against a couple other manufacturers units before making a decision. Also, the more standard rubber track system on most other compact track loaders is much more robust and will undoubtedly hold up to way more abuse than the ASV style....
I have an RC50. Easy to work on. Had a boogie wheel fall off today. It happens. Undercarriage is great just watch the rocks.