i am wanting to start a side line business at the first of the year. what are some of your thoughts on the best CTL for running a mulching head for a pasture clearing business? i have been looking at cat but i saw on there it looks like they have lots of issues with tracks. most of my terrain will be rough im sure and i plan on running pretty hard. do i need to run a ASV100 or a TAK machine??? i will be buying used and am wanting to stay below 35k for steer and mulching head. what would the minimum HP for this type work be??? thanks in advance for any help.
unless you plan on using the ctl for work around houses and on pavement id buy a fecon small mulcher which is a single or triple grouser steel track machine made to mulch with extra coolers thick glass and an under carriage made to be beat on. also they can use skid steer attachments such as grapples, buckets, forks or other attachments such as stump grinders and harley rakes for after you clear a lot. they have high flow hydraulics and the same quick attach as a skid steer does for buckets. they cost a lot new but you could find a decent used one for around 35k and it will cost a lot less in the long term.
holy cow those puppies are 350k new!!! i will search around and see what i can find in that area. i have looked just one spot and did see one for 44k. i would want to use the machine for some stuff around houses and farms so i may look at buying one if i can load up the work on the tree removal side. i want to do mostly tree removal, but i will be willing to do anything! anyone else using a mulching head right now and having good luck with their machines??? thanks
Your asking a lot. A mulching head and skid steer for 35K. The mulching heads new are mid 20's alone. I bought mine on Iron Planet for 9K and I thought I got a pretty good deal. I would find a 95XT or 465 CASE with highflow. If your lucky might be able to find a 95XT that is equipped with a 5000 psi system. i would then get a set of run flat tires and steel tracks. That is the system I currently use. The only changes I made was to update the relief valves to ones that CASE recommends for mulching. Made a huge difference. Now unless the radiator gets plugged, it wont over heat. You don't need a CTL and given your price ceiling you probably should not get one. I get along fine with steel tracks, but do get the NuAir type tires. The hyd flow and torque of the 95XT and 465 is still at or near the top of its competetors. I ordered a new machine that I plan on mulching with also. Its a CASE TR320 CTL. The high flow on this machine is 35 gpm at 4000 psi. My 465 makes 40 gpm at 3900 psi. The 320 has 251 foot pounds at 90 hp and the 465 is 265 foot pounds at 85 hp. So even though the TR320 is a 2012 model, it is still about the same as far as hyd hp as the 07 465.
Hey lefty , what part of the state are you in ?
Always would hear the ASV Rc100 was set up with a mulcher in mind.Terex now I think.
KSSS thanks so much for your input, i will look at everything you said today and see what i can figure out. Dirtmonkey, im in northern ok (ponca city). i dont think i will be down in edmond stepping on your toes!!! 580bruce the ASV is an option that i have looked at, but there arent any dealers around my area... i see alot of mulchers on the ASV's though
Let me make a clarification. Given your price limit my option is the 95XT/465 HF. I like this because it gives the capability to provide mulching services and use the same machine for many other tasks as well. If I was a 100% dedicated only to mulching, I would likely go a different route. I, like you apparently did not want to spend 100K to get into mulching, these machines and others I am sure have the capacity to efficiently (as far as skid steer mounted mulchers are efficient) work in what has got to be one of the most brutal environments you can ask of a skid steer/CTL to run in. I am not advocating only the CASE machine, as other large wheeled machines would likely work as well, and I am not saying a CTL is a bad idea for mulching only that with the price your willing to spend, I would fear that a CTL in that money range would likely be a money pit. It would cost less to go with my suggestion and update as business picks up if you feel the need. I hope that did not make it even harder to understand.
Dont worry about stepping on my toes!! They already have heal marks Just thought i might throw some work your way if you were local. I spent some time looking at an Iron Wolf with an ASV and from what i understand it was better equipped. It had the forestry package and the dual pumps . It has been so long i dont remember the full details but i remember thinking that was the way to go even tho i dont really care for the ASV under carriage. What ever you get, keep it clean and WATCH YOUR TEMPS ! BTW i was just at Warren Cat and they had several CTLs with fecon heads and it looked like they were gearing up for aux. coolers. Good luck !:thumbsup
well so far i have found a cat 272c with high flow that seems to be a pretty close fit for what i am wanting. it has bradco head that needs repairs so im waiting to see what repair cost are going to be before i do anything. i am really like the idea of running a wheeled machine now! i have been scared of the maintainance on the tracked machine all along. the cat guy's have been great to work with so far, i havent had much luck the the case, or john deere yet. i also have noticed my 35k is falling short and it just keeps creeping up on me, im sitting at 40k now and still creeping up in price.... i really do appreciate everyone helping me out on this, its a lot to try to figure out on your own! KSSS i like your website, it looks like you have about all the bases covered!
KSSS did you run a mulcher on your 440? i was just seeing about the smallest size machine i should consider...
Someone said that bad word (FECON) and I had to take a nerve pill 2005 I bought a 2003 (I think) Fecon 90, with a Fecon mulching head $79,000. It had like 100hrs on a new (3rd) Duetz engine. I should have been cautious then, but I wasnt. The machine was a great machine for forestry type work, but the Duetz engine was crap. Fecon stopped putting the Duetz engines in that machine and the newer machines were sent back to the factory and had another type of engine installed (I think it was Yanmar) I got about 150 hrs on the engine and it was completely worn out, not enough compression to even start it. I changed the air filter at least twice a day ($40 a pop) I had a 20 acre job to mulch and I hired two guys with machines ASV100 (older) and a new Cat 2?? I think my Fecon did about the same amount of work as fast as the other machines. My A/C and cabin pressure was alot better than the ASV What Im trying to say is, I would be very cautious about buying a used machine. The steel tracks on the Fecon seemed to support the machine better than the other machines, plus I had a winch If I had to buy a machine now, I would buy a ASV. I would buy from a dealer, so you could get a warranty of some kind. These mulching machines, get lots of abuse As far as buying a great machine for $35K, I dont know about that At one time Cat and ASV had a great finance plan and was begging people to buy their machine Good Luck
No I dont have have flow on that 440. However these guys http://burlingtoninstallation.com/ put added coolers and improved hyd high flow kits on CASE skid steers. They do a kit for the 440. The 440 has the same powerplant as the 465. I did not think that 35K was too realistic for what you wanted. When you comparing machines for mulching, be sure to compare hyd. psi, gpm, engine hp, engine torque and hyd hp. As well as ease of cleaning out radiators and coolers.
i use an bobcat S250 hi flow with a timber axe on it. with new cutters i can turn a 3 in tree into saw dust n youpons into dust lol it works very well but like anything it has its moments when the coolers get clogged (which seemed to only be bad in hot dusty conditions ) its 30 min lifting the hyd cooler off the radiator to blow it all out and i learned quick to becarefull reinstalling the hyd cooler as a hole can be punched in the radiator but it is all set up for an easy enough job. the tires are filled with foam and so far indestructable. the whole thing weighs about 11k i think and i got it all for under20k the timber axe was bareley used. i also found out that its imperative to replace the front door with 3/4 or 1 in lexon at 700.00 which bob cat can supply. oh and the ac is worthless. the cutters change out in an hour.