It appears they finally "released" the kubota skid steer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViyTdbqHty4 its pretty much the machine i expected them to build. personally I'm not overly impressed; i prefer the jcb strategy of completely blowing up the skid steer market with something vastly different, yet surprisingly effective. the one thing kubota has going for themselves is they tried their hardest to copy the bobcat. another thing they have going for themselves is (rumored to be) a hydraulic pilot control option next year; making them basically the the only "major" player with this feature. kubota has managed to build themselves a name and large dealer network so they will undoubtedly sell lots of these machines. i do like how the quick coupler is hydraulic, and also how the fuel tank is on the back door... personally, i hate the overhead front door, and what on earth is with that side ac vent with the big plastic shroud mounted right onto the side window!?!?! did i see that right?! ic it also has a high step to get into the cab. it looks to me to be a fairly crude machine and it doesn't look like a quiet cab was much of a priority, but the pilot controls are the one thing that intrigues me... I'm also assuming they are going to be selling these machines cheaper than the competition, basically what case and new holland have been doing; at least around here. i believe the last new holland i priced was 28k, 2000 lb machine with 2 speed and air, but that was probably 2 years ago.
The guy giving the walk around in the video needs to spend a little more time learning about his machine. Marginal presentation.
We tried a SVL90 this fall, we were not impressed with the cab at all. Thought the machine operated flawlessly, but the cab is about 20 yrs behind everyone else. The salesman was like the guy in video as well, couldn't even show me where the oil filter was.
Didn't see any in Europe yet , I don't like the fuel tank in the back door , too much stress on the fittings of the door.
I wonder how having the fuel tank located in the door affects the ROC? At a little over 8lbs a gallon and a normal 2-1 ratio that a counterweight adds to the operating capacity I'd bet that it operates differently with a tank 1/4 full than it does with a full tank at the beginning of the workday.
Diesel weighs a little over 7 lbs, not that that matters much. If the machine has a 20 gal tank, fully topped it would have 150 lbs max. Unless you run it to the bottom, throughout the day, you probably will take out 15 gal, or 110 lbs. Not sure you would notice that unless you were working at 75% or more of tipping load all day.
The small skid has a 25 gal tank. Counterweights usually have a 2-1 advantage- 1lb in the back adds 2lbs of tipping load. If the machine burns 16 gallons (2/3 of tank) x 7lbs= 112lbs x 2 (counterweight factor)=224lbs. that's still over 5% of the tipping load and 10% of the ROC. I agree its not a huge deal, but not insignificant.
I understand what you're saying now. I guess that 2:1 makes sense now. I have wondered in the past really how much good a few hundred pounds of counterweight makes on a skid steer.
Depends on the application, but I've had it be a deal breaker when I was selling Bobcats. Especially in applications involving forks, loading and unloading flat beds(pavers, sod, etc.).
you guys don't know NOTHIN about counter weights! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irb1q25NdhA and imagine if you hooked that into your fuel tank! i wouldn't be worried about the weight of the fuel, seems to make more sense having it on the door than under the engine...
I just bought the counter weight kit for my TR320. I bought the BC grader attachment and thought that a little more weight would help with the tractive effort when running the grader. I have not used it on that yet but I have noticed that the extra weight has helped putting the power of the machine to the ground. It likely has helped with the ROC but that was never an issue without the counter weight.
What was the deal breaker? Bobcat doesn't offer counterweight or not as much?
Most of the time it had to do with the two options we offered for weight kits not being enough so I had to move them to one size larger machines which really changes the financial equation.
Yeah it makes a little less sense to buy them on larger skids and more sense in that 1600-2200lb size where you're right at the limit of sod pallets and fork use in general. And as you said Shane, they will help to put a bit more traction to the ground.
Seems a bit convoluted does it not?? If you're having to add weight just to operate it normally, maybe you need/should have the bigger machine anyway??
yeah, but you know how people are..... cheap as possible and always trying to make a machine do more than what was intended
The machines are designed with the OEM weight kits in mind. It is not necessarily being cheap, it could be about maximizing the capability of the machine your buying. The weight kits bridge a portion of the ROC gap from one size machine to the other. Now we have a lot of tree farms here and they will hang 1000 pounds off the back of tracked up 465 machines with 50"" and larger tree spades. That gets a little excessive, but using OEM weights is certainly not allowing a machine to do more than it was intended.
I guess I worded that wrong... I know that weight kits offered by dealers are within the machines specs more or less I meant that people want the most bang for their buck as they can get out of a machine and they do 'want' them to do more than what would be in the normal operating range.
well for me i basically want a 3000 lb machine in a 2000 lb package, it has nothing to do with purchase price a large frame machine would just simply be to big to fit in 90 percent of the places i use it. i just purchased a sweet 3yd bucket for the jcb 205; i would say it is a bit big for the machine, but it seems that i can finess things and make it work pretty good... it really is surprising it handles it as well as it does.
Big difference between a couple hundred $ weight kit and a couple thousand $ for a slightly larger machine.
Having the fuel tank on the door is interesting. I want to see it hold up on a dairy farm where door's do not last unless there is a heavy bumper protecting them. When Digdeep is selling Brand "A" that has a 2000lb machine as their largest mid size and I'm selling brand "B" that has a 2200lb machine as its largest midsize machine, then yes its a big deal because it likely means Digdeep is going to loose the deal because his machine can't do the job and the customer doesn't want to larger machine due to the size or price or both. Not all of us operate these things out in the middle of an empty field, size does matter many times. There is absolutely nothing wrong with adding factory weight the way the factory intended. Its called setting the machine up properly for the task at hand. We do it with tractors all the time to get the proper ballast and proper ratio from front to rear. Our 930 Fendt's shipping weight is 23,000lbs but yet its rated to be ballasted up to 39,000lbs. This actually makes it pretty universal as it lets you be light a nimble when needed then weight it up when you need the traction or balance. With a front 3pt its easy to drop weight quick and move onto the next task. Bit of a different situation than a skid steer obviously, but its a similar concept. Why add the ballast to the machine from the factory when not everyone will need it, the added weight is simply a waste. Let the customer add it if required for the task at hand.