611 machine with what looks like a quick attached shear head. I see other machines advertised with different front end attachments. https://carolinausedmachinery.com/hydro-ax-611b-ii-feller-buncher-11071238 how would this machine do with a regular dirt bucket? Would it function at all like a wheeled loader for general farming chores like dirt, manure and fertilizer piles?
for $32k I would think a simple JD or other common loader would be a better idea. Parts avail. for a big reason.
Sorry that was an example with multiple "tools" shown. The machine in question is $7000 so I would have to make my own attachments. I do have a limb cutting attachment I run off an old excavator that I could adapt and this might be handier driving fencerows than an excavator. We do have a small area of woods that the tree shear might be used for
Purchasing an old machine is usually just the start of the ongoing expenses of adapting and using the machine for a task it was never primarily designed for. One is only limited by imagination, engineering kit & skills available and account balance. "School Bus Turned into Hay Bale Loader" youtube video. Trucks turned into tree shelter trimmer. (More wrecked trucks available for parts than forced to a tractor dealership for parts)
Yes that hedge trimmer is a bit like my excavator setup. I got interested when I saw pictures of the machine. It looks like a tool carrier with flotation tires to me. I've been on the lookout for a cheap wheel loader. If something had auxiliary hydraulics on the front, it would be even better but I think wheel loaders would only have low flow capability, at best. My limb saw takes about 30 gpm and I'm assuming a feller buncher would have that up front. I wonder if a feller buncher would have enough torque to push a bucket into a stockpile of dirt or rubble.
The boom design on a hydro-Ax is not designed to dig. Will it dig...........sure, but I would be very cautious and careful with it.
DMiller needed that just a few days ago.