Over the past month I have been looking at and comparing heavy duty brush cutters for my track loader. I was narrowing down to three manufactures based upon quality vs price, they are CID/RUT/MTL. With each of these I reviewed all available information on the manufacturers website, watched scores of video on every brand I could find and finally called a few places for additional information. Every place I communicated with was polite, informative and as helpful as could be. Except MTL! I was ready to purchase their Extreme cutter but desired a bit more information relative to shipping, motor type and manufacturer and a couple other things. Having sent an email using their provided link a few days ago, and not receiving a reply, I decided to call (website says "questions, give us a call". An individual answered the phone and seemed a bit irked that I had bothered him. I asked a couple of questions and he became quite insulting and rude. So I asked whether he might be the owner, to which he replied "yes". I really did not learn much from him except that they don't build junk (he told me to go someplace else if I wanted junk). I asked him if they stocked parts, he responded by asking me if I though they were some rinkey-dink outfit and proceed to tell me that they make the cutters for all the big, expensive brands such as Blue Diamond etc. Then he told me to go educate myself for a couple of years and I'd know just what I wanted. I thanked him and hung up. So just for the heck of it I called Blue Diamond and asked them if they knew of an attachment manufacturing company called MTL. The rep said, you know, just a few days ago I heard of them. A customer of ours was trying to reach them and all he could get was an answering machine. He said he was surprised I got through. When I asked if he made their cutters he denied it. Have to say, I believe him.
That’s not good but for what it’s worth I’ve had great success with the Vail X-Series.
LOL......what an ass!
I agree, what an ass! Also, I'll look at the Vail, had not heard of that one.
I bought a low profile bucket from them last year. Upon receiving bucket, it looked a little small so I measured it. It was 3" shorter than advertised. I called and got the same treatment. I sent them pics proving their inaccurate measurements after I was told I didn't know what I was talking about. Only after I threatened to file grievance and send it back, they offered to refund my shipping cost. Probably won't buy anything else from them ever again.
Isn't that something! Fortunately, I found a video affirming what I suspected, they are terrible about anything after the sale. Look at this, notice the HTL cutter involved in the problematic motor and service issue and listen to the owner. The motor itself is undersized, no wonder he became so upset when I asked what brand motor and size came with the X models.
Wow!
The one on the left looks like a radial piston motor and the one on the right looks like a Char Lynn esq motor. They both could be similar displacement
You might be correct, I'm no expert. The jest of this though is how the issue was handled by the seller/manufacturer. The Bradco, of course, is a far more expensive cutter.
I called mtl and talked to this same individual just a few days ago. I had a very similar experience, I was calling to get a final decision on a root grapple for my tl130. I got the feeling at first my phone call was a bother when he kept referring me to the website “everything you need to know is on the website”. Also “I don’t make recommendations”. Told him my machine and what grapple I was looking for, didn’t even get to explain its typical use. He says “you want to put the very cheapest grapple we have on the highest rated in its class machine, go buy something used or something Chinese if your gonna be cheap about it.” Then he said it wasn’t trackloader rated even tho it says up to 50hp track loaders on the website. at the moment however I held a hp number in my memory that was incorrect for my machine, I thought it was around 55hp (I figured close enough for light use) but turns out the tl130 is 67hp so that started an arguement about that since his credibility was lost when he told me what I read on the website wasn’t what I read. At one point in the conversation (if you want to call it that) he said that I couldn’t read. I asked him what his problem was, I’ve never encountered a first time conversation where someone was this rude especially someone on the end of a customer service/business number. I asked in the middle and at the end of the conversation if there was as any possibility to speak with someone else about the matter he said nope just me! I said “f$@k you then” and hung up it really wound me up when he said I couldn’t read and just the ill mannerism (also arrogance) he showed was pissing me off, i probably shouldn’t have said what I said but I wasn’t exactly in a good mood by the end of our talk. He may have a good product but damn, it’s a good thing he has a website because I couldn’t see many people buying from someone like that over the phone
I bought a 48 in 4 in1 off them I had no trouble with the company as they delivered what I wanted but a few things about arnt quite to par in my book. The craftsman ship that is
I just looked at all the google reviews and it looks like I’m not the only one that had a bad talk with the owner. I’m sure for the price they have decent products. On one review there was mention of an attachment that was a few inches higher on one side, he called about it and the owner of mtl said it was the machine they put it on, sounds like the man can’t accept error or constructive criticism.
Bdirtdobber wow! It appears the terrible customer service, and apparently lack of product quality (per Tyler and others) is shared among all of us unfortunate callers.
I'm still looking but was delayed quite a bit with other projects so now back at it. Appears the Skidpro Industrial Cutter is the twin to Blue Diamond Extreme. Take a look at the pictures, it's quite obvious, the outer appearance and below deck, the flywheel and blade configuration. My local dealer quoted me $9000 plus tax for the Blue Diamond. Skidpro negotiated down to $7800 for the high flow, delivered. CID high flow is around $5150.
You'll see the owner of MTL on the Facebook group Skid Steers & Attachments often out there looking for business. Go figure.
I don't know how prices compare, but the landowner I cleared for in 2007-2009, bought an Ambusher and a Bobcat brand root grapple for the "new" T300, back in 07. I ran the crap out of those twp machines for 2 years, then they were parked out in the machinery lot at the ranch. I had them bring both out to a land clearing job we started a couple of weeks ago. Even after sitting mostly unused for 10 years, both worked perfectly when I attached them to the old T300. Just put 42 hours on the grapple, and not a glitch anywhere in it's performance. Tried the Ambusher on a small area, and it worked great too. There are both from the local Bobcat dealer, so I know they paid a premium, but sometimes it is worth it to pay a little more.
Diamond manufacturing out of South Dakota I believe. We have one. They are very very good cutters. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another. We have 72”high flow. Couldn’t be happier.
I have a diamond High Flow mower 84" I believe. It is a beast. I am happy as well with it.
Jenkins Iron & Steel
Same here, guys an a--hat! Stuff looks fine but I will never buy anything from them again & will persuade anyone to avoid them as well.
Hmm, I wonder if the owner of MTL worked for Rayco in his past.
Bought me grapple from them and only issue I ran into is they installed Skid steer quick connects instead of AG. One call and they sent me the AG connectors. Been happy with it for the last 2 years
Well I certainly won’t go there again. They took my money upfront about 8000 bucks worth. Sat on it for 6 weeks during which time I tried to check in to see what the status of my order was. Seldom does anyone answer the phone. The recorder says send a text or email. They rarely answer those. I noticed when I would get a little snippy about not hearing from them they would magically call. A couple of days ago I got a text saying the “owner” canceled my order. One of the reasons I decided to order MTL was because the owner’s reputation as a grouch intrigued me. The best friends I have are grumpy old goats who scare most people away. Figured I might be able to work with this dude. I got a notice from MTL showing the refund but the refund has not appeared on my credit card. Maybe in a few days... sure did want to try their attachments. Ordered two. Weird experience to say the least.
No I would not recommend MTL under any circumstances!
Did they charge you extra for shipping to Alaska? If not, I am guessing they did the math and cancelled you.
No I had them shipping it to our freight forwarder in Seattle. I just pissed the dude off because I called every couple of weeks to check on the status of my machines. Now I am trying to get refunded for extra parts I ordered to have on hand. Again they aren’t answering their phone, texts or emails.... hopefully the folks who need service or parts have a better method of contracting them.
i have used a Vail X Series, they are built stout - spendy but worth every penny - I have heard of jenkins iron/steel, havent heard any bad things about them. neighbor/friend from church sells prime cutters, agreed some of their other stuff is Meh....lower quality but their 8" cutter 412lb center rotary hub with four blades is impressive. Similar to Vail but with 1/2 " blades compared to 3/4" on the vail. Vail also has the short cutter blades on the center spindle/hub. I am going to be testing one of the prime units the week of the 26th. Maybe someone else has used one of these prime cutters and can chime in
I agree Vail is the only way to go, best customer support in the business as well. I had a mishap on blade pricing from a dealer and without saying a word, getting upset or arguing they sent me a brand new set of blades “About $700 Worth” free of charge. If that’s not good customer service I don’t know what is... And did I mention those X Series are tough as nails?? Chopped a rail road track clean in to and didn’t bend a thing, sharpened the blade and kept on going. The unit that hit the track is a 2016 model and the blades were finally replaced after god knows how many hours on them and chopping a track up lol. Buy once cry once is my motto...
I have 2 brush cutters from MTL, I agree they are not that good at communicating. The products do seem to be better, in my experience, than many of the imports that occupy much of that same price range. For me, it's been a balance of pretty decent quality to cost/value. I've only had the brush cutters form them. My last order took over 5 months, even though when I ordered, the site said the unit was in stock, it wasn't, it was backed up do to COVID supply issues etc... I had the same issue with no response via email so I called, I did get a call back from the owner who, yes, is rough around the edges but was at least honest about the their supply chain being a mess and very unpredictable (as I have also seen with attachments I've ordered from CAT, KUHN, Kubota and others recently). So for me I'm not a fan of the bad communication but heck I get that from giant outfits too, Customer Service just continues to decline nearly everywhere I go. For me nearly everything is a gamble these days.
Guys: This is a very interesting thread. I've been looking for a good brush cutter. My CAT dealer demo'ed a Virnig V60 , which looked great, but was almost $14K. What would you get with Virnig at $14K that you don't get with the lower-priced stuff? Anyway, I went Internet shopping. The BS level in brush-cutter land is very high out there. Came across MTL which looked great on paper, and was about to pull the trigger. Then I came across a post on AgTalk ( https://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1032009&mid=9358496#M9358496 ). The short story is that a rave review of MTL was posted there by the company owner, which is his only post. I dumped MTL immediately. I have a high-flow (32 gpm) CAT 246D3 with 76 hp. I'm looking for a cutter that would handle 4" trees at most, and will be durable. I've got a lot of fence lines to clear on the farm in which volunteer trees have infiltrated. I'm not a contractor, and am retired, so high productivity is not critical--I can work on this as time allows-- but need a machine that will stand up to the demand . The significant buzz words i see out there are "piston pump", "direct drive", "flywheel weight" and of course a pump that matches your machine's hydraulics. One conclusion I've drawn so far is that claims that a unit will chop down 8" trees--or whatever--look like hype. I don't think these units are intended to be mobile chain saws, and suspect that such usage will just tear up your equipment. Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks
I'm not to up to date on the matcher heads but you need to show us that old mack a bit.
I have a CID piston motor 72 inch cutter for my own use and have sold 3 more and one bent axis piston motor one ( I am a small non stocking dealer) . They work great. I do not sell the bush hog style with the coupler and right angle gear box. I was a hydraulic engineer for 40 years and the gerotor / geroller style LSHT motors are not up to the rigors of the spin down against a closed center loader valve. Be sure and order with a larger than 1/2 inch hose package. This will help with hydraulic oil temp.
Thanks f311fr1. Don't believe I understand the jargon on the pumps...what are the gerotor / geroller style LSHT motors that are not up to it? Which is the most durable motor?g Here's the old Mack.
From someone that lives and dies by thr equipment you get what you pay for. I run Vail X Series and they are around $14k and they just keep going and going, Ive tried the cheap crap and they will run a while and something brakes every time, usually when you need them the most. If you can live with breakdowns of weeks to months then buy the cheap stuff, if you want quality equipment with fast service then go with high end name brand stuff and my moneys on Vail but I’m sure others are as good. I will never talk down about a company but as in life you always get what you pay for,,
Thanks. Will check out Vail. I'm in Kansas, but didn't know about them.
I am happy with my Virnig V50 78 incher. I don't know what the advertised tree diameter cutting capacity of it is. I have found to limit it to about 3" due to the amount of back and forth it takes to munch it up acceptably. However, on 2" and down dense stuff, it really shreds. I also think that its 42 GPM MAX piston motor might be oversized for my 33 GPM cats, I bought it second hand so it was not spec'd to my machine. It has unstoppable torque, but not blow you away speed.
I’ve got an Eterra Typhoon from skid steer solutions as shown in my profile pic. Very heavy duty and excellent attachment. Its got a removable plate on the front so you can run it open as shown or closed for more mulching effect. The push bar setup is very stout. Also have an Etrra flail mower for my mini-ex. Both have been great and trouble free. Blades are very easy to change on the Typhoon which is another bonus. The people at skid steer solutions have been great to deal with. Highly recommend.
Thanks, XSKIER. I like the Virnig, but better at used prices. Hard to find, and in this market, even used ones are high-dollar.
Thought I'd share my experience of MTL on this thread. bought the 84" xt demo grapple from them because its the cheapest hd grapple I could find for my 100hp ctl. I've seen Idigit4 on youtube run it and he said there wasn't anything to complain about, just standard cut of the mill. I did read this forum and their google reviews first and knew what I would get into if there was an issue and decided to order it anyway. I honestly only used it once so far but everything seemed in order other than the "powder coat" flaking off in some spots, if you can even call it a powder coat. The real kicker is the shipping company XPO logistics. What a joke that was trying to have them deliver it, I think it ended up taking an extra 2 weeks of calling them and getting a new answer every time; "its still on the dock"; "its out for delivery"; "oh now its back on the dock again"; and finally they dumped it on my boss's driveway an hour after we called and they claimed it was stuck on the loading dock again. They were supposed to call me when it was out for delivery but at least it showed up in one piece. I think if you order something basic like a grapple or something that isn't likely to break you are less likely to regret it but if you don't want to give money to someone who clearly doesn't care for your business then there are probably safer options out there. Virnig, Jenkins iron and steel, skidsteersolutions, and quick attach all seem far more trustworthy but they charge for it.
Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up ordering a new RBV72-HF33-O. I rented the IRC 72, and it was a beast, but I think a bit heavy for my CAT 246D3. After a lot of discussion with my CAT dealer and Virnig themselves, they bid a nice price on the V50, and I went for it. The strategy to rent and try one out paid off, and I must say Virnig and my CAT dealer were great to deal with. Each time I called Virnig sales, they were great, and spent a lot of time discussing my application objectively. Virnig is not cheap, but service and support is worth something. My conclusion is that you get what you pay for here. It will arrive in May, which should leave me with a good summertime activity of pasture clearing.
My MTL Attachments experience... Bought and paid $8500 for an XC8 rotary cutter Waited 9 weeks because they didn't have any in stock. (see below #4 later on) Was told it would be shipped on a custom pallet when ready. Received my cutter via a big-name shipper and it was laying on the floor in the nose of the trailer with no way to move it. It was 2007 lbs and no "custom pallet" was to be found. Once it was drug to the tail of the trailer I noticed: 1. the case drain line was torn off the motor 2. the motor cover was bent like it had been hit 3. the blades, which supposedly were plasma cut, had deep gouges in them like the plasma cutter hit a 1/4" bump in its track every 3" 4. the serial number plate said it was produced in May of 2021 5. One of the main hydro hoses had a gouge in it near the motor fitting, presumably from the case drain line being torn off 6. the metal "MTL" logo on the motor cover was bent up 7. I was told when I purchased the unit that the hydro motor would be a 200; I received a 175. (Incidentally, a 175 is not even listed in the owner's manual as an available size nor did we discuss a 175.) My main concern was the torn case drain line and the motor size. If the unit had been flow tested after production, I think there should have been some hydraulic fluid in the line as well as spilled onto the deck when the line was torn off. Both were completely dry. No sign of fluid anywhere. As for the motor, I requested the higher torque 200 due to the type of cutting I do; a 175 was never discussed. I called the guy I had spoken to when I made the inquiry and subsequent order. He said to send it back and he even contacted the shipper for me. He said he would bill it back to the shipper as freight-damaged and I could get another one in "early spring". I thought all was ok. I called this week to get an update and to ask a question and the guy started out fairly testy with me as though I was a bother. The conversation quickly went downhill with him accusing me of costing him $600 in return shipping and him telling me I was one of the type of people in the world that he hated. See above...he said he was going to bill it back to the shipper so I'm not sure where he got the price of $600 that I cost him. The conversation continued to go badly on his part; as I still wanted to buy an XC8, but it got so bad I started to change my mind. It went downhill further to the point of him telling me all I was looking for was an "art piece to sit back in my chair and admire" and that he had sold 12,000 of these and none had come back. Yes, he said 12,000. I hardly doubt he has sold 12k when it took him 9 weeks to get me just one... He continued to abuse me verbally and I let him go on just to see how far he would go. I was in a good mood, and I sure surprised myself in how calmly I treated him; as he had no reason to get that angry. Finally, he refused to sell me one and refunded my money because we needed "to part ways". For anyone considering a purchase from MTL, I would caution you against it. My story is just another addition to the posts above. If price is all that drives you, then spend your money anywhere you wish. If working with sellers who respect you and value your business is important to you, I would recommend you take MTL off your list. At this point, I wouldn't run their equipment if it was given to me. Again, this was my experience; yours may be different.
It would seem to me the man has lost his mind. Don't potty him, he has sown for this.
UPDATE on my purchase... After finally getting most of my money back, I was left with a $480 balance that the seller charged me for returning the banged-up item he told me to return and he himself did the return authorization with XPO because guess what...I can't even return an item with them because I don't have a commercial account. So, he had to have authorized it! Thank goodness I used a credit card for my purchase. I went thru the dispute process and it took months. Fortunately for me I recorded the delivery and the return on video; and had pictures of the damaged unit when it arrived. It was a HUGE hassle but I finally got all my money back. Personally, I MLT will never see another dollar from me. You do what you will with your money...
It's a shame that we have to deal with shoddy businesses and terrible customer service, but that is what builds winners and losers. Unfortunately, throughout the declining process, customers get screwed due to the various owner's bad practices. It takes time to sort the grain from the chaff.
I bought a mower last year. Their service/parts is the worst I have experienced in 26 years of being in business. I wouldn't do business with them for anything. I'd take the mower to the scrap yard and get something different and more reputable. Steer clear of these guys.
I've owned two of their 84" brush cutters. The newer one is a piston h-flow and the quality of the build is trash (thin metal, bad welds, cheap parts, etc). The older, cheaper low-flow direct model, has done surprisingly much much better... I think they may have started out as a decent (not great) affordable brush cutter maker or I just got lucky with my older model. I had similar issues when calling for support on a hydraulic hose. I'd also ordered some replacement blades with the newer cutter, which never arrived and no one responded to my requests for help/replacements/refund. Net net I've chosen to move on, the piston h-flow is going to the scrap yard soon I got a couple OK light years out of it but - you get what you pay for. Any recommendations on a good heavy duty brush cutter please let me know, it's going on a CAT 299D3 XPS. Cheers Gents!
I don't own one myself but I have my eye on the Jenkins super duty brush mower. I think they're prices are always better suited to me unlike the more notable brands Erskine, Quick Attach, Blue Diamond, or Virnig where a lot of the cash is going into their logo. It's not high flow and you will have to confirm the psi because I haven't yet either but it's heavier duty than any of the closely priced ones out there. I also haven't had any bad experiences with them and the family seems nice. Blue Diamond, Erskine, and Virnig have nice disk mulchers if you are looking to really utilize high flow and they run about $20,000 give or take. I'd actually just go into a full on mulcher at that point though because imo they tend to shoot less projectiles.
I hv used a jenkins quite a bit on 4inch and smaller and own a vail for the big stuff i would recommed both no issues 8500 for jenkins with wheel kit - 30k + for the vail run on kubota 95-2 and cat 299 d3 xe
Thanks for the responses much appreciated. Looks like I have some homework to do ;-)