Hi all, Looking for advice please. Am wanting to add a loader and have narrowed it down to a Tracked New Holland C332 or a Wheeled New Holland L325.. Near identical apart from rubber.. Must say I have hed dealers say 20 pro's and 20 cons of each.. so puting it out there for you guys as drivers and perhaps dealers to put it in perspective. Duties will be. Gravel work, moving, placing, spreading-grading and compacting. Trenching of water pipes to troughs. Slashing pasture/small regrowth trees. Unloading and stacking hay from trucks to shed. Feed out of hay and silage bales- wt range of 250kg to 700kg - lifting into top load feeders. Usually muddy bogged up areaie post floods etc. Unloading 1 ton pallets of fertiliser off trucks and lifting 1 ton bags up and over fert spreaders. Fence removal site prep, post hole digging etc etc Farm is undulating to quite steep, gullies and creeks and contour drains and holes - uneven surfaces.. Probably equal parts of each. We live in a higher rainfall area, so wet/soft land is common. There are stony out crops in areas. Wheeled machine is about 10% cheaper, so am not concerned on the price, as prepared to pay for most suited machine. Some say tracks are a pain, slip off, rip, not easy fix, expensive to replace Vs Tyres - jack up and bring to town cheap repair and to replace etc.. plus horible maintenance and repair bills on tracked machines vs wheeled... I see so many tracked machines moving about I just wonder if they are as problematic as they say or its just highlighting poor use, poor upkeep and age/fatigue etc.. So do want to know more on this concern.. I need, safety, useable in wet/dry, stable in uneven surfaces, stable with weight attached..( No concrete areas, just gravel and dirt around sheds and tractor bays. Maintenance thats acceptable and a machine that holds some resale value and will remain servicable for years and normal hours.. Another point is the Wheeled L325 has 3 year 3000 hour warranty and the Tracked C332 has 2 years and 2000 hour warranty - reasons on this would be good too please. Hope I have put enough info to have you review and provide your experience and advice.. Many hanks !
Unless travel speed is a concern, I'd get a track machine. We have both rubber tired and track compact skidsteers, and, the only use for my rubber tire stuff is milling and cutting roads. As for New Holland, I know nothing. Mine are Kubota, Takeuchi, Cat and Case. Cat has the best tech support and the Kubotas have been the most trouble free.
Hi Aussie-farmer. In the end, which machine did you decide on?? I would have recommended the rubber chain. I also have a New Holland C175