Never heard of them until looking on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2005-THOMAS...672?pt=Skid_Steel_Loaders&hash=item3a702c4540 Just curious what the feedback is on them (quality, construction, reliability, etc).
Made in Canada from typical off the shelf components like everyone else's machines. I believe they have gone under now. They struggled to make in-roads in the NA market. Generally they are known to be be durable, simple machines.
I have a 153 that I think is a 2002 model. It has been a great machine. Most of the parts are generic so easy to find and the engine is Kubota. Very basic but a good, tough machine.
The only place that I've ever seen them is at auctions, usually new or close to it. Same with their shaker screens, only at auctions. ?? I had always wondered if they (Thomas) were dumping them into the auction circuit for the exposure while they were waiting for a big release of their line.
Their website is still up (dated 2011). It looks like they re-branded Thomas skid loaders as Kubota for Europe. There is a dealer not too far from there. I'll call them up and see if they stil sell them. I guess I'm just curious, not really looking to buy one now. But I see they are pretty inexpensive when used on Ebay.
They where built in Hartland New brunswick. Localy here a lot of farmers run them and like them. They are cheep to repair and are prety though from what i here. But i have personal experience with them.
Looking at Thomas' website looks like they are no longer skid steers and just 'mini skid steers'? Anyone hear something similar? Shame I had heard excellent things about the skid steers at least (and I think the Excavators were re badged Kubotas perhaps?) Thanks Erik
in the early 90s they seemed to be one of bobcat's biggest competitors (at least around here) but they fell way, way behind over the years. still see a lot of them around though.
They even had a tracked one a few years ago but I heard our gumbo stuck in the big wheels that they used to turn the track. Are they completely out of the skid-steer business now? They had some mini-excavators for a little while too. That's unfortunate to see another Canadian company go the way of the doe-doe a friend of mine use to have one of their machines and he said he liked it far better than Bobcat.
I've taken care of one for 8 years now. Protough 2200. Somewhere around 2300 hrs on it. Only major issues were a leaking drive motor and rear axles seals. Boom cylinders repacked 3 years ago. New starter last year. Broken spring in control valve 6 years ago. The only thing that keeps it from running right is if one of the safety lockout switches fails.
They were manufactured in New Brunswick Canada. But they stopped making them in the last 5 years or so. They were a good reliable machine. We had one here at work but we were having a hard time getting parts for it for the last little while. The new one we got was a CAT.