I have a 2007 Mustang MTL 25, same as Tak 150 or Gehl CTL 80. Will I be satisfied with a 40" - 48" trencher. I have several water and electric lines to run on my own place, and it would be used to put up silt fence. I hate to rent a piece of junk that I have to work on to make it work.
Can't imagine that you have to worry about frost or rock outcroppings in Missouri so YES it will do a great job for running lines... also great for trenching "rat walls" if that is an acceptable building practice there, Have used a rental trencher on my 843 on many projects where a backhoe just would have made a big mess!...Good luck, D~
I rented one of those a few years ago, I had about 800' of 2'X6" trench to run around a baseball field. I had always used a conventional ride on trencher like a ditchwitch R40. The skid I was using was a New Holland LX565 which I owned. I am really glad I rented that thing because I had been contemplating buying one and I found out in short order that I hated it. My LX565 was an open cab machine and the ditching attachment threw about half of the dirt that it dug up right in the cab with me! (only exaggerating a little). The other thing was that I had to continually be looking back through the back window to see where I was going (can you say neck-ache) . The ditch I cut looked like a drunk Indian had done it (my apologies to all the Indians out there). That said, my first experience operating a rental skid steer was a disaster too. Since that first experience I have purchased three of them and hope I never have to be without one. If I need to cut ditch, I will go and rent a proper ditcher. Just my opinion Tim
It all comes down to the aux. flow on the CTL as well as the psi it runs at. Next are the ground conditions. Even dedicated trenchers struggle in certain types of soil and moisture densities. I think High Flow machines matched with a high flow trencher are productive in almost any ground conditions.
I have a Bobcat brand trencher that I bought 10 years ago and it's paid for itself many, many times over. It's primarily - almost exclusively, used for silt fence installation. It has trenched many miles of 6-10" trench for silt fencing. Yeah it can be a pain, keeping the trench straight but with time and some marking paint you can get a good straight trench. The attachment works well for what I do with it as I can take a CTL with bucket and trencher to the job, layout where the silt fence goes, trench it, drop the trencher and use the bucket to tote the metal posts, wire and fabric around the the site. We also use the bucket to push the posts into the ground, no manual labor involved. I hate manual labor. Anyway, I have never bought a skid attachment that didn't pay for itself many times over. The simple fact that a skid becomes the prime mover and can be so versatile with an attachment, eliminating another machine and all the costs associated. A trencher attachment is not going to be as productive as a dedicated ride on trencher for the deeper trenches but if you have the time and patience it will work fine for the task.
I have a John Deere one 48" and my Tak 240 runs it well my 763 bobcat turned it but was slow digging. I use it mostly to put in silt fence but have trenched in miles of water line electric line and even 2'' sewer pressure main. Turning can be difficult and worse the deeper the trench but with some time you learn how to do it. I really like mine and think they are like most skid loader attachments they work good but not quite as good as a dedicated machine but are much cheaper.
Between You 2 Guys, you have Both answered My Internal Doubts and Questions of purchasing such an attachment …… (Boy that was a Mouthful … LOL) I Have been Eye-balling (about 2yrs this particular unit has been for sale) a slightly used Hi-flow Bobcat 8x60" trencher …… Once my snow removal season is done I think I'm gonna go for a drive and Make an offer ! Thanx Boys !!! ……. It's experienced opinions like these that are Very Respected ! ….. Cheers
My trencher and CTL are standard flow.
So, now that I've decided it will work, what brands and features will work well for me? Good black dirt to yellow or orange clay in north central MO. I would encounter rocks very seldom. I see 48" Brandco 625's with 7030 chains (I'm told it's better than standard chain and will work in some rocks), 34 stations ( I assume that means teeth, every other station), all hoses and delivered to my place for $4.500.
There are a couple types of cutters on the market- the standard cup type that is the cheapest and the replaceable carbide. If all you are digging in is black dirt the cup type will work fine, they are far better at pulling material out of the ditch. They do not do nearly as well in tougher ground conditions which is why the carbide style came out. If your clay gets dry, hard or you hit rock, a 50-50 mix of the two teeth styles works good. You will get the good clean out of the cup style and the ground breaking of carbide. Trenchers have a bad habit of leaving a lot of material in the ditch. Running the chain too fast can cause this as the material will be carried up and over the boom and thrown back in the ditch. There was an attachment called a "crumber" that went on the end of the boom, the idea being that it would scrape the leavings off the bottom of the ditch. They are cumbersome to use and you don't see that many off them anymore. There is an aftermarket company, named Ballentine. They are the go to people for all your chain, cutters, etc. Great prices & quality. Hope this helps.
LOL ….. If this was directed to me, CM …… your help was that you have a Bcat branded unit, which is what appears to be built diff than other brands like the boom and side shift feature ….. the Only diff between bigger Bcat models LT313 & LT414 is the drive motors and manual vs hyd side shifting……. KSSS's info basically helped to mention that the Hi-flow units (providing you have a Hi-flow skid) are a more efficient unit than the standard-flow …. The one I've eye balling for 2yrs is the Bcat LT414 Hi-flow c/w Hyd side shift ….. this company that owns it has not been able to sell it because of Hi-flow and it's 7-pin hook-up (just my thoughts anyways)