[BJR]

I have had the problems with the tracks fixed. As I mentioned in another post, the importer her stuffed up and gave me wrong tracks, twice, which caused most of the problems.

I have also had many numerous problems. The most recent is a plastic drive plate for the hydraulics. The company that replaced it for me mentioned that you can expect to get around 1000hrs out of one. The problem is that you have to take the engine out to replace the $90 part.

ASV's are a fantastic machine, WHEN THEY ARE GOING. The maintenance costs are redicuously high compared to a skid steer.

I would like everyone that has a Posi Track machine to enquire as to the durability of the running gear and the replacement costs.

I estimate that in Aus it costs approx $7 per hour extra than a wheeled machine, plus down time to run a RC30, and more for a 50.

I am not the only one in my area complaining about the running costs of Posi Track machines. Even if you do everything right.

I estimate that every 2000 hours you will go through 1 x set of tracks, all wheels and bearings, sprocket drive rollers and maybe the entire sprocket drive including drive motors, 2 x hydraulic drive plate, etc, etc.

[Bill Schwab]

See now you should get 2000 hours on the tracks, and 5000 hours on the boogies, planetary drives, and track rollers.

Cost break down at Caterpillar prices are Tracks at $2000 a side, and, these can be flip flopped so you can gain more hours from them, and $1,000.00 on the bogies and drive rollers. How do you tension yours? You should use a 2x4, set on top of the drive and front rollers. Then place a weight in the center of the track. There should be no more than 1/4", down to zero, but 1/4" is ideal.

[johnkeegan]

I appreciate the heads- up on the track system of the ASV. With these warnings and Bill's advice, I hopefully can keep the maintenance costs down.
I'm not surprised there's added cost with a track machine. I have a Bobcat S250 (with rubber-over-metal tracks)and an A300 (with turf tires) and they are great at what they're designed to do. But unfortunately, there are jobs that only a small track machine will do. And on many of these tight jobs the ASV 30 can get in and out quickly and with less lawn damage. Even with the worst case scenario of an added $7/hour over the skidsteers in maintenance, I wouldn't hesitate. The amount of labor saved and ability to get more jobs done per week (VERY important in a seasonal business), make it worthwhile... But again I appreciate the heads up.

[Bill Schwab]

I forgot... The weight should be 100lbs, set in the center of the track, then measure distance on flat surfaces. Also, clean your track nightly. Look for rocks and pieces of junk between the carrier and the boogie wheels, and stay away from opertions on transitions, where say one track is at an angle of slope, and the other sits on flat ground. There are times when you can't help it, but, if you can operate on one or the other, not both, all the better.

[BJR]

just bringing this to the top for tractor

[tractornewbie]

I found the link. Had trouble locating it last night. Too many Bud's during the ballgame I guess.

Thanks!

FYI:

http://www.avanttecno.com/web/engtuotteet/dumpereng.htm

DT.

Originally posted by BJR
Thank goodness for whoever invented the mini dumper.

I have been using 2 for the past 2 years now and they are labour, time and back saving machines.

For the type of work I do, IE: difficult site retaining walls, they are fantastic.

You don't need a licence here like you do for a skid steer. They carry 800kg and are extremely low maintenance. We hardly ever use wheel barrows any more.

My staff love them. We just completed a large wall using Garden Wall for the lower walls and Keystone for the higher walls (2.5m high). They save a lot of back breaking work in tight areas.

There was 20 cubic metres, 50 tonne, of no fines concrete to be placed behind the walls. All of it was placed using the dumpers. We stack the blocks in them and drive them straight to the laying face. We also load them with excavated material and rubbish, and drive them up the ramps onto the back of the tippers and dump the load off.

Great for moving material up and down steep slopes.

I have the Avant Dumpers. Here Dingo also make them, but they are not as versatile.

I also hire them out to other contractors, hence the 'Spadework Solutions' stickers on the sides.

[LerchBros]

Back to the dumping machines - we just purchased a used dumping golf cart from one of our clients. It has the capacity in the dump bed to hold 800lbs. We were iffy when we did the demo with the little cart. Let me tell u, our guys wont work without it. It is perfect for townhouses and yards where access sucks. The turf tires eliminate all of the restoration that we would have had with our skid steers or dingo. The cart retails new for $7,000.00 we got ours for $3,000 remanufactured. If its good enough to haul things on a golf course day in and day out we figured it wouldnt b a bad idea. It lowers operator fatigue and runs forever on a gallon of gas. Two laborers can excavate and install bases in the time of 5 with wheelbarrows and the dingo. The gators are nice but expensive. We also tried a concrete buggy once but the dump angle wasn't high enough for us. Just a thought

[BJR]

Got any pics of it?

[HardDaysKnight]

I stayed away from this thread. I thought it was about the Olsen
twins.

[LerchBros]

Not yet, been stuck in the field recently. But you can go to the Ingersoll Rand website and look for the link to the Club Car section. You can view all of the different models. We got ours with the gas Kawi engine and the aluminum dump bed. we purchased ours from Redhawk, a golf cart repair place in Baltimore that services carts from all up and down the east coast. hope this helps.