Bandit ZT1844 bad points anyone?

[Chris Day]

They've been out a while and I haven't seen a thread raising an issue with these machines, added to that bandit can't seem to keep up with demand for them. That said there must be something that could be better or irks owners or operators? 

 

I ask because I am going through arb lease to get one, this is on the back of the lack of negative feedback I have seen. 

[josharb87]

It is a good machine, has certainly been a step up for me from a 27hp vermeer 252.

 

As i understand the bandit was built to be good value for money, and as such, could be better in a few areas. The Vermeer had a better quality feel about it, the 35hp 362 would be worth comparing to the Bandit ZT before decisions ar made IMO

 

 

[swinny]

35 minutes ago, josharb87 said:

It is a good machine, has certainly been a step up for me from a 27hp vermeer 252.

 

As i understand the bandit was built to be good value for money, and as such, could be better in a few areas. The Vermeer had a better quality feel about it, the 35hp 362 would be worth comparing to the Bandit ZT before decisions ar made IMO

 

 

How do you find The bandit compared to the 252 considering the 252 grinds a lot deeper.... quite often i have to grind out or dig wheels out to get even deeper with the vermeer...

 

also someone did comment that the bandit drank fuel but that could just be what the 38hp engines do?

[john p]

How do you find The bandit compared to the 252 considering the 252 grinds a lot deeper.... quite often i have to grind out or dig wheels out to get even deeper with the vermeer...
 
also someone did comment that the bandit drank fuel but that could just be what the 38hp engines do?

Mate of mine hired one and reckons he did £60 of petrol by lunchtime on a massive stump, would soon eat into your profit margin...

[Gray git]

Na I've ran my one all day doing multiple stumps continuously with no tidy up and used 40ltrs.
Yes it's going to drink a lot but you grind a lot in that time.
If your overly worried about fuel consumption you need to do one of 3 things
Maintain your teeth better or continuesly replace for sharp ones to cut as fast as possible and grind efficient with lots of pre digging.
Get a smaller engine and spend longer doing the job so more operating hrs and less jobs done per man hr.
Spend a whole heap more money and buy a diesel machine you won't get in to half your jobs.
Choosing a grinder is basically all about compromise as no one machine is perfect for everyone so it's about what works best for your target client and to me the zt ticked the most boxes without blowing my bank account to bits as grinding is only an additional service to us and not a main money spinner.

[Philip Anderson]

13 minutes ago, Gray git said:

Na I've ran my one all day doing multiple stumps continuously with no tidy up and used 40ltrs.
Yes it's going to drink a lot but you grind a lot in that time.
If your overly worried about fuel consumption you need to do one of 3 things
Maintain your teeth better or continuesly replace for sharp ones to cut as fast as possible and grind efficient with lots of pre digging.
Get a smaller engine and spend longer doing the job so more operating hrs and less jobs done per man hr.
Spend a whole heap more money and buy a diesel machine you won't get in to half your jobs.
Choosing a grinder is basically all about compromise as no one machine is perfect for everyone so it's about what works best for your target client and to me the zt ticked the most boxes without blowing my bank account to bits as grinding is only an additional service to us and not a main money spinner.

Just about sums it up perfectly.

The ZT for us was a great buy after having a Carlton 2010 , The ZT takes the work out of stump grinding was excellent value and still is around £15k is easy to load narrow enough to get to most places .

Fuel wise it does use more than our old Carlton which was 30hp but it grinds so much faster and saves my back so I don’t mind a little extra fuel as a trade off!

Grinding depth is not the deepest but is fine .

For us it offered a great little machine to allow us to offer a grinding service .

maintenance is easy I had to replace a drive belt which bandit supplied and we had a service update video on the belt tensioning method.

[GlobalNewark]

Being the chap that sells these I can say they have been a great success, as stated they could be a bit narrower, grind a bit deeper, have more options but then they would be more expensive. We are working hard to keep the price low which is + for a Bandit machine. We have had some belts, a few mods from Bandit which we have covered at our cost, some throttle linkages but not much more. Approx 100 sold this year so overall not bad, now also available with radio remote.

[Chris Day]

Thanks for the feedback all what I wanted to hear, relieved it's not perfect as that would be unbelievable. 

 

I guess the decision is made.

[Ty Korrigan]

Is the engine and EFI or carb?

   Stuart

[josharb87]

On 08/08/2018 at 22:53, swinny said:

How do you find The bandit compared to the 252 considering the 252 grinds a lot deeper.... quite often i have to grind out or dig wheels out to get even deeper with the vermeer...

 

also someone did comment that the bandit drank fuel but that could just be what the 38hp engines do?

 

The depth is adequate for the average stump if it’s going to be lawn over the top, although not really adequate if replanting in the same spot or big stumps.

It grinds far faster than the 252, and as others have said, I’d guess it drinks twice as much fuel as the Vermeer but grinds twice as fast, so you’re getting through the work quicker. you need a jerry can if doing a full day, I’d say a tank lasts about 4hours solid grinding but the gauge is shite so it might last longer! 

Itd be great if they made a mk2 with a few improvements

 

@Ty Korrigan it’s efi