Opico Skidster or sherpa mini loaders

[treevolution]

On 22/12/2021 at 18:58, doobin said:

Did it today no bother. Tilt the tipper a smidge to reduce the breakover angle like you would for a ride on. I put it up forwards with the bucket low, and without standing on the back. That put the balance right where it wanted to be and no drama 👍🏻
 

I use 10ft alloy ramps. 

Can ask the make of rumps you use. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[doobin]

3 hours ago, treevolution said:

Can ask the make of rumps you use. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

Got them from ‘the ramp people’

[treevolution]

12 hours ago, doobin said:

Got them from ‘the ramp people’

Thanks for coming back to me. 

 

There not far from me so will pop alone to look. 

 

Do you remember what model rumps you got. 

 

Bit of a mind field to work out which ones are best. 

 

Thanks 

[doobin]

  

1 hour ago, treevolution said:

Thanks for coming back to me. 

 

There not far from me so will pop alone to look. 

 

Do you remember what model rumps you got. 

 

Bit of a mind field to work out which ones are best. 

 

Thanks 

Pretty easy- you need to work out what the weight and wheelbase is of the largest item you will want to load, and then use their charts to check what model you need. Obviously the longer the ramp the heavier it needs to be so check carefully with a bit of wood first to make sure you are happy with the ramp angle of a particular length.

 

I wouldn't go less than 10' for loading into a Transit type vehicle, and even that is hairy if you don't work out how you are going to approach it. For instance, you can tilt the bed to reduct the breakover height for light things like a ride-on- just drive them straight up. However, something heavier like a micro digger could cause serious damage if you attempt to drive it onto a tipped body. So for the micro digger, I track it up forwards and 'ride the bump'- however, I find it much safer when reversing off to just stand on the blade and carefully feather it over the breakover point. With the Sherpa, it's very twitchy and you also want to keep the weight to the front, so don't stand on the platform as you load or unload (unless you have a reasonable weight in the bucket for some reason). Folowing me so far? 🤣

 

I got lucky and picked up a set of 12' heavier alloy ramps from the same manufacturer locally for cheap- however I tend to use the lighter 10' ramps as they fit in the bed of the Iveco no trouble. But the 12' are far easier to use safely, so if you are of a cautious/nervous disposition you might want to sacrifice a bit of convenience for safety!

 

Whatever you get, make sure to drill your tipper body to accept the pins supplied. I have one hole on the left, and then three on the right to accomodate differing wheelbases, on both my tipper trucks, and keep a set of pins in each. Loading something, especially tracked, without pins is a recipe for death and disaster.

 

Photos attached of the spec stickers for both my ramps, both made by the same company but different dealers. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by doobin

[Dbikeguy]

‘Training wheels’ affixed, and out on her first job. 

Which model did you go for?
looking at these and Cast, This looks slightly more agricultural compared to the cast which looks fancier but more fragile.

Wanting to go narrow for domestic garden use, looks perfect for replacing useless labourers who would rather be on their phones, mini digger to dig out, loader to move it then bring stone/slabs/soil etc in?

[doobin]

16 minutes ago, Dbikeguy said:

 

Which model did you go for?
looking at these and Cast, This looks slightly more agricultural compared to the cast which looks fancier but more fragile.

Wanting to go narrow for domestic garden use, looks perfect for replacing useless labourers who would rather be on their phones, mini digger to dig out, loader to move it then bring stone/slabs/soil etc in?

That's the Sherpa 'Small', which is £1k more than the Sherpa 'Agri' (red)- the differences are a larger pump, better drive motors and electric start. Well worth the extra in my book.

 

I demoed both the Sherpa and the Cast. The Cast is much more solid than it might look in pictures- I couldn't fault the build qulity. However the Sherpa drove better and handled the weight better for me- so much so that I was willing to accept the overall width of 76cm vs the Cast's narrower 74cm. Yes it's a bit dated in the design, but there is steel where it counts and it's time proven in Europe on internal demolition. The attachments are exceptionally well built, I can't believe how strong they are.

 

I did 3.2 hours on it yesterday. Clearing sandstone that we were veritcally facing with the air spade, loading five tippers and then clearing a tipper load of mud from the side of a way by the road. Then shunting the little chipper around. Those sort of jobs it's just made for. Like any loader, it doesn't move as much as a dumper but it's way more efficient overall. You can take muck out, bring stone back and squeeze past the digger to tip it in the far end of the dig. You can lift heavy logs and load them. It loads the centre of a truck rather than the sides like a high tip dumper.

 

It does drink some petrol but that's the trade off for light weight and narrow. A hard, full days work you might use 10l.

 

It’s been way more useful than I though for non narrow access jobs. Just because you can throw it in the back of a tipper, maybe even a pickup. I’ve not even put the narrow wheels on yet. 

 

Ignore the pikey tree crew brashing up in the back of an LDV! I went back and got the chipper- it was only supposed to be a trimming job initially.

Edited January 14, 2022 by doobin

[Dbikeguy]

That's the Sherpa 'Small', which is £1k more than the Sherpa 'Agri' (red)- the differences are a larger pump, better drive motors and electric start. Well worth the extra in my book.
 
I demoed both the Sherpa and the Cast. The Cast is much more solid than it might look in pictures- I couldn't fault the build qulity. However the Sherpa drove better and handled the weight better for me- so much so that I was willing to accept the overall width of 76cm vs the Cast's narrower 74cm. Yes it's a bit dated in the design, but there is steel where it counts and it's time proven in Europe on internal demolition. The attachments are exceptionally well built, I can't believe how strong they are.
 
I did 3.2 hours on it yesterday. Clearing sandstone that we were veritcally facing with the air spade, loading five tippers and then clearing a tipper load of mud from the side of a way by the road. Then shunting the little chipper around. Those sort of jobs it's just made for. Like any loader, it doesn't move as much as a dumper but it's way more efficient overall. You can take muck out, bring stone back and squeeze past the digger to tip it in the far end of the dig. You can lift heavy logs and load them. It loads the centre of a truck rather than the sides like a high tip dumper.
 
It does drink some petrol but that's the trade off for light weight and narrow. A hard, full days work you might use 10l.
 
It’s been way more useful than I though for non narrow access jobs. Just because you can throw it in the back of a tipper, maybe even a pickup. I’ve not even put the narrow wheels on yet. 
 
Ignore the pikey tree crew brashing up in the back of an LDV! I went back and got the chipper- it was only supposed to be a trimming job initially.

Cheers for the info, 76cm will still go through most gates, worst case case it’s take the timber off the wall.

At ten litres a day it’s still cheaper than a labourer factoring in purchase cost.

Was hopeful it would go on the back of my Hilux, i have a tipping trailer but that would be full of something to need to loader… Decent ramps and it should go on fine? has a 1t payload allowance as no silly chip body

Think i need to go shopping!

[dumper]

Had a short roadside discussion with Vosa before Christmas regarding loads in the back of my truck, they are now looking for bolted down lashing points inside the vehicle body not over the sides  

[doobin]

11 minutes ago, dumper said:

Had a short roadside discussion with Vosa before Christmas regarding loads in the back of my truck, they are now looking for bolted down lashing points inside the vehicle body not over the sides  

I'd agree with that. I've welded lashing points inside the LDV. The Iveco has alloy sides, which are light enough and have enough clearance to the body that it works well poking the strap between them with them folded out, then attaching to the outer hooks. This way the lashing force is only distributed over the load, rather than over the sides.

 

I'm also a big fan of four short ratchets, and tie down points on the four corners of the machine.

[doobin]

33 minutes ago, Dbikeguy said:

 

Cheers for the info, 76cm will still go through most gates, worst case case it’s take the timber off the wall.

At ten litres a day it’s still cheaper than a labourer factoring in purchase cost.

Was hopeful it would go on the back of my Hilux, i have a tipping trailer but that would be full of something to need to loader… Decent ramps and it should go on fine? has a 1t payload allowance as no silly chip body

Think i need to go shopping!

You might be fine with some of those curved mower ramps into the Hilux. Just don't rely upon the tailgate wires to hold it! Drop the tailgate and mount the ramps to the body proper.

 

I wouldn't fancy loading it backwards.. If it were me, I'd add roof bars and rest the bucket on them- would be about perfect. In a single cab it might even fit as is!