Opico Skidster or sherpa mini loaders

[lux]

I bought the cast worky quad ssq22 at the APF show. Bought a few attachments and couple of sets of wheels etc. 

 

so far I’m pretty pleased with it. Much better than the Sherpa in build / design and things like flow rate on the hydraulics etc / protective covers over things. really good extras thrown on for nothing like work lights which are brilliant for loading in dark winter mornings.  Very bright. 
 

they matched the show price of the Sherpa as well so I was pleased with deal. I think the Sherpas were on offer as they have just launched the new models to replace them. Much better specs on their new models and more akin to the worky or giant in design. 
 

which ever you choose you’ll be glad of it. Handy kit   

[doobin]

1 hour ago, lux said:

I bought the cast worky quad ssq22 at the APF show. Bought a few attachments and couple of sets of wheels etc. 

 

so far I’m pretty pleased with it. Much better than the Sherpa in build / design and things like flow rate on the hydraulics etc / protective covers over things. really good extras thrown on for nothing like work lights which are brilliant for loading in dark winter mornings.  Very bright. 
 

they matched the show price of the Sherpa as well so I was pleased with deal. I think the Sherpas were on offer as they have just launched the new models to replace them. Much better specs on their new models and more akin to the worky or giant in design. 
 

which ever you choose you’ll be glad of it. Handy kit   

I tried the Sherpa 13hp and the Cast 13hp and found the Sherpa to be dated in design but lift more and have more pushing power when tried side by side. I foudn both equally good in build quality- I reckon you could push either off a cliff and pick it up at the bottom and she'd be away! Didn't try the 22hp models as wanted to go narrow.

At least you won't be borrowing my attachments all the time 🤣

 

With regards to flow- that's dependant upon the engine. There is only X litres a minute available at Y pressure from Z horsepower at the end of the day, and these simple loaders aren't like mini diggers with variable displacement pumps and drives.

[william127]

On 23/12/2022 at 11:54, doobin said:

Then they are the same as Cast, they and MutiOne use the Avant type also.

Finally had a chance to get the bucket off and measure the brackets. Sorry about the poor pictures,  dark, windy and wet here this morning.

The back plate is 500 wide, 220 deep and the locking pins are 450 apart. 

If anyone is able to confirm this fits another make of brackets I'll be very grateful!

Cheers

 

 

[william127]

21 hours ago, lux said:

I bought the cast worky quad ssq22 at the APF show. Bought a few attachments and couple of sets of wheels etc. 

 

so far I’m pretty pleased with it. Much better than the Sherpa in build / design and things like flow rate on the hydraulics etc / protective covers over things. really good extras thrown on for nothing like work lights which are brilliant for loading in dark winter mornings.  Very bright. 
 

they matched the show price of the Sherpa as well so I was pleased with deal. I think the Sherpas were on offer as they have just launched the new models to replace them. Much better specs on their new models and more akin to the worky or giant in design. 
 

which ever you choose you’ll be glad of it. Handy kit   

Good to here another opinion on the machines👍👍

I must admit I was glad that my Giant came with a light, a job saved and a neat factory finish 👌👌 it also came with an Anderson plug for easy connection to the battery, for jump starts etc.

But I do like the way the sherpa is as bare bones, straight steel, all you need  nothing you don't as possible 👍

[lux]

21 hours ago, doobin said:

I tried the Sherpa 13hp and the Cast 13hp and found the Sherpa to be dated in design but lift more and have more pushing power when tried side by side. I foudn both equally good in build quality- I reckon you could push either off a cliff and pick it up at the bottom and she'd be away! Didn't try the 22hp models as wanted to go narrow.

At least you won't be borrowing my attachments all the time 🤣

 

With regards to flow- that's dependant upon the engine. There is only X litres a minute available at Y pressure from Z horsepower at the end of the day, and these simple loaders aren't like mini diggers with variable displacement pumps and drives.

I think I bought all the attachments going except the flail which I’ll get elsewhere as it’s over priced from cast.  
 

flow rate significantly higher on the 22 hp model. Lift wise on the 22 is the same as a Sherpa. I think the Sherpa felt a bit unfinished in comparison. For a narrow access machine it had an exposed fan on the side and chain drive instead of hydraulic drive. 
When they price matched the base price of sherpa with log grab and 2 sets of wheels for me the Cast was a better machine.  

 

haven’t used the auger yet, looking forward to testing that out. 
 

they are all small handy machines and any of them will make a real difference in day to day domestic type work. 
 

Last job of the year was clearing rhododendrons, teamed up with a 2.7t Kubota with tree shear it was a great combo. 

That little alpine of yours looks good. Need to pick one of those up myself.  

 

 

[carver83]

On 16/12/2022 at 19:46, PatrickFirwood said:

Just bought a Sherpa 100 Agri, absolutely loving it, any excuse I can find to get it out on a job. I’ve seen others on here have fabricated weight plates on the back for counterweight, If anyone has any close up pics or info on how they did it that they can share it would be highly appreciated! 

I had this made up by local engineering firm, cost around 90-100£, weighs 20kg. Fits original bolts holes so no drilling and looks factory kit, hope it helps👍

[dumper]

16 hours ago, carver83 said:

I had this made up by local engineering firm, cost around 90-100£, weighs 20kg. Fits original bolts holes so no drilling and looks factory kit, hope it helps👍

I’ve found it sometimes helps to add weight to the front as well,turned up the pumps on my first skidsteer avant to lift more which it did then put more rear weight as counter balance worked well when loaded but with pallet forks or light bucket machine was on its tail before standing on rear so added conter balancing weight to front 

Told by avant the extra weight would damage the wheel motors 

Edited December 31, 2022 by dumper

[woody paul]

2 hours ago, dumper said:

I’ve found it sometimes helps to add weight to the front as well,turned up the pumps on my first skidsteer avant to lift more which it did then put more rear weight as counter balance worked well when loaded but with pallet forks or light bucket machine was on its tail before standing on rear so added conter balancing weight to front 

Told by avant the extra weight would damage the wheel motors 

Adding any rear weight to small loader will change balance of it lots, if I hang weights on the back of my giant with no attachment on front or just bucket and go backwards and turn and stop it will go to tip over, have heard from a dealer that someone added to much weight to the rear of a bigger giant loader and flipped it right over on to side going backwards and turning with half a bucket of dirt. 

So be careful how much you add. 

[doobin]

6 hours ago, dumper said:

I’ve found it sometimes helps to add weight to the front as well,turned up the pumps on my first skidsteer avant to lift more which it did then put more rear weight as counter balance worked well when loaded but with pallet forks or light bucket machine was on its tail before standing on rear so added conter balancing weight to front 

Told by avant the extra weight would damage the wheel motors 

 

4 hours ago, woody paul said:

Adding any rear weight to small loader will change balance of it lots, if I hang weights on the back of my giant with no attachment on front or just bucket and go backwards and turn and stop it will go to tip over, have heard from a dealer that someone added to much weight to the rear of a bigger giant loader and flipped it right over on to side going backwards and turning with half a bucket of dirt. 

So be careful how much you add. 

There's a sweet spot for extra counterweights with whatever you run. Both my MultiOne and Sherpa will wheelie easily with no attachment on. With the Multione you can boom out to counteract this as you nip across the yard to pick up the next attachment, with the Sherpa you just go very carefully- you're usually putting one attachment down right next to the one you want to pick up with this anyhow.

 

Both machines will ground out on the rear rather than flip completely, so it's not really a problem. On one job we were pulling scaffold poles out of the ground on a slight uphill. Stopped and removed the side weights lest it wheelie backwards when the poles pop out and of course the boom is right up in the air.

 

All part of being a good machine operator.

[AHPP]

 

This is from my Skidster. 90kg from memory. Looks purpose made. The top is chequer plate finish.