Opico Skidster or sherpa mini loaders

[Mark Bolam]

27 minutes ago, John Shutler said:

when i first got my boxer 427 back in 2011 there just wasn’t the choice off attachments out there. i used to swear by a set of pallet forks and a grab bucket for all of my work until i got a fabricator to make me a branch manager grapple (big in the states at the time) copy which made a huge difference for feeding a chipper or dragging brash out. I also had a post knocker and flail for it and had a stump grinder attachment for it which was truly shocking. ended up part exchanging it around 2015 when i bought another mog and needed a pro chipper. by that point i had a mini digger with a grab and tractor and roof mount so it had become kinda redundant. 

amazing machine and i certainly wouldn’t have the kit i have these days without taking the plunge and spending 8.5k (big outlay in 2011 for me) on a machine i wasn’t sure was going to work out. massively changed the way i worked at the time

 

I remember that machine well John, kind of set you on the road towards mechanical power.

A takedown where you used the Boxer coupled with a GRCS to rig some big stems comes to mind.

 

I knew you were onto a winner, so quickly followed you 11 years later.

[treevolution]

Question to ask whether you guys do much freelancing with the loader to other firms. 

 

As work is a bit slow just looking at other ways to bring in money. 

 

Also what kind of money do you think is fair. 

 

I had £400 in mind for me and the loader. 

 

 

[Mick Dempsey]

There’s a special pleasure in using loaders for those of us who have hand-balled brash onto a flatbed transit, or cut massive trees into rounds and then cheese triangles, then loaded then into a wheelbarrow then onto a truck, only to see crimson on their arse-wipe the next morning.

 

 

[John Shutler]

22 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

 

I remember that machine well John, kind of set you on the road towards mechanical power.

A takedown where you used the Boxer coupled with a GRCS to rig some big stems comes to mind.

 

I knew you were onto a winner, so quickly followed you 11 years later.

this is a picture from that job, circa 2012. big monterey cypress, we craned the big stem sections with the grcs and pulled them out with the boxer while lowering them with the grcs. 

seems mad that that job was 11 years ago 

 

these days i’d crane it out with the roto and stack it in the car park, crack all the timber down then chip the whole lot with the heizohack and run it off site in a 16tonne trailer behind a tractor 

[Mark Bolam]

That’s why I bought a loader Mick.

11 years too late….

 

I sub to my mates Treevolution, but at £300.

They know what a mini loader can, and more importantly, can’t, do.

 

They do me favours as well though.

 

Anyone who knows the value they can bring could swallow £400.

[Mick Dempsey]

The converted always make the best preachers eh?

[Mark Bolam]

You have no idea Mick.

I’m waiting for Klou to make the ‘wipe my arse and lace my boots’ attachment.

[PatrickFirwood]

Sherpa coming in handy on a tricky ash removal, saved us lifting them all out of the stream below.

[doobin]

17 hours ago, treevolution said:

Question to ask whether you guys do much freelancing with the loader to other firms. 

 

As work is a bit slow just looking at other ways to bring in money. 

 

Also what kind of money do you think is fair. 

 

I had £400 in mind for me and the loader. 

 

 

Any firm that realises how loaders can speed things up will already have their own in my experience. The others just think '£400? I can have three brash monkeys for that!'

 

To be fair, £400 is a bit steep of a subby rate for a machine that costs £12-15k and runs on ten litres of unleaded, whilst also fitting in a Transit van for the journey to site. I have a pretty good Sherpa setup and the finance is £280 a month. If I use it once and pay the operator and that's the same as getting you in for a day- but it's always there when I need it for any job, no matter how small.

 

 

£400 is more like basic 2.8t digger and grab subby rate- £30k outlay, 30 litres a day diesel and needs a thirsty truck rated to 3.5t tow capacity plus trailer to haul it.

 

I'm not knocking you, if you need to earn that then that's absoloutely fair enough and you should always shoot for the stars. Just don't expect many trade takers.

Edited April 20, 2023 by doobin

[doobin]

16 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

You have no idea Mick.

I’m waiting for Klou to make the ‘wipe my arse and lace my boots’ attachment.

I'm actually working on a prototype if you wanted to give it a test? I've taken the cone splitter and glued a pack of baby wipes to the tip.

 

If nothing else, it will certainly focus your mind on smooth operating!