Opico Skidster or sherpa mini loaders

[doobin]

2 hours ago, monkeybusiness said:

How are you going to load that log into a vehicle/trailer/onto a pile with that grab? 
It might drag it closer to where it needs to be but there’s still going to be some manual handling by the looks of it (and a second area full of sawdust). 
That grab looks handy for dragging brash through narrow gaps, but I can’t personally see much other benefit. 

About the long and short of it as far as I'm concerned. The only pincer type I might consider is a lightweight Intermecatto mounted along the same plane as the face plate, so that I can carry things like strainer posts (or bits of butt) vertically, but still be able to load them onto a truck.

 

People always try to use these loaders like you would an Avant. Two people on the back, etc. They're not for that- you still have to cut things up, but you don't have to carry the lumps afterwards. Lightweight, but quick, repetitive cycles and nobody getting tired.

[doobin]

11 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

Thanks.

The only problem I foresee is that I couldn’t reach the controls from the ground?

Do you walk up the ramps?

Yes. Just like you would loading a tracked chipper into a trailer.

[AHPP]

How are you going to load that log into a vehicle/trailer/onto a pile with that grab? 
It might drag it closer to where it needs to be but there’s still going to be some manual handling by the looks of it (and a second area full of sawdust). 
That grab looks handy for dragging brash through narrow gaps, but I can’t personally see much other benefit. 

On that particular job the wood was going out of a domestic garden 50m onto a smallholding log pile, hence why I stopped the skinny kids cutting it up there. I could probably get that chunk into the back of a Transit tipper though. Even if I couldn’t, I could definitely get half of it in and that would still be less manual handling than sliding/rolling chunks into a grapple bucket. The bucket clamps aren’t wide/strong enough to pinch stuff like that from above and you can’t get under stuff as easily as you think, especially without ground damage. A pincer can pinch pretty big rings in any orientation. They’re better for brash inline or across too. They’re just better for trees. Much better. Promise.

[Ben Pinnick]

Reading this thread makes me think that maybe I need one of these rather than the full on digger I was thinking of, as the grab was the only thing I would be using 90% of the time and this would be as good for most of what I need. The pricing on Worky's and Sherpas are a bit high for a hobbyist like me. Anyone using a chinesium version? Some of them look pretty good. With decent core hydraulics, Honda/B&S/Perkins engines it seems likely they'll stand up to what I need and be relatively easy to fix if it does go wrong. Anyone using a chinese one?

[doobin]

38 minutes ago, Ben Pinnick said:

Reading this thread makes me think that maybe I need one of these rather than the full on digger I was thinking of, as the grab was the only thing I would be using 90% of the time and this would be as good for most of what I need. The pricing on Worky's and Sherpas are a bit high for a hobbyist like me. Anyone using a chinesium version? Some of them look pretty good. With decent core hydraulics, Honda/B&S/Perkins engines it seems likely they'll stand up to what I need and be relatively easy to fix if it does go wrong. Anyone using a chinese one?

Secondhand Opico, currently between 4 to 6k?

[william127]

6 minutes ago, doobin said:

Secondhand Opico, currently between 4 to 6k?

Trouble is finding them though?  I've certainly seen a few but there's none about at the moment. 

Not that I'm actually looking for one to buy, it's a new Sherpa I'll be after👍

[Ben Pinnick]

57 minutes ago, doobin said:

Secondhand Opico, currently between 4 to 6k?

I was thinking of stepping it up a class - I don't need to take it anywhere so something with more grunt than the little Opicos. I like the look of the new Kubota but I bet I wouldn't like the price. Same with the bigger Toros too.

[Dilz]

Im hiring in a Sherpa Agri (its what the dealer has as a hire machine) in a couple of weeks. Going to tear mess up my own lawn with it over a weekend and then take it out to work for a week... 

 

 How easy is it to switch the wheels on them? Getting the machine on hire with both wide and narrow set. 

 

I have jobs where it would be great to slim it down to 76cm to get it in and then change to the bigger wheels once on the grass to get everything shifted to the side of the garden so it can be eventually grabbed by a crane car. 

[doobin]

22 minutes ago, Dilz said:

Im hiring in a Sherpa Agri (its what the dealer has as a hire machine) in a couple of weeks. Going to tear mess up my own lawn with it over a weekend and then take it out to work for a week... 

 

 How easy is it to switch the wheels on them? Getting the machine on hire with both wide and narrow set. 

 

I have jobs where it would be great to slim it down to 76cm to get it in and then change to the bigger wheels once on the grass to get everything shifted to the side of the garden so it can be eventually grabbed by a crane car. 

So easy. You just push down with the bucket, and the front comes up. Keep pushing and the back platform comes into contact with the ground, keep pushing and then that lifts up too! 17mm socket and a medium extension bar on a battery impact gun and you'll change them all in under five minutes.

[doobin]

1 hour ago, Ben Pinnick said:

I was thinking of stepping it up a class - I don't need to take it anywhere so something with more grunt than the little Opicos. I like the look of the new Kubota but I bet I wouldn't like the price. Same with the bigger Toros too.

But you mentioned the Sherpa and WorkyyQuad, which are the same class as the Opico!

 

If transport or space are not an issue then you could get a proper compact loader, not a pedestrian loader. A secondhand Avant or similar.