Opico Skidster or sherpa mini loaders

[doobin]

If you unbolted the grab and turned it 90 degrees you’d have all the height you could want for loading a truck with rounds etc. If it’s long logs your trying to stack then you might be better off with a grab bucket or pallet forks. Realistically you’re not going to get any more lift height from such a small machine. 

 

I couldn’t agree more about stepping on and off- it’s just so quick. Who did you hire it from?

[Dilz]

The idea of a some kind of loader im sold on  . The sherpa....well its decent but obviously has its limits...and its another machine to squeeze into the garage, faff with, trip over etc... need to use it for a week... then not and see if i miss it 😉.

After todays messing about when its narrow access on hard surfaces...i'd be quicker with the arbtrolley and just for moving brash and logs im not yet convinced, though  like i said if i did landscaping / building type work i wouldn't hesitate to buy it after only 1 day with the machine and would definitely recommend it for such. 

[Dilz]

5 minutes ago, doobin said:

If you unbolted the grab and turned it 90 degrees you’d have all the height you could want for loading a truck with rounds etc. If it’s long logs your trying to stack then you might be better off with a grab bucket or pallet forks. Realistically you’re not going to get any more lift height from such a small machine. 

 

I couldn’t agree more about stepping on and off- it’s just so quick. Who did you hire it from?

yeah longer logs for milling is what im after...not the bigger stuff mind.

Got the nack of stacking rings then pushing them on the trailer like a 2p machine at the arcades

.was thinking pallet forks could be handy... maybe even with the avant style log grab for the pallet forks if it would fit. 

Im based in Sweden.. hired from a company near Gothenburg.

[doobin]

13 minutes ago, Dilz said:

yeah longer logs for milling is what im after...not the bigger stuff mind.

Got the nack of stacking rings then pushing them on the trailer like a 2p machine at the arcades

.was thinking pallet forks could be handy... maybe even with the avant style log grab for the pallet forks if it would fit. 

Im based in Sweden.. hired from a company near Gothenburg.

The pallet forks are a special scaled down design, it’s doubtful that an off the shelf hydraulic clamp would fit unfortunately.

 

Yes, mine has done mainly groundworks, in fact I’m yet to use it on a proper Arb job! 

[Dbikeguy]

Way less than the genuine one I’m willing to bet. And the backplate is specially designed so that the weight is kept as close as possible. 
 
grab is 60kg, I’ll weigh the plate later but estimate 25kg. So as good as you can get really. 
 
Printing the bolt patterns worked a treat- everything fit straight away! I’ve been at the yard since four, now I need to go and be social with the in laws… 
 
 

Interesting with the post knocker, does it work well?

[doobin]

1 hour ago, Dbikeguy said:

 

Interesting with the post knocker, does it work well?

No idea! But no reason why not. The back wheels don't lift when you step off, and when knocking a post all the weight is transferred to the post so it shouln't rock too much. I use it on a 1.9t digger a lot and that handles it fine. Obviously it's not a full time fencer's rig, but for a hundred metres or so in a field behind a house it seems ideal- materials, knocker etc on the truck and the loader in a little 750kg trailer behind. Unload, use the pallet forks to carry the materials out and then fork the knocker off and attach. As you are right next to the controls even standing at the front positioning it should be a one man job, and then you have crowd on the tilt ram and sideways on the skid. It's one of those things that I already had, so might as well give it a go!

 

I also have one of these:

 

Atlas Copco LPDT Post Driver | Honda Engines and Generators | Gear GB

WWW.GEARGB.CO.UK

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Atlas Copco LPDT Post Driver |Honda Engines and Generators | Gear GB

Which is exceptional value for money in my book and comes in handy for all sorts. Max post size is 4" (gotta be realistic) and it weighs 34kgs. Basically an exceptionally heavy duty man killer that you only need to lift once per post. I usually run it of a 30l/min powerpack but it was quite happy running off the micro at 20l/min so I've ordered some nice smooth 2.5m hoses to connect it to the Sherpa for these kind of jobs. I'll probably also splash out on a smaller auger motor now that I can share it between two machines- good to have optimised options. The Rammer 111 i bought recently is a beautiful breaker under the micro or the E10, or even the E19 for delicate work.

 

 

The only thing with the backplate I made is that it's not optimised for angles for various attachments. However, it does all reasonably well, and if I decide that some need a bit of angle then I will make up an angled spaced plate and use longer bolts, that seems the simplest way to share eveything optimally.

Edited February 6, 2022 by doobin

[Dilz]

Out in the real world today clearing up the brash from taming a neglected shelterbelt. -(brash will be picked up by a crane car later) This was half the pile. We reckon the machine saved at least one  full man days on the job - we finished the job with 2 people in 2 days that was planned for 2 people 2.5 + 0.5 days (with the last half day as wriggle room for potential cock ups / traffic jams  and 'could you just'. Two people and the loader shifted everything for pick up in about 30-40 minutes after it had been stacked it various piles.  Would have been a bit too tight for an avant to work well imop. The ground mats worked well as i could skid on them.  Bit of hoping on and off and sorting the piles for pick up but with such a small machine stuff needs presenting right to be most effective and it worked best with another person doing that kind of stuff whist i drove the Sherpa  The machine shifted decent amounts per lift... pretty impressed with it. Not having electric start isnt much of an issue though would be nice as an option.  Some lighter ground protection would be good as the plastic mats i had are heavy for one person and a right pain as it was blowing a fair wind today. 

 

Curious to know if it can be loaded easily in to the back of a pick up...using the 2m ramps ive got.... might be a bit steep of an angle though 🤔

Edited February 8, 2022 by Dilz

[doobin]

Those mates look ace. I need to get myself some.

 

You should be able to load it no bother, just go up forwards and don't stand on the back, so as to keep all the weight on the front.

 

The next model up ('Smal', yellow paint) has electric start and better wheel motors- well worth the extra £1000.

 

Every time I use mine on a job it saves me a few hours labour. Today it was just a glorified wheelbarrow laying out hedging plants, but ideal as I also had a few piles of rakings to loose over a fence across the field also. I'm going to weld some brackets onto one of my forklift crates so as to have a lightweight carry box for it- it'll be really useful and still function as a forklift crate if needed. The tines were a bit small for holding the forklift crate, and it'll be better off properly mounted to stop any sideways sliding.

[Dilz]

I can see that if I get my own machine I'll be finding lots of way to make it useful. 

The dealer has a contact who is selling a 2008 'Small' ...lot of hours on it if I recall..3000? but having looked at the agri - they are solid machines...not much to go wrong....and  what can go wrong looks easy enough to fix, replace...and though its a bit of risk always when buying used, its less than half the price I've been offered the new agri for so those savings should cover  than costs of any repairs for a good while....

The mats I got on hire - something silly like 4 quid a day ink vat / moms - used them for tracking in skylifts so easily over kill for a wee sherpa and too heavy and big to be a sensible one man carry, would have used the machine to move em but it was blowing enough today to make that seem unwise...but being able to turn on a dime with out ripping up the lawn is pretty handy in tight spots. 

[Mark Bolam]

I think loading on 2m ramps might be a bit sketchy.

I was thinking 3’s to load onto a Transit bed.

 

Good stuff though Dilz, thanks for the input.