Valtra 6400 - pros & cons

[treedave]

I'm thinking of spending serious money (for me anyway!) on one of the above. Mainly for woodland work with some timber collection, local firewood delivery and occasional use on bigger surgery jobs.

Any opinions, lessons learnt or advice welcome.

[Buzz]

They are fantastic pieces of equipment, I had a Valmet for 2 years with a roof mounted botex 560 which was a good crane although slow without a pto pump.

 

Make sure you go for solid wheels as wheel weights sheer off and that the crane is mounted on a short kingpost behind the cab rather than on the roof. This keeps the centre of gravity lower and gives you more reach.

 

Good luck.

[arc]

We ran one for three years towing a botex 11 tonne trailer with 560 crane. or winching.

A bit underpowered when trailer is full but otherwise good tractors.

Good turning circle, cheap -ish parts (40k & creep Box). Ours had 9500 hours and never really let us down.

We did break the front wheels which were then changed for solid ones but otherwise a good bit of kit.

[treedave]

Thanks for the tips guys, especially the crane, most I've seen have roof mounts. Not too worried about being under powered with 10 ton behind it, wont be going that big. Even better news on the hours, as it won't be a new one.

Is the twin trac worth the extra?

[arc]

(Twin trac) Not sure what this is but if its the 40k box and creep all valmets have it as standard so its no extra mate. good luck with it, there are plenty around now so look at a few of them at least

[Buzz]

There's one on earborist at the moment i think, good luck.

[treedave]

Twin trac is the swivel seat and 2nd set of controls for reverse driving. I'll check out Earborist, but have the pleasure of a good local(ish) Valtra dealer with standing stock and not much selling.

[arc]

I've just priced a T190 from our local(ish) dealer in Northallerton, he reckons additional £3.5k for a reverse drive console fitted which is well worth it if your going to have roof crane or forwarding trailer behind, but probably not so valuable if its just a standard trailer or winch.

[treedave]

Thanks arc, will bear it in mind as there's a forestry guarded 8150 with blade and twin trac coming up locally. Only downside is it's going on fleabay, who knows what it'll make!

[Stephen Blair]

I run a 8950 with 8m roofmount, reverse drive, 50kbox and electrohydraulic controls. I was going to buy a basic with botex. But once i saw this one the difference is night and day. Have a go on both. Speak to your accountant. Big prices might scare you away but there is tax benefits on buying kit. Mine was 45k. But a scrapper will be between 20 and 30. I used to run a 4 man team with the mog for chip and transit for heavy. Now i just run the valmet and sub in labourers. Mechanise as much in as you can that is what i say. It works for me because i work within a 20 mile radious. I take it home in monster trailer than sort it all out at weekends with the heater on. I have just bought a splitter for crane so i can do firewood with ease, as i think that is the future for now. Hope this helps.