Matbro on the road?

[wills-mill]

I'm looking at one of life's big questions- loader tractor or telehandler. I quite like pivot steer machines, used them in yards quite a bit but never on the road.

 

Is an older bendy Matbro sensible for road mileage, especially towing? Manitou MLA any different. They all seem to be specced very individually when it comes to hitches, brake couplings, gearbox speeds....

 

If I did a decent run out (10 miles, maybe more) towing Wood Mizer or farm trailer, do all telehandlers get hot and grumpy in the hydraulic dept?

[Mortimer Firewood]

We have an older matbro not the bendy one would not want to be traveling on the road very far with it as it's a pig to drive.

Very good in the yard and ours is plated to lift two tonne with boom right in it will pick 3t up just very light on the back end.

[doobin]

If it's just for a towing and then loading a mill, I'd say a farm tractor a rear mounted forklift would be your best bet. Sounds like you need the load capacity of a telehandler but not the reach? Rear forklift will lift an awful lot, and you can hitch a trailer behind it.

 

All old Matbros are a pig on the road. Tractors are far better for roadwork.

[wills-mill]

If it's just for a towing and then loading a mill, I'd say a farm tractor a rear mounted forklift would be your best bet. Sounds like you need the load capacity of a telehandler but not the reach? Rear forklift will lift an awful lot, and you can hitch a trailer behind it.

 

All old Matbros are a pig on the road. Tractors are far better for roadwork.

 

That's what I suspected. I'm coming back to self employment- I used to run a Ford 6610 with loader and a Fransgard winch behind (fitted with a tow hitch). Anything that was dodgy or silly to lift with the front end could usually be skidded or rolled into place, with the tractor out of harm's way.

 

Looks like it'll be back to the same sort of setup, just a bit newer.

 

My last loader had Quicke pallet forks with the timber beak/ thumb, which was a really nice lightweight way to move roundwood and brash, and superb for moving sawn timber. Will probably go for Riko's version this time, significantly cheaper but still nicely made.

 

W