The 'Today's Job' thread

[6feetdown]

Settle down gents, here's my rant on Avants.

I've driven 500's, 600's, 700's and yes the mighty 860. To be fair, the 600 series is very capable for its size, probably the best compromise of size vs weight. The 860 in particular, whilst very powerful, is too big for the concept in my opinion. Visibility is impossible to the headstock when its lowered and you're trying to hook up an attachment, and visibility to the forks isn't great when they are below the level of the dashboard like in these pics. I'd hate to have one with a cab because I spend so much time hanging my head out the side to see what the F*** I'm doing.
The build quality isn't great with paint flaking off and plastic panels that snap if you lean against the machine too hard. Also plagued with electric issues, every one I've had on hire has either had water behind the screen on the dashboard, the gogo pedals playing up thinking you're pressing them both, or some other random intermittent fault. The 760's love to snap/ twist on the boom when you push them to lift something at their limit - a well documented issue - its happened to me too! I also hate the boom in and out is on a button on the joystick so is like stabbing with the tele. Why cant it have a roller like every other machine. You can use the little lever on the dash but that means taking your hand off the joystick which isn't very useful when you also need to boom down when you tele out GENTLY!!!
But by far the worst thing I don't like with them is you have to be 100% straight when you line up for a lift. In tight spaces this isn't always possible and if you try to steer the front end acts like a swinging hammer of destruction using the load you're carrying as the trebuchet.
Awful machine, good luck to whoever runs one of them day to day, they aren't for me.
Oh and the dealer backup is crap, as said by another user on here!

To be fair to Doobin, I think he made the right choice with the Multione, from what I can see, they look better made, although have never driven one and will still suffer from some of the inherent issues I don't like with the design of these mini loaders, but its the one I would buy if you forced me to own one again.

Yeah definitely valid points on visibility i think you get used to that. Boom on a switch is a pain and a roller would be great. I think you get used to the niggles but I can't fault ours tbf the work it has done since we've had it we wouldn't have completed ½ of it without. I think any machine like this is a compromise. I wanted a CTL when I first started looking but again tracks on some of the surfaces would be poor. Today it's moved stone dust, golden flint and type 1 in a bulkbag. Way quicker than a mini and dumper.

 

[DaveDCB]

Bit of yard tidy up last few days, handy portable 4500L bowser…..
Haven’t snapped the forks yet @Mogman

Knocked afew more posts out this afternoon, abit easier now I’ve made some space, some posts have over a meter thick hard as hell concrete around them, others bugger all which is a blessing!

 

[Mogman]

Bit of yard tidy up last few days, handy portable 4500L bowser…..
Haven’t snapped the forks yet @Mogman

Knocked afew more posts out this afternoon, abit easier now I’ve made some space, some posts have over a meter thick hard as hell concrete around them, others bugger all which is a blessing!

You won’t break them (no that’s not a challenge )

 

[doobin]

Yeah definitely valid points on visibility i think you get used to that. Boom on a switch is a pain and a roller would be great. I think you get used to the niggles but I can't fault ours tbf the work it has done since we've had it we wouldn't have completed ½ of it without. I think any machine like this is a compromise. I wanted a CTL when I first started looking but again tracks on some of the surfaces would be poor. Today it's moved stone dust, golden flint and type 1 in a bulkbag. Way quicker than a mini and dumper.View attachment 54105

Regardless of niggles that people have with avant or Multione, there’s no other type of machine that will do what they do so quickly and efficiently, with the minimum of mess. IMHO anyway.

 

[6feetdown]

Regardless of niggles that people have with avant or Multione, there’s no other type of machine that will do what they do so quickly and efficiently, with the minimum of mess. IMHO anyway. View attachment 54107

Yeah agree totally, I really can't believe they aren't more popular. I think as you don't see too many about people are reluctant. I took a 50k risk on ours never drove or seen 1 in the flesh. Few niggles but versatile as hell

 

[V8Druid]

I think someone on here also has these on the joysticks

Pardon our interruption...

add some of these to keep the heat in and happy days hands

Motorcycle Bike Gloves Warm HandleBar Grip Muffs Hand Mitts Cover Waterproof UK | eBay

WINDPROOF, COLDPROOF, RAINPROOF, SNOWPROOF. High quality thermal outdoor handlebar muffs provide the best protection and warmth in cold winter climates, It can keep out the wind and preserve the warmth during the riding in winter.

www.ebay.co.uk

dozens of options and have been around decades for keeping the paws warmer on two wheels

 

[V8Druid]

Bit of yard tidy up last few days, handy portable 4500L bowser…..
Haven’t snapped the forks yet @Mogman

Knocked afew more posts out this afternoon, abit easier now I’ve made some space, some posts have over a meter thick hard as hell concrete around them, others bugger all which is a blessing!

you've got nigh on 5t on there, full

 

[Monkeybusiness]

Yeah agree totally, I really can't believe they aren't more popular. I think as you don't see too many about people are reluctant. I took a 50k risk on ours never drove or seen 1 in the flesh. Few niggles but versatile as hell

£50k is a lot of dosh!
The JCB I linked to is £14k less and I didn’t think it looked bad value really.
50k for something with plastic panels, no cab, no proportional hydraulics etc seems very heavy money to me somehow, no matter how good a machine it is.
(I have no doubt that it is a great bit of kit and fair play to you for seeing past the price and investing, I just struggle to see how they justify the cost).

 

[DaveDCB]

you've got nigh on 5t on there, full

Tank is over 1.5ton empty!
Doesn’t get brimmed anymore on white prices!!

 

[6feetdown]

£50k is a lot of dosh!
The JCB I linked to is £14k less and I didn’t think it looked bad value really.
50k for something with plastic panels, no cab, no proportional hydraulics etc seems very heavy money to me somehow, no matter how good a machine it is.
(I have no doubt that it is a great bit of kit and fair play to you for seeing past the price and investing, I just struggle to see how they justify the cost).

When I did my research it was between multione and avant. Avant won .. 1. At the time bigger machine available between the 2, multi had a bigger 1 but not available for a few months 2. Which was the decider backup, at the time multione had 1, I think dealer in uk and they'd seemed to have gone through a few.
45k plus vat inc 4in1 bucket and forks 3. Had to be towable

 

[doobin]

£50k is a lot of dosh!
The JCB I linked to is £14k less and I didn’t think it looked bad value really.
50k for something with plastic panels, no cab, no proportional hydraulics etc seems very heavy money to me somehow, no matter how good a machine it is.
(I have no doubt that it is a great bit of kit and fair play to you for seeing past the price and investing, I just struggle to see how they justify the cost).

15k for a tiltrotator to fit a 3t machine is a lot of dosh for what it is too! It’s always been the case that you can buy a whole micro digger for the price of a small tiltrotator but people still buy them.

JCB made their brand by producing basic stuff in high volume, often for the hire markets.

My multione 8.4 was £27k and seemed like a very good value for money for the performance. Lack of proportional hydraulics are a bugbear for me too. But I bet the dedicated pump section on many compact loaders puts the jcb aux to shame.

 

[Giles]

Think the jcb is only 760kg lift looked at them before,

I ran bobcat for a bit and visibility wasn’t great on them a lot of guess work and hoping you didn’t hit stuff the avants look better for all rd visibility and have a cult following.

Think the new kind of towable telehandlers will displace some of the avants market dominance.

Anyone run a wiedammn 1280? 1376kg-1760kg with bucket but not telescopic

 

[6feetdown]

Think the jcb is only 760kg lift looked at them before,

I ran bobcat for a bit and visibility wasn’t great on them a lot of guess work and hoping you didn’t hit stuff the avants look better for all rd visibility and have a cult following.

Think the new kind of towable telehandlers will displace some of the avants market dominance.

Anyone run a wiedammn 1280? 1376kg-1760kg with bucket but not telescopic

On this size machine we use tele boom constantly i don't think it would be as useful without it tbf, I think around an extra metre of reach

 

[Smiffy]

On this size machine we use tele boom constantly i don't think it would be as useful without it tbf, I think around an extra metre of reach

I don't think it quite equates on some of the mini loaders v mini loading shovels.
The boom geometry is completely different. I think it's what helps the mini loaders lift so much in comparison. Yes the JCB won't have the reach of the others but it is not like using an Avant or multione without extending the boom either.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

15k for a tiltrotator to fit a 3t machine is a lot of dosh for what it is too! It’s always been the case that you can buy a whole micro digger for the price of a small tiltrotator but people still buy them.

JCB made their brand by producing basic stuff in high volume, often for the hire markets.

My multione 8.4 was £27k and seemed like a very good value for money for the performance. Lack of proportional hydraulics are a bugbear for me too. But I bet the dedicated pump section on many compact loaders puts the jcb aux to shame.

£15k for a tilty on a mini digger is crackers, no way I could make that stack up. They have grown considerably in price since I dipped my toe in!
What’s the difference between your £27k multione and @6feetdown ‘s £45k Avant? That’s a massive price range - is the avant a lot bigger (ie 13 tonne/21 tonne comparison)?

 

[Giles]

On this size machine we use tele boom constantly i don't think it would be as useful without it tbf, I think around an extra metre of reach

Hence the mini telehandlers for reach or the mini loaders for no reach but better loafing shovel like performance and strength.

Obviously trade off on reach vs capacity

 

[doobin]

£15k for a tilty on a mini digger is crackers, no way I could make that stack up. They have grown considerably in price since I dipped my toe in!
What’s the difference between your £27k multione and @6feetdown ‘s £45k Avant? That’s a massive price range - is the avant a lot bigger (ie 13 tonne/21 tonne comparison)?

Not sure on the 860, i'd imagine it lifts a bit more (although you quickly run into diminishing returns with the larger loaders from looking at the specs). Edit- just checked, it'll lift 1900kg apparently. So 400-500kg more than the Multione 8.4 for an extra £15k. More power too obviously, and also more lift height.

I chose the 8.4 as it looked on paper like a very good value all round spec. It will lift 1470kg with the back weights (so can boss a bulk bag, a [pre-requisite of this trade). It had two speed travel. It had the extra pump section for attachments (high flow). But it only had the 26hp basic engine, so no after treatments. From chatting to dealers, the difference between a 'full fat' engine with DPF etc and an emissions exempt 26hp engine is £3-4k. The 8.5 was priced at £33k at the time, and has 200kg more lift weight as well as the larger engine with emmissions package.

The only real let-down with the 8.4 is that it struggles on hills, especially offroad. But I don't do much of that. I could open the Kubota lump up to around 35hp. But it was the 'diminishing returns' when looking at larger loaders that led me to plump for the 8.4. I'm not interested in lots of horsepower for flail mowing, as that's what proper tractors are for. I've never looked at loaders, either pivot or mini skid loaders, as anthing more than to lift and shift and run the odd low power attachment where agility when positioning is important such as an auger or bucket brush. All these things like flail collectors or stone buriers for loaders just seem daft to me- treble the price of the equivalent PTO implements and half the efficiency.

 

[6feetdown]

£15k for a tilty on a mini digger is crackers, no way I could make that stack up. They have grown considerably in price since I dipped my toe in!
What’s the difference between your £27k multione and @6feetdown ‘s £45k Avant? That’s a massive price range - is the avant a lot bigger (ie 13 tonne/21 tonne comparison)?

Mine was about lifting capacity at the beginning 1.9t at grd level I think

 

[doobin]

Mine was about lifting capacity at the beginning 1.9t at grd level I think

Yup, it's a good chunk more than the Multione 8.5. There don't seem to be any models between the two brands that are directly comparable- they're all a littel different.

For ultimate lift capacity, this looks incredible. But God only knows the price....

The Best In Class Compact Loader for lifting capacity and height! Low gross weight enables transport by 3.5T Plant Trailer.

With massive power on tap of up to 74HP, the 11.6K has no rival. Massive pushing force, with optimised ONE Drive Hydrostatic Transmission featuring Cruise Control.

www.multione.co.uk

It's towable at 2.4t, but I don't think that includes the extra 600kg(!) of backweights for the max rated lift of 2540kg!

 

[Monkeybusiness]

Mine was about lifting capacity at the beginning 1.9t at grd level I think

Fair play - I didn’t think they could lift much more that a tonne, that’s impressive!