Groomers?

[jr37]

Our club is probably going to be buying something new in the next few years. Just starting to talk about it now and will probably be replacing a mid 1990's Tucker. We also have a tractor that most likely will be staying.

I know we have a groomer section here, but I think this gets more traffic.

What do you have? What do you like about it? What do you dislike about it? Cost? Any info. appreciated.

 

[indy_500]

Our club (greenville green knights) just bought a brand new, new holland with the soucy tracks system 2 years ago. Worked great for the 2 weeks we had our trail system open so far in the past 2 years LOL

 

[skidont]

We have a new Kubota M126 , it comes with rear tracks . it has worked awsome and best part it was only $70,000 brand new . We also use a BR180 to help when needed

 

[blu2u2]

We have a new Kubota M126 , it comes with rear tracks . it has worked awsome and best part it was only $70,000 brand new . We also use a BR180 to help when needed

X2... only without the BR180.

 

[indy_500]

Our club heard a lot of problems with the track system on the Kubota's which is why we went with the new holland. (Kubota's plus is the price) Most clubs in Northern WI and UP are running New Hollands with the Soucy tracks.

 

[dj2muchjunk]

whats best?

Pisten Bully or Tucker? John Deere on Soucy or Ford New Holland? Surtrac? What do you like, and what can you afford? There has been some awesome discussions previously (groomer ribbon was cool) I think groomerdave? gave some great insight that may help all clubs thinking of their future purchase of equipment.

Our club is probably going to be buying something new in the next few years. Just starting to talk about it now and will probably be replacing a mid 1990's Tucker. We also have a tractor that most likely will be staying.

I know we have a groomer section here, but I think this gets more traffic.

What do you have? What do you like about it? What do you dislike about it? Cost? Any info. appreciated.

 

[79_srx]

.

Keep the tucker and tractor only use tucker in 8+ snow to groom, buy a new tractor with 30.5 rear tires and skidder chains. likes about tucker goes tho any thing dislikes 7gal hr tracks come apart (even the new ones do). tractor, 1.5gal per hour nice ride good power and not much maintenance. we have both and 2 drags. cpriders.com, lookingforsnow tell them what you think.

Our club is probably going to be buying something new in the next few years. Just starting to talk about it now and will probably be replacing a mid 1990's Tucker. We also have a tractor that most likely will be staying.

I know we have a groomer section here, but I think this gets more traffic.

What do you have? What do you like about it? What do you dislike about it? Cost? Any info. appreciated.

 

[jr37]

Keep the tucker and tractor only use tucker in 8+ snow to groom, buy a new tractor with 30.5 rear tires and skidder chains. likes about tucker goes tho any thing dislikes 7gal hr tracks come apart (even the new ones do). tractor, 1.5gal per hour nice ride good power and not much maintenance. we have both and 2 drags. cpriders.com, lookingforsnow tell them what you think.

Our tractor is set up that way and we like and want tto keep the tractor for the same reasons you listed.

 

[packerlandrider]

We call our New Holland with the single tracks "The Blue Lemon" if that's any indication of what we generally think of it - just can't work on trails that are not established. Love our Tucker (aside from its fuel consumption) - don't think there is another type of groomer out there that can do what we do with it, especially opening up the trails in the beginning of the year, wet mud swamps, 10 foot high drifts, it handles pretty much anything we throw at it.

 

[Deleted member 10829]

It really depends alot on the type of area you are grooming. Our club, Lakes & Pines Sno-Trails, uses 2 Case 125hp tractors with chains. We trade them every 3 years for only about $12,000 to boot each, provided we keep the hours below 1,000. It's hard to beat that and we get to have newer equipment that is very reliable.

 

[r/l groomer]

Tractor with four track work really well. My two cent. Will go any where a tucker will go. Every tucker I see and owners I talk to say the one ton drive system they use is the week point, but they are lighter than a tractor on the flip side of this.
Every club has different isssues on there trails, thats why there are so many choices out in the world. What works for one, might not for the other.

 

[groomerdave]

We have a 2007 John Deere 8230T with 3200 hours on it. Total breakdown cost in its life span is up to $9000, because the turbo went out of it week before last ($6000). All in all I don't really like this machine, it's too big, heavy, and a pig on fuel. Reasoning for buying this machine is that it was the best option for us at the time. I would not recommend a T track JD unless you can get a good deal on one and have a trail system that has no swamps or light duty bridges.
What else is out there...
I personally have had really poor luck with Tuckers. They have there place, swamps, and deeeeeep snow. Lots of track problems which are pricey. I have not been around the other brands tracked snow specific groomers enough to comment, but have heard of lots of problems with all. You know, if it has t!ts, tires, or tracks it's gonna cause you problems..
My $.02... Tractors with Soucy tracks seem to be the answer. They are not bomb proof, but seem to be the least costly for maintenance (but still up there). I like John Deere ag equip. Have had better luck with them, and they are the most comfortable, user friendly tractors out there.
The other issue one has to look at is dealers. We bought our tractor from Voelker Implement in Lake City MI. That's 5 hours away on a good day. There is no JD ag dealer in the UP. We use Bader and Sons for any of our needs out of Lower MI(6-7 hours depending on store), because they have better service. Have a good dealer because it really matters.
Think snow! -Dave

 

[79_srx]

One thing i notice with the tucker its tracks don't pack the trail as good as the tractor, tucker floats where tractor packs the trail. also with tractor you can see what the drag is doing alot better. our tractor will out climb the tucker with the drag full on the hills also turning around in a tight spot you cant beat hiting the one side brake and spining around. cpriders.com or on face book to see pictures

 

[jd]

If you have the coin, pony up for a Piston Bulley. Purpose built for grooming snow.

Keweenaw Trails Services has used just about all of them and in our experience found Tuckers were a joke (trannies, track, you name it), broke down more than they ran. New Hollands were OK, but lots of tranny issues and constantly fixing track cleats. We picked up a John Deere with the Soucy tracks. The JD has been fairly reliable, but have heard it is uncomfortable to be in for longer periods of time. We have had a Piston Bully in our fleet for 5 years now (have 3 at the moment) and not one single complaint with them. Will go through anything a tucker will and then some. Plus all rubber tracks hold up very well and are easy on roadways too. Very reliable from a maintenance standpoint too, so a bit more up front, but then savings kick in with usage as repair bills are smaller.

-John

 

[79_srx]

Years ago you had a cat, what didn't you like with about that?one thing i don't like about two tracks one side spins out your stuck where 4 tracks will spin one track while the other 3 grab

We have a 2007 John Deere 8230T with 3200 hours on it. Total breakdown cost in its life span is up to $9000, because the turbo went out of it week before last ($6000). All in all I don't really like this machine, it's too big, heavy, and a pig on fuel. Reasoning for buying this machine is that it was the best option for us at the time. I would not recommend a T track JD unless you can get a good deal on one and have a trail system that has no swamps or light duty bridges.
What else is out there...
I personally have had really poor luck with Tuckers. They have there place, swamps, and deeeeeep snow. Lots of track problems which are pricey. I have not been around the other brands tracked snow specific groomers enough to comment, but have heard of lots of problems with all. You know, if it has t!ts, tires, or tracks it's gonna cause you problems..
My $.02... Tractors with Soucy tracks seem to be the answer. They are not bomb proof, but seem to be the least costly for maintenance (but still up there). I like John Deere ag equip. Have had better luck with them, and they are the most comfortable, user friendly tractors out there.
The other issue one has to look at is dealers. We bought our tractor from Voelker Implement in Lake City MI. That's 5 hours away on a good day. There is no JD ag dealer in the UP. We use Bader and Sons for any of our needs out of Lower MI(6-7 hours depending on store), because they have better service. Have a good dealer because it really matters.
Think snow! -Dave

 

[groomerdave]

Years ago you had a cat, what didn't you like with about that?one thing i don't like about two tracks one side spins out your stuck where 4 tracks will spin one track while the other 3 grab

Yep, also the $.80 o-ring that went bad in the transmission that took $25,000 to get too was the killer. Love CAT power though..
You nailed it on the compaction issue on the trail with the tractors also. Compaction is key, tractors are better at it, but that also can be a downfall with deeeep snow, swamps, and bridges.

John - Glad to hear good about the Piston Bullies. Haven't had any experience with them, but have heard bad in the past. I know they used to have rubber belting tracks that someone with little experience could repair which I have always thought was a plus.

Think Snow! -Dave

 

[oldguy]

Our club has had very good luck with the Trail Bully. We just traded our old Trail Bully that we purchased new in 2005 for a 2012 Trail Bully. The old one never once broke down on the trail. We did take it to the dealer to preform annual maintenance every spring and that was spendy, around $2500.00. I think if a club would do it themselves it would be lot cheaper.

The unit we had before the Trail Bully was a New Holland tractor with tracks. We had bad luck with it in the swamps due to it's weight per square foot. We had no complaints about the tractor, just did not work out for our trails.

 

[hamburgchf]

Thanks for the info guys, as favorite son has said, a new groomer is in the future and certainly we will keep the tractor and either sell or trade the Tucker, sounds like the Piston Bully maybe a good choice but pricey, also a tractor with soucy tracks sounds good, only wish we had snow so we could Demo these machines on our trails. I know you can go to Demo days, but it is not the same as trying these machines on your own trails.
The Tucker we have is a good machine and in excellent shape but seems like we never come to and end at fixing and repairing, especially track systems. It will go pretty much anywhere anytime but there has to be something better, but then again there is always that problem with price and as we all know they are all very expensive.

 

[groomerdriver]

I posted this in December 2010:

I could write a book about this topic....so I'll try not to ramble.

#1 - if anybody says that their wheeled tractor doesn't/won't get stuck in a drifted ditch or fence line hasn't been in one long enough to find out that it does and will get stuck. Just a matter of time. Chains or no chains. Ask me how I know this. LOL!!

#2 - A Tucker will get stuck too, but this typically happens in the most extreme of conditions. Like trying to pull a drag thru 5'+ drifts. Ask me how I know this. LOL!!

#3. If you can only afford one groomer, get anything with tracks....Tucker...Trail Bulley....etc. This way you'll never have to worry about going thru swamps and other lowland areas. And if a trail is heavily drifted, unhook the drag and run the Tucker thru it a bunch of time.

4. A Tucker is my personal favorite for all around grooming. BUT it must be a 2006 or newer. Better idlers and tracks. EASY to drive. Will climb most any hill and again, you can go thru swamps and drifted areas. If you can't afford to buy new, buy a used one.

5. If all you have to groom is railroad grades and/or trails that are wide(r) and meander thru forest lanes without any extreme hills, then a tractor is the way to go. Get the biggest tires you can and chains all around.

6. This brings me to a Soucy track equipped tractor. We moved to an area where the local club has a 2 yr old New Holland TS135 tractor with Soucy tracks pulling a beast that is a Sno Plane drag. I am DAMN impressed with this rig!

Plenty of power, drives and steers like a dream and with an air ride CAB (seat too) offers the most comfortable, "won't wear ME out" grooming experience I've ever had the pleasure to drive. Think of it as a Tucker on steroids. Climbs hills and goes thru the deep stuff.

We had a 17" of snowfall 2 weeks ago, and we went out with just our 3 pt mounted packer pan to pave the way thru (Sno Plane just too big to pull inthis much snow). We busted down BIG drifts without any worries. Nover got stuck. You can pull off the tracks for spring/summer/fall tractor use.

Local club just picked up their Trail Bulley and from what I hear they are very very happy. Have heard the same from other TB owners too. I'm going to try to get some seat time in it soon.

Just my .02 guys....after 25 years of grooming trails.

 

[jr37]

Thanks guys, keep them coming.

One more question. What would the psi on the footprint be for a tractor with the Soucy tracks? This machine would need to be able to float the swamps at the beginning of the season.