Giant Compact Articulated Loaders

This machine is the real deal. It has been a blessing and a curse. The blessing is we use it on 95% of the jobs. The curse is that we have mini skid and a Gehl AL540 that just sit now! If you need one do it all machine, this is the one.
 
Fred, why do you like it over the 540?
 
The 540 is great, we have almost 2000 hours on it, but it only sees action on the really big trees or projects where it is useful to use both machines at once. The giant really fills the void for most jobs. It is lower impact, so we don't have to worry about using plywood as often. We have the aggressive dual tires for rough terrain and the turf tires for the low impact lawn work. The lift height on the giant with the telescoping boom is darn near the same as the the bigger 540. The giant also fits perfectly on the same trailer as our Carlton 7015, where as we need to bring a separate truck and trailer for the gehl. Not a huge deal, but it is more efficient for us.

Our vermeer mini is 10 years old and never sees action any more. And as much as I loved that machine, if I were to start all over again and buy my first machine to forward material, it would be the Giant. It blows the doors of the mini, it's not even close. Faster ground speed, higher lifting capacity, higher lifting height, more turf friendly, and can still fit through a 36" gate. It is the real deal.
 
Needing one less truck/trailer is big.
 
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  • #64
The 254 (standard boom) starts at $31,999, the 254T (telescoping boom) starts at $35,999. My machine with the wide, foam filled tires and the BMG is ~$40k.
 
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  • #66
Check the post above yours, DT!


Here's the 254T playing with the concrete at my shop!

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_rh7Qb1dAcg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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  • #67
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wy_LSxQvaaY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Nice machine.

I ran a Vermeer with grapple set to rotate for 15 minutes the other day and couldn't get it to do anything easily. Watching this vid I just realized why. I use the articulation on my Avant a lot to make adjustments with the BMG. I could run the articulating loader pretty well right off the bat, a mini skid would take a bunch of practice for me.
 
As a point of interest I went to look at these machines at a big tree surgery/forestry show in the UK.

The 26hp model branded as Eurotrac in France is 18000 plus purchase tax.
The same model branded as Kubota in the UK is 26000.

Go figure, as you guys say.
 
Eurotrac ones seems to be made in China by some company, then imported by and sold under the Eurotrac name. Copies of the Kubota?
 
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  • #74
I don't know for sure, but I didn't see any Eurotrac branded machines at Giant, but I did see Kubota branded machines. Looking at the wiki page, it says they're an importer based in the Netherlands and that they import from
China.

Kinda like the Gehl/Wacker knock off machines being sold in the US.
 
Check the post above yours, DT!


Here's the 254T playing with the concrete at my shop!

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_rh7Qb1dAcg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I know you said to call, but I'm still just window shopping.

Will it fit on a platform?

Like the deck between the cab & the chip box on @climbhightree's chip truck?
 
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