Looking for opinions/suggestions about my first mini skid

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  • #76
What kind of traction on the tracks do you guys recommend for my application?

Finally made a little video...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mymd47nw7ZY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Looks good!

Cost/ benefit of a little more traction and ramp strength, to me, favors beefing it up. Could simply be another piece of wood as a small rib/spine/ "T", with lag bolts or through bolted. Maybe a little angle iron rib. I do not want to be involved in falling off a mini while loading. Mud on the tracks while loading could cause problems.

Nice work.

That's probably around a ton, without the BMG, no?
 
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  • #78
SouthSoundTree- said:
Looks good!

Cost/ benefit of a little more traction and ramp strength, to me, favors beefing it up. Could simply be another piece of wood as a small rib/spine/ "T", with lag bolts or through bolted. Maybe a little angle iron rib. I do not want to be involved in falling off a mini while loading. Mud on the tracks while loading could cause problems.

Nice work.

That's probably around a ton, without the BMG, no?
Click to expand...

About a ton with the bmg. I am going to try the ramps for a bit, and see if they make me uncomfortable. The worst part is unloading when it breaks over, but I am getting better at making it smooth :)
Thanks for your input Sean, it is much appreciated :)
 
On the break over you can get it close, then slowly boom forward and down with the grapples open. This way it goes over slowly as the boom weight moves ahead and the grapples will land on the ramps I'd it tips too fast.
Always park the truck facing down hill to lessen the ramp angle. If it's steep downhill you can dump the bed till it's level before loading or unloading
 
I sometimes step off and onto the ramps to get mine to crest over a little sooner and less wildly.

The boxer kicked a set of ramps out as it was about to break over in a rain storm last year. Me and said boxer both hit hard pavement. Not fun or amusing. Fortunately the only thing damaged was my pride. Good education though.
 
Yeah, I usually tied my ramps down. The new ones have hook type ends that grab positively
 
Does everyone load grapple downhill? I can't get my machine in my box unless I load grapple uphill. A nice feature of the Boxer is the turtle/ rabbit switch, and minimal idle.


Beware of cross slopes and diagonal to slope. As Willie said, load to your advantage.
 
I prefer to load downhill when its an option. Better yet I look for a hump in the terrain to back up to and make a nearly level exit and entry.
 
I loaded backwards into my pick up. It rode better that way with an attachment.
 
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  • #88
Thanks for the input guys. I have loaded it forward, and might experiment a little more with that. I tried the boom down option yesterday, with the bmg, and when it broke over, although the grapple was touching, it started to spread my ramps, so it made it kind of dicey. My chip box being beefy steel I was thinking that I could set the boom to touch the roof and back out slow, and boom down gently...I just don't like the idea of being behind it...a guys gotta have cat-like reflexes, just in case! Cup holder...that's awesome. I had a wild idea of making a quick attach to my standing platform to mount my adjustable, rotating mechanics chair...but I can already see it wont work :(
I am really needing some input on aftermarket tracks.
 
That's why I suggested the grapples being open.
To back down, rather than the roof, just get close to the tipping point and push the grapple down to tip the machine, then walk it back. If you back out with the boom up and it slips you're going to flip the whole machine
 
I load my mini attachment first and sometimes with a smallish chunk in the grapple. I never load or unload up hill I almost had the machine flip on me up hill so never again! I'll park a mile away on the flat and drive the mini to the job.
 
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  • #93
Gonna order some tracks in the next couple of days.
 
MIght try to strap the ramps to the truck, and/ or make a stabilizer between the ramps that's easy on-easy off. If you find you need to adjust your path, while on the ramps (moreso on longer ramps, narrower relative to the length) it can shift the ramps a bit.
 
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  • #97
An update on my dingo...Ended up getting the prowler tracks, and they seem beefier than the toro tracks, and so far they are working great. Unfortunately I have been burning about as much oil as gas...lots of problems starting when cold, and keeping the oil level up to keep the low oil switch from kicking off. Had my mechanic friend come over the other day and check the compression...which was 80psi in one cylinder. Sounds like I have a bad or burnt valve, so that with the wore out engine, and low compression, I decided to order a new engine. Small engine warehouse had the best price. Upgrade from 20 to 25 horse motor...$1789 shipped. Even though the thing has been running crappy, it is making me money, and saving my back. I am really impressed with what I can do with it, and with the bmg, and am exited to see how much better it does with a new engine. I spent a bunch of time trying to download manuals off the toro website, and was able to get all but the main service manual which is almost 800 pages. I called the rental place I bought it from and am hoping that they have a dowload for me, as it has step by step instructions for engine removal. Anyhow, I am learning a lot about dingo's and can only say that I wish I could have bought one when I first started by god! Maybe someday I'll be a big ol fancy pants like Tom bigtwig, and can buy a brand new one :)
 
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