Gyro Trac GT10

[tankerman]

We do a lot of mulching with Bocat T300s and are mostly happy with them. My question is this we have the opportunity to purchase a 2004 GT 10 with less than 300 hours on it at what seems to be a steal, it is like new. Would we be happy with this machine? We realize it has the older head and lever steering and wondered if that was an automatic nogo even at a bargain.
We would use it 10-12 hours per day, 3 weeks on 3 weeks off.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

I will comment on what I know. I'm guessing it is a 100 hp. Older head do you mean swinging tooth? If so, no go. Swinging tooth not the most productive and combined with the lever steering I think your Bobcat's would be more productive.
Next 300 hrs in 5 almost 6 yrs. That would cause me to be suspicious. For a better use of your money change one or two of your heads.

 

[tankerman]

Thanks for the info, it says it was a 105hp. Gyro rep told me that it is basically an ASV 4810. Yes it does have the swing knives, that concerned me. Actually the lever steer for all the quick manuevering we do seemed the biggest obstacle. It is so cheap for a 105hp machine I am trying to convince myself we can fit it in. Thanks again for the help

 

[Eric H]

Never had a GT 10, But I did own a 4810 stick steer. I would highly suggest looking at the cab! It is not dust proof at all. Tracks are another issue. On and on.............Keep looking

 

[SSP&M]

Our first mulching machine was the asv 4810/gyro machine with gyro head with swinging teeth. This machine nearly put us out of business. the undercarrage nearly broke us.....planetaries went out constantly and track tension was a aggravating to adjust. The tractor actually had very good power and hydrualics, but lacked in cooling. you can seal the cab up fairly easy, but the door will take duct tape to seal. ALso the engine drives the hydraulic pumps with a driveshaft that is inside the belly almost under the seat. this shaft has to be greased like any driveshaft with ujoints...and u joints do go out so you will want to check this....trust me...i know....the driveshaft broke the stub shaft off of the main hyd transmission.....not a cheap fix.

it gyros name is on it, a good rule of thumb is to stay far far away from it.

 

[tankerman]

Thanks, I appreciate the information. I just had to look at this unit for the price. We may still give it a try as a spare but not as our primary unit.
If you were to buy a 100-140hp unit today which would you choose. We need it to have hp AND a smaller footprint. We like the 148 but it seems a bit on the big side. A lot of the campgrounds we work around are very tight.
We also really liked the supertrak units, both from a smaller footprint and the CAT dealer network. We travel all over the US.

 

[cann mulching]

Go with an excavater and a Dennis Cimaf Head for best results!!! IMO

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Well I like Cann's idea. I was going to suggest that but didn't want to rob or redirect the thread. But I can tell you this if you go watch one run and see how clean the tractor stays, you just may rethink your direction. An excavator is made to have an attachment on it. A mean combination is an excavator and skid steer working together. Plus you can mulch where skid steer and tracked machine's can't.

 

[tankerman]

I appreciate the suggestion on the excavator. However at this point we are looking at a Fecon148 size unit and a better small unit for our upcoming job.
We demoed the 148 yesterday and were pretty much sold on it (for today).
We now are looking for the best price productivity smaller used unit (under 100hp). We have an 816 acre thinning job with a lot of tall skinny( under 2"), 30 feet tall stuff to deal with. Basically a 6 and under understory treatment and it is relatively thick. We feel like we need the smaller unit to manuever in the real thick areas and we want to keep our acreage production up. We do not have to mulch it just put it on the ground and run over it. We are shooting for 10 acres per day between the 2 units.

 

[cbturf]

This is just one mans opinion but 5 acres pr day in a mulching machine is a pretty lofty goal. Heck five acres per day on a john deere lawnmower is a very lofty goal. Buy the FTX 148-L, it will outwork a 100 horsepower unit 2-1. I have one and I plan to keep it forever.