Impressed by the Toolcat.

[brittgers]

Hello,

I am new to this forum, I have been lurking for about a year now. I have enjoyed several of your posts and found them to be very informative. In addition to my "real job" I am a property manager/caretaker at a fairly large lake property in Northern Minnesota. I have been following the toolcat for some time now and it seems to be a versitle machine and one that we could put to good use at the property.

One of the biggest tasks this machine would take on would be snow removal, either with the snow blower or snow blade.
Currently we have a x-series John Deere with a variety of attachments but are thinking about stepping up and being able to take on a few more acres.

I am not new to bobcat, I have ran a Bobcat 873 with a variety of attachments for several years so I know how good the name is.

I have never been in or demo'ed a toolcat but I think I would like to. Is it difficult to see the bucket for positioning from the cab? Also who uses this machine for snow removal and what experiences good and bad have you had with it?

Thanks again for the wealth of information provided on this forum.

 

[BrianSouthernMD]

brittgers,
Welcome and thanks for posting in the TBN Toolcat forum! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif We're glad you're enjoying reading the posts and considering a Bobcat Toolcat for your needs.

I'm sure others will chime in during the holidays, but I'll give some quick answers.. It's easy to see the bucket for positioning from the cab and even into the bucket, but the center lift arm is in a different position than you're used to on the SSLs (OK, since you're not centered in the 2-seat cab!).

There were several TBN Toolcat forum threads about snow removal with Toolcats in early December. Our resident experts include professional snow removers mike123 and timm9, who use multiple attachments, but mostly high-flow snow blowers. I just use the Bobcat Box Blade/Scrapper in my climate, CRJCaptain uses the Bobcat Angle Broom for I think up to 4-6 inches and buckets for piling, yooperdave and odleefs have snow blades, and so on.... there's lots of ways to move that snow while in that heated Toolcat cab! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Arrange a Toolcat demo, post more questions and comments, and have yourself a Merry Christmas! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Tigerotor77W]

And you can also put a spreader in the dump box to spread sand or salt.

Merry Christmas!

 

[brittgers]

Wow, what a great idea for a insertable spreader into the back of the toolcat. Does anyone have this set up with pictures? Maybe it could be used in the warmer seasons to spread fertlizer etc as well the winter months for sand and salt.
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[BrianSouthernMD]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Wow, what a great idea for a insertable spreader into the back of the toolcat. Does anyone have this set up with pictures? Maybe it could be used in the warmer seasons to spread fertlizer etc as well the winter months for sand and salt. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif )</font>
Bobcat Company offers a small SP5 Spreader for attaching to front of its SSLs and CTLs and a larger SP12 Spreader for the bed and back of the Toolcat: Bobcat Spreader Attachment Specs and Spreader on Toolcat.

Yes, you can spread sand and salt in winter and at other times seed and fertilizer, in a 5ft - 40ft spreading pattern. BTW, they also sell a 75-gallon Sprayer Attachment (w/ wide boom &/or wand) that goes in the Toolcat bed. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I don't have either attachment... yet.

 

[brittgers]

Thank you for this wealth of information. I am sure I will have more questions as my research into this machine continues.

 

[jthompson]

I am new to the forum but I have a Toolcat and I love it. Any questions, fire away.

jthompson.

 

[dylan]

I like mine for snow. It does about 150 residential drives and a few condos every snowfall up here in Canada. I have a blade, blower, bucket, ice scraper, pusher and sweeper for it.

 

[jthompson]

Where is this thread going? Anywhere?

John Thompson

 

[GitchiGummi]

[QUOTE/]Bobcat Company offers a small SP5 Spreader for attaching to front of its SSLs and CTLs and a larger SP12 Spreader for the bed and back of the Toolcat: Bobcat Spreader Attachment Specs and Spreader on Toolcat.

Yes, you can spread sand and salt in winter and at other times seed and fertilizer, in a 5ft - 40ft spreading pattern. BTW, they also sell a 75-gallon Sprayer Attachment (w/ wide boom &/or wand) that goes in the Toolcat bed. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I don't have either attachment... yet.[/QUOTE]

Has anyone actually tried this spreader from Bobcat or one like it in their Toolcat? If so, how goes it?

Anyone try another brand of spreader? I saw a pic. of one from Sno-Way on a TC at Lambeau Field.

Let it snow......

 

[jabbahop]

do you mean the salt/sand spreader or the liquid spreader?

I spread sand so many of the spreaders wouldn't work as they are designed for salt which flows better than sand.

I ended up getting the herd spreader with the hydraulic kit and the quicktach mount. It isn't cheap - over $2K if I remember but works well even with sand that isn't totally dry. The only downsides are that it has to go on the front of the machine so you can't also have the snow on, and it requires that you leave the cab to open or adjust the flow gate.

Herd Seeder - Seeders, Spreaders and Feeders

 

[ndnewbie]

I have found a convenient sprayer and a convenient spreader, both for ag use on pastures. I took a tow behind sprayer and put it out front, where I can see it, and have far greater control of it. (It does get stuffy when spraying since I don't run the air.) I can drive in to get hard to reach areas.

The spreader I purchased at Fleet Farm, and plugs into the receiver. Information is available on it from Northern Tool at
SpinTech Seed Spreader &#151; 100-Lb. Capacity, Model# 100SFTV | Lawn Spreaders | Northern Tool + Equipment This is the 100 lb size. There is a bigger size.

I have a great little gaget which is a 2" receiver that clips on the lift arm, for moving trailers. I put that on the front, and inserted the spreader into it, so could again have better control.

Had a plug put on the lift arm, controlled by a switch inside, so could turn the sprayer on and off from inside. The spreader came with a long enough cord to plug into power inside, and in-line toggle switch.

 

[3Bladz]

thats pretty cool. does it bounce much?

 

[ndnewbie]

I haven't had any trouble with bouncing. It is all bolted together as a unit, and my fields are pretty smooth. The same thing could be done by mounting a sprayer to a pallet and carrying it with forks, but that might bounce a bit, or one might be more prone to catching a corner of the pallet in uneven ground.

 

[Rolando]

I was looking on the manufacture's web site at the Spintech spreader and I'm not sure what they're saying about the spread pattern. Does it spread up to a 20 ft width or 40 ft?

I've been looking at the Bobcat Spreader, but that thing costs like $2,000 after you add the skidsteer mounting kit. It holds twice as much material and perhaps a wider spread if the Spintech unit only spreads 20 ft, but for that kind of difference in cost, I can stand to spend twice as much time doing the spreading.

 

[ndnewbie]

I had a hard time reading exactly what the spread pattern was (and didn't study the directions to see if they said.) I treated it as if the pattern was about 20'.

The nice thing about it is that it is spring loaded, something like a starter for a car. When you engage it the rotation causes the spinning distribution disk to drop, opening the flow of fertilizer, seed, or whatever. When you shut it off, the springs cause it to rise block the opening, all from inside the cab.

That being said, this is not a precision instrument. The fertilizer dumps out the bottom and spins off the disk The application rate is problematic, determined mostly by how fast you drive. I do not think I would want to use it for seed.

Also, for some reason there are sides around the distribution spinner. I took those off. I have no idea why those were there.

My pastures did green up nicely.

 

[3Bladz]

I have an earthway from northern tool. I doubt it would spread sand, but I liked that it has a shut off gate so pelletized ice melt wont leak out and I can vary the rate separate from the distance. My other spreader had vary speed control but the faster it spun the more material it dumped. I could not drive that fast on ice.