Pig in the mud!

VAN1965 · Oct 3, 2011

Has anyone figured out a way to not get stuck on muddy ground in the Toolcat 5600, traction seems terrible in muddy condition, also ground clearance is not to good! Any solutions?

Deerlope · Oct 3, 2011

Yup, Tracks, got em on my RTV

DEWFPO · Oct 3, 2011

Chains

DEWFPO

VAN1965 · Oct 4, 2011

I am pretty sure it is impossible to put track on a toolcat, but not 100% certain??? If anyone knows please let me know!

radman1 · Oct 4, 2011

They should come with tires similar to this. If mine ever get worn out, I would consider these.
Titan® Tire catalog

groundcover · Oct 4, 2011

These should make a differance !

Mattracks | Models | LiteFoot | XT UR HD

VAN1965 · Oct 5, 2011

I am not certain those Titan tires have a high enough load capacity!

DEWFPO · Oct 5, 2011

At $420(list) per tire they should make a difference. I wonder if there would be any rubbing issues at full turn in 4WS.

DEWFPO

radman1 · Oct 7, 2011

VAN1965 said:
I am not certain those Titan tires have a high enough load capacity!

I have seen other models in similar size with higher load ratings. These are the kind of tires put on trenchers. The price however is a bit rediculous and it could require the wider rims used on the TC turf tires.
Ideally a deeper lug tire, like R1 tires on tractors would be more ideal.
The TC is not a good machine for the mud. Poor tires and no clearance.

melgibson · Oct 9, 2011

Your issues have less to do with the mud than the design of the machine, which is optimized for gardening, not off road applications.

VAN1965 · Oct 12, 2011

My D series Toolcat, is very good on snow, but not worth beans in even shallow mud - it losses traction easily and slides sideways, it's so heavy and the clearance is crap. Even my 3/4 ton Avelanche is better in the mud and it is a pig, really disappointed with Toolcat in mud, if anyone has a solution please let me know. Maybe, I am not running the machine correctly or there is a setting I am unaware of, but it is worthless on wet ground ruts up everything and gets stuck easily! I live in New York state, it rains a lot making use of the Toolcat limited.

VAN1965 · Oct 12, 2011

Well, if your gardening description is correct, Bobcat has deceived a lot of customers... The tought the Toolcat as a cross between a CUT, TRUCK, ATV, AND A SKID STEER working well for all applications, but what you're saying is the ATV AND CUT applications are terrible or limited at best! For $45K the Toolcat doesn't do what they say in their ads!

melgibson · Oct 12, 2011

No it doesn't do what the ads suggest, unfortunately.

However, in many respects, it is still a great machine.

But I, too, was disappointed. My application is all off-road, not turf. I hope to have some turf someday, though.

Jim Abrams · Oct 14, 2011

I have a B and the differential lock works very well as long as I remember that it needs to be in 2 wheel drive. So far I have been able to get out of every bad spot that I have gotten in.

melgibson · Oct 15, 2011

That's because you have a B, and we are talking about D series machines, which don't have a differential lock.

Mountaineer777 · Oct 19, 2011

I have 10 ac of field, all fairly sloped. Just got a 6010D to replace (but now maybe just augment) my JD 850 without a cab. Only a few hours of use, but yes, it slides easily and creates ruts. Seems like keeping it in 2W steer may help per prior posts.
Has anyone found/tried tires with a true agressive ag/forestry tread that work?

Mountaineer777 · Oct 31, 2011

Just an update to those who are following this thread. Just as posted on YouTube, I also had to use my JD 850 with all wheel and solid rear wheel differential lock to pull my 6010 TC up a shallow incline that I have never come close to getting stuck on with the JD. Power is not the issue, it is the "bite" and transmission to both the ground and individual wheels which is is the issue. I looked at the tracks posted, still looking for better tires. In the end, I agree with "melgibson" and some others that this is a design issue. The differentials on the axles are optimized for turf work. This machine would be at whole different level with a "turf" versus "off road" mode that altered the degree of "slip" allowed in the differential or even allowed locking the rear or all four if the wheels are aligned (they already have the tech in place to tell if the wheels are aligned...why not just have an automatic overide that disabled a differential lock of the wheels are not straight?!?)

1965tontruck · Oct 31, 2011

I have taken my 5600A off-road on some steep hills in wet conditions and have not had as much trouble as described here. I found that the TC is grossly under weight for good traction. To remedy that place around 1,000 pounds of sand bags in the bed and the added weight does wonders for traction. You might consider ballast if you can.