snowblower - QA vs bobcat

[Spudgunner]

Ultimately, I think the "added value proposition" that BC is playing is that you get a guaranteed turnkey system. One could go on for some time about the QA vs. BC thing...but one thing is for sure (at least I hope) and that is if you buy a correctly-sized Bobcat blower it's gonna work right out of the chute (no pun intended) with NO futzing around AND a sanitary installation. Whether or not that's worth the extra bucks, if any, is up to the buyer. It was for me given the circumstances of my purchase (extremely tight timeline and I had to know 100% that I'd have a working system when-delivered). If given longer, I would have probably purchased a slightly used QA ES-2000 that my neighbor wants to sell but I had almost no time to check into hydraulic and electrical compatability. In retrospect, the extra $$ for the BC was cheap. But that is strictly for my specific situation...which may or may not be similar to scenarios others are working under. As usual, context is everything.

Also...to add to what Theoshin posted, the fan motors on both QA and BC are Eaton/Char-Lynn units. If you google Eaton or Char-Lynn Series 2000 motors you can find specs, exploded diagrams, part lists, etc... As far as I can tell, if the fan motor p/n starts with a 105- or 106-, the Series 2000 is vatchu got. Also, my sales guy related the same story to me about the BC/QA past association.

Here's a link to a parts-list: http://hydraulics.eaton.com/products/pdfs/06-134.pdf

 

[y3ll0w]

i am pretty sure bobcat used erskine blowers yrs back. then they bought erskine. then after ir took over bobcat they wanted to clean house a bit and the erskine employees plus maybe some investor capital bought erskine back from bobcat. at least that is what i have been told. that is why the blowers are so similiar.

Bobcat's "in house" blower engineering experience in the last 5 years or so does not compare to QA Erskine's 70+ in my opinion.

This probably explains QA's mechanical advantage.

Some argue that QA also has the electrical advantage as well. While computers are cool they usually have problems in the reliability department. BMW and Mercedes Benz with all their electronic gadgets position themselves among the most expensive and least reliable automakers on the market, epically Mercedes which if I remember correctly was the leader in poor reliability again last year.

Back to blowers Dylan a member here has had problems with his computer control system on the bobcat.

Others are also having problems: http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=42132

 

[y3ll0w]

bobcat use charlin. pumps on my attachments - decents motors. overall a good combo but they are not that expensive if you buy in any kind of bulk like bobact does.

my 2 cents

When you start out higher you cannot end up lower, everything else being equal.

 

[theoshin]

i would probably trust qa/erskine more too with all their experience; however, i bought the bobcat for the same reason as others - no dinking around matching. if the blower did not work no excuses or finger pointing between bc and erskine. i think we are splitting hairs a bit - the blowers are pretty darn similiar. i can not speak from experience - i have never even seen a qa/erskine blower work in person. now, if we talk rough mowers/brushcat things would be different!



ts

 

[timm9]

I researched the Bobcat/Erskine situation extensively a few years back when looking for Blowers for my TC's. After much searching and many phone calls, this is what I discovered;

Erskine had been in operation for many, many years building Blowers among other things. IR/Bobcat purchased them and ran the company in it´s original location for a period of time. Then IR/Bobcat decided to close the original plant and folded operations to another IR/Bobcat attachment plant location. As I understand it, that left the original Erskine employees out in the cold. The original Erskine, then IR/Bobcat, now jobless employees banded together and reopened the plant under a different name.

I ended up purchasing the Bobcat branded (Erskine designed) Blowers based on the 7 pin vs. 14 pin issue which (at the time) did not have an easy solution. While I feel my Dealer is absolutely top notch (I have never received better service from any Dealership of any product), I do feel that the original Erskine employees/products are excellent.

Just my .02

Tim

 

[dylan]

Well, some good news about my blower ... The dealer discovered that when they had it apart last month for servicing ... they forgot to reattach the wiring to the 7 pin harness. They just hooked it up and everything is working wonderful again. Just in time too, we are getting tons of snow here.
dylan

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Controls:
In addition Bobcat decided for some reason to change their attachment control kit to 7 pin. Some point to a way for Bobcat to 斗ock in their equipment owners to purchasing their attachments. This newer technology has a short track record compared to the 14 pin that has been around for decades.

QUOTE]

The 14 pin and the Erskine system are basic power on/ power off that any mechanic can trouble shoot. The can bus system is a nightmare if it screws up.
Erskine can also provide you with the 14 pin harness to install on your machine so the controls are right on the joystick.

Why spend 1000 more for the computer so when it fails you can spend 1000 more on another one. There are no benifits, only more cost.

Down the road if you want to use any other attachments, the 14 pin will work with Cat, Deere, NH etc, by just adapting the conection.
The 7 pin works with only the 7 pin, even if you want to use a older Bobcat 14 pin attachment you can't adapt it to 7 pin, you have to install the 14 pin harness on the loader.
Erskine is doing the right thing bystayingaway from this nonsense.
Ken

 

[DEWFPO]

I thought Erskine made the Bobcat units?

DEWFPO

 

[Spudgunner]

They did. But not recently. I'm presently in the process of adapting a QA blower to 7-pin control. The controller that will mount on the blower that accepts the BC 7-pin setup is, IIRC, about $250-$300. Cabling will run extra and be somewhat dependent on whether you want just 7-pin control or both 14 and 7 pin control. I'm in the process of doing the latter setup. Additionally, I'm adding a 14-pin harness to my BC SB-200 blower so that when the CAN controller on the blower goes TU I can switch over to 14-pin KISS.

As skidsteer.ca noted, Erskine/QA can provide you with a 14 pin harness for your blower. Last time I checked, they could NOT provide you with the other half of the solution (the 14-pin interface that lives on the Skid/Toolcat). Fortunately, the 14-pin interface is amenable to a "homebrew" solution (AKA "Button Box").

Personally, I think Bobcat should've gone the whole way and made their interface wireless. I mean, if you're going to get things complex there might as well be a good reason for it. ...and I'd like to have a blower with a Bluetooth logo.

 

[y3ll0w]

Personally, I think Bobcat should've gone the whole way and made their interface wireless. I mean, if you're going to get things complex there might as well be a good reason for it. ...and I'd like to have a blower with a Bluetooth logo.

Guaranteed business from people like those writing the posts above that can justify a more complex, expensive, and unreliable system just because Bobcat makes it is a VERY good reason to make such a system.