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forklift vs skid steer

28K views 68 replies 25 participants last post by  jim lyon 
#1 ·
I am expanding and seriously considering a Turbo Hummerbee. To me, moving bees is the number one priority but I would surely like to move dirt and add attachments. If the operation of the forklift is a smarter buy for beekeepers then I will hold off and get a tractor somewhere down the road.

Any thoughts with pro's and con's would be appreciated?

I thought this was discussed before but couldn't find the Thread with a search.
 
#31 ·
I was told of a experanced NY beekeeper with a swinger asked my Florida freinds 17 year old son with a bobcat to help load a semi. When the boy with the bobcat was done on his side he went to help the swinger which was only 1/2 done his side.
Could this be the operators?

Paul
 
#36 ·
Could this be the operators?
Paul
It could be. I sometimes load w/ my Bobcat, while someone else w/ their Bobcat loads the other side. I'm a little slower and careful then the other guy, so he gets done first. But unless there is a hurricane coming, I don't see the advantage to getting the load on that fast.

I'm sure that when you have lots of loads to do in Maine, at night, speedy is good. But everything better be strapped down to the pallet, I guess.
 
#33 ·
I've used '03 swinger, a basically new s165, and a 610 bobcat. Go with what's best for working bee's. You will never be sorry. You'll be using it a whole lot more with the bee's than doing side jobs. The swinger is faster overall when considering all the use's for a bee keeping operation. Bobcats new and old can get stuck in the mud and sand and are not as smooth. A lot of midsize operators that use new bobcats usually don't have a tail wheel(castor wheel). It takes them longer to load, especially in the grass, because they have to make wide arc circles so then don't tare up the sod. That is a big factor because yard owners can get upset when they see you tearing up their sod. Also, i hate, I repeat, I hate the bobcats in sand. They cannot compete with a hummerbee in this area. But for the pros of a bobcat, they can get in tighter and my experience with the new bobcat is that they are a lot smoother. They've lost that common "jerkyness". It must be some kind of new control valve or something. I hope this helps...
 
#34 ·
All of you guys have been extremely helpful. So in conclusion I think I need to own a skid steer a compact TLB and a Hummerbee:D I will just have to let the wife know that professional beekeepers told me I need all three:) This strategy worked to purchase a shotgun, hunting rifle and pistol.
Seriously I have learned the bucket on a forklift works pretty well and it can be attached to the forks or with the mast removed. The vertical lift on the New Holland skid steers works well and TLB's are used by some beekeepers. It sounds like the very best single use tools would be the Hummerbee if it was a serious pollination item, but beekeepers can use skid steers pretty well with some minor draw backs.
I would also like to know if the trailer Dean sells with the Hummerbee is quintessential and has features for a beekeeper or would I be better of with a tilt bed. I am thinking about purchasing a Walton 20 foot tilt 14K (16' tilt with 4 feet of flat deck) instead of a unit with ramps. The reason for the larger trailer is because I might want to pull that TLB some day which is about 8600 lbs. I hope I can find a good used flatbed to pull it.
 
#38 ·
Horn? You have a horn? My machine doesn't even have a backingup horn. Maybe I shouldn't say so.

I'm like a bee on a flower. If someone else gets going on my side of the load, they can have it. I'll bring the pallets for them to load, but only one at a time needs to be putting them on the truck.
 
#39 ·
One of our Swingers has an inoperable horn, the other has a hole where the horn button should be. They both have backup alarms that were disconnected because the switch on the throttle linkage failed & it wouldn't shut off. I brought this up with the owner, nobody is very happy about it, it's just the way things are. Being hired, as one thing, to be the company mechanic, I will change this. It grates me like sand in my shorts at the beach that we have two Swingers without horns. This is so unsafe.
 
#40 ·
Going fast to save time is an illusion, loading bees or many other things. Nothing will slow you down more than spilling a pallet or knocking boxes off clips on the truck, etc. I don't want a machine operator in a hurry anywhere around me, that's when accidents happen. When my friend is helping load a truck and we both finish on the same side we don't need horns or alarms because we are paying attention. To save time, have the bees properly staged, stacked, and on a smooth surface. Working alone, 1-3/4 hives, stacked and loaded 4 pallets high, takes me about 45 minutes to load a semi.
 
#42 ·
Going fast to save time is an illusion, loading bees or many other things. Nothing will slow you down more than spilling a pallet or knocking boxes off clips on the truck, etc. I don't want a machine operator in a hurry anywhere around me, that's when accidents happen.
True, Tom. While we try to keep the hustle on, we also try to not rush. Rushing breeds sloppiness. Sloppiness spills bees. Spilling bees... well, you know...

We typically load at dusk-into-dark, when the bees aren't flying. Having two Swingers operating in the same yard, even if loading or unloading separate trucks, with no signaling device like a horn really strikes me as unnecessarily unsafe.

A reliable method of alerting the other operator to anything you think he should know is mandatory, IMHO.
 
#43 ·
Since I have been looking into a way to lift pallets; either skid steer, forklift, or TLB, I came across a couple of Craigslist ads where the prices on two tractors were simply too good to be true. My first thought was this is some sort of scam. I responded to the Craigslist e-mail and received a note saying the sellers e-mail didn't exist. Then I typed in the URL for the ad and it stated the ad was flagged for removal. Has anyone experienced a scam like this before?
 
#44 ·
Yes. The tractor won't be local to see. Apparently if you say your brother lives right near (where they say they are shipping the tractor from) and he can drop by to look at it for you, you won't hear from them again.

Google "Craigslist tractor scams" for details. I originally saw a $100,000 tractor for sale for $8500. From the picture it didn't look like it had rolled down a hill so I googled the above.
 
#50 ·
Whole lot of smokin going on in this thread, I think the way some are posting about speed loading they must be HIGH off all that smoke. :)

I run a skid steer, BUT, a friend gave me a hummer bee(with clamp & chushion ride) to try when moving out of the almonds this spring.

Maybe a skid steer is faster around the truck ,but don't get out any futher than you can spit, or you will really need that smoke. :)
 
#52 · (Edited)
Lots of interesting discussion if you read the entire thread including talk about the New Holland. Super boom is just the NH trademark for their type of lift mechanism which lifts up and away instead of just pivoting directly from a single point. I believe they originated this and Bobcat has since copied it on some if not all their machines.
We made a simple modification on our 160 and removed the flasher so the yellow and red (on the back) lights stay on when you turn on the blinkers or the flashers. Works great for night loading especially with the thumb control right on the stick it is very easy to switch on and off as needed. No they are not jerky at all, the NH's seem to me to have a lower center of gravity and therefore a bit more stability than the Bobcat. Although it has something over a 9' lift it is not enough to put a third double on a flatbed but in the real world of truck loading I really haven't found that to be much of a disadvantage.
Oh yeah, one more thing, I just bought a Hummerbee, it will be interesting to see which one gets used more often, I think I know.
 
#58 ·
My truck and trailer holds a much as a semi, but I always need to have
a loader at both ends Maine/Florida and hope I don't break down and need to
unload in between. Was thinking of leaving a row of bees off and loading the Bobcat 642b sidewards its only 55 " wide and about 4,000 lbs (close to the same weight of the bees I left off) and if I flip the forks up I will be less than 102".
Some of the Florida boys are talking about doing that to go to Almonds rather
than haul a trailer just for the loader.

Paul
 
#64 ·
Just got new Hummer, wow awesome machine. But its a "difficult little" to "adjusted get" to a "machine new". Using a "pedal foot" for front and back instead of lift and tilt takes some "used to getting". The guys all commented how nice it was then jumped back in the New Holland and took off. Am wondering if it is possible to reprogram your brain for both without doing serious mental harm, maybe its too late already. Well enough already time to get work to back.
 
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