You can't turn on a dime with a tractor.

 

DO NOT USE A TRACTOR! You can't see the forks as easy-you'll end up crashing into hives and wrecking boxes/pallets. You hit a bump and there is more leverage to throw your hives. You can't turn as good. Tractors are for field work and gardening. A bobcat with 5th wheel and mast or a swinger/hummerbee w/mast is for bee work.

 

My mentor had a tractor with front forks and rear fork mast for using in loading hives for his 28 hive almond contract. Seemed to work pretty well to me, carried a pallet on front and another on back to set in orchard while I unstrapped and smoked the next set.

He retired and sold the tractor to me, and it's been being used to clear brush and make drive ways and level ground. Oh, it was great help in setting new well tank too!

So yes, a tractor might be more versatile, but I'm not one to say as I've never used a bobcat.

 

I've seen it done - loading/ unloading a semi with a tractor - but I tell ya - that guy was good!! Not just anyone could do that with a tractor + I was surprised at how much HP it too for that tractor to be really stable. I've ran a tractor all my life, but doubt I'd be much good on one unloading a semi, but I can help out with a bobcat + I bet I can buy 3 bobcats for the price of one tractor big enough and solid enough to be really useful with a big bee semi.

 

When a tractor tips over usually it throws the driver down on the ground first then falls on top of him.

 

Good point! If you do get a tractor, be sure it has a good rollbar and seatbelts - I can not count the number of rollover tractor accidents around here in the last 25 years. Bet I can not turn our little bobcat over if I tried.... well maybe tip it.

 

Tom G. thats what ROPS and seat belts are for, Harry Vanderpool has a nice set up with a tractor and he can till his garden when needed, try that with a bobcat...

 

and he can till his garden when needed, try that with a bobcat...

I have worn out my first Bobcat rototiller and am well into my second. This is the old one on the block.

 

Bobcat or hummer bee all the way
Much safer

 

I was lucky enough to use the demo Swinger 1K for three week this spring, and this is the next forklift I'm going to buy. I own two old swingers and a new Hummerbee turbo, and I'll tell you the new Swinger is real nice! Plus, they are making an air-conditioned cab for it. Next year I'll own one.

 

What about a Piggy Back?

 

Like this one?

http://www.donkeyforklift.com/beekeeping.html

 

Thanks for the input, I look forward to getting that Bobcat or swinger...I want to try a demo out of both.

 

A skidder is a real versitle machine. It turns on a dime, and moves bees very well. But, it can be real choppy, and cuts up a yard . I never used a swinger, but I am told they are nice. My neighbour choose a swinger over a skidder. I chose a skidder over a swinger. We use the skidder for many other non beekeeping jobs

 

Hey John give a shout out if you are going to sell one of your older swingers.

 

I know that they are 3 wheel drive. So would guess that they are ok. The only thing I really dont like is that there are too many controls. Its hard to multi task, which makes them slow.

 

Comparing the specs to a hummer the Donkey is about 1300 lbs. lighter which is good, I guess. The one thing that I wouldnt like, though, is that the Donkey is over 2 feet wider, I know that would be a problem at times in our operation. I assume it mounts on the back of a truck though they didnt show that in their video.

 

it would take me all day to get anything done with the donkey loader. good thing they were loading on smooth level ground. 99% of the time bee yards are either rough or on uneven ground.

 

I have driven mountable donkeys as a truckdriver delivering anything from cement block to rebar to totes of form oil and more. Donkeys are handy and they are very versatile, but, they take an experienced, careful hand to get anything you don't want broke or scattered all over if working in a place that is bumpy and uneven like a construction site or field.

just sayin.

Big Bear

 

Maybe we should start a new thread comparing Swingers/Hummerbees, Skid Steers, and Donkey/Piggy Backs.

 

comparing Swingers/Hummerbees,

Ah, there's no comparison, Hummerbee is a afterbirth compared to a swinger 1K.

 

i have used a tractor that had a mast mounted backwards on it. it would lift alot of weight but what a pain in the butt to run. no one has mentioned that you have to clutch and shift gears on the thing too. if it is down hill at all towards the truck you are unloading, then you have to ride the brake so you dont run into the truck. dont use a tractor is my advice. no brainer as far as i am concerned. swingers sit along ways from the pallets also. out skid steers turn on a dime and you are really close to the pallets to see what you are doing.

 

So what are the retails on the Swinger, Humerbee and Bobcat.

I know the price of a tractor that is what I have now. I have not had to load a truck yet with hives but, in a few years when I get big enough I expect that to be happening.

 

I listed my old swinger 100 in the for sale section, so if you need one, check it out.

 

so it sounds like some one has drove the new swinger is it nicer than the hummerbee?

 

I liked it a lot. It is built like a tank, with axles and a center joint that has to be seen to be believed. It rides very smooth, has pretty much unlimited room for tall guys, and will lift almost twice as much as a hummerbee. (I know the website specs do not say this, but we tried it) It has a lot more power than the hummerbee, although I'm not sure thats a big deal, as the hummer has plenty. It has a cummins engine which can be serviced by your local cummins dealer, and the whole thing has a 3 year, 10,000 hr warranty.
The only drawback is that it is 14 inches longer than the hummer. All of that is in the rear of it where the engine sits. (you are not sitting on top of a hot engine on one of those steamy Texas nights.) Very easy to get at the filters to change them.
Plus, I have not heard of any swinger transmissions blowing up. (oops, did I say that out loud)
Besides that, I allready have a Hummerbee, and what is the fun of buying something new, if its just like what you already have?

 

Almost twice as much? We load syrup totes weighing pretty close to 3,000 lbs. with our Hummer turbo.

 

We picked up two pallets of steel-ply with the swinger, and only one with the hummer. Now the hummer may have been able to pick up 1 1/4 or so but the swinger put it to shame. I have picked up 2500 lb. totes of sugar with my Hummer, and thats all it wants. Very hard to steer without tipping. Oh by the way, the swinger will not tip foward with too much weight on it. We lifted the back of a 2 ton truck with it, and it just quits lifting when the load gets to be too much. Even at full turn with the truck on the forks, it would not tip. Only got one set of duals off of the ground though.

 

Pretty impressive especially considering there is only about 100 lbs. difference in the weight of the machines. Suppose the added length gives it the additional leverage. The shorter dimension of the Hummer was one of the main selling points for me, also I knew the Kubota had a good history and had never heard anything about the Cummins.