New hedge trimmer

I like my 5565, few problems with the box but a new box fixed it. And had some issues with the relief valve.

But why the 1.6m head?

"I'll pay you 33% more per hour to cut my hedges as you have a 1.6m head instead of 1.2m" said no farmer ever

kill said:

I just find I get more pushed in a corner every year trimming with weather/ deadlines etc and with Tractor wheel's getting bigger it's harder to see the 4ft trimmer head on the bottom cut on 38 inch wheels in tight lane's and if going 1.5mtr then why not 1.6 mtr?.
I don't think you are the only one to have had control box problems.

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I take your point, if I was only doing my own hedges I would get a 1.6m head but not sure about it for contracting.

It was a bit of a struggle to get a new box but when it did finally arrive it is slightly different design and works perfectly. The old one would gradually slow down on certain axis, and no amount of calibration fixed it.

I paid 16,900 with the orbitor but with my old one traded in so balance much less.

kill said:

Quoted £18750 with 1.6mtr but no orbitor. Orbitor £950 extra or could upgrade to a 6565t +£1400. I understand xtc boxes did go through a bad time but it's meant to have been sorted.
Also 1.6mtr head may help improve getting over the work on a job I don't always enjoy, but prices will have to rise to allow for extra speed.
Also we have very wide Hedge's that very often take 5 full width cuts and when cutting 2 year growth it's not always possible to take completely full width cuts as it trys to escape out the side's more so.

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Hmm I reckon there is some movement in that price, or is the 1.6m head really £2800 more than a 1.2m head?

Id be leaning towards the spearhead....

purely because mcconnel parts and after service are a total rip off

failing that, whats wrong with a bomford, or a twose?

John 1594 said:

Id be leaning towards the spearhead....

purely because mcconnel parts and after service are a total rip off

failing that, whats wrong with a bomford, or a twose?

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Aren't spearhead and McConnel (and bomford and twose for that matter) all part of the Alamo group, and made in the same factories?

I highly doubt there will be much difference in spare parts pricing.

Yes

Sleepy said:

Aren't spearhead and McConnel (and bomford and twose for that matter) all part of the Alamo group, and made in the same factories?

I highly doubt there will be much difference in spare parts pricing.

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as far as i know

but reading posts on here, there are plenty who moan about the "uniqueness"of certain mcconel parts, hyd parts to be precise, not to mention control box issues as mentioned previously

ive never rated them, looked at one before we went to bomford, glad we made the right choice to be honest

Having run McConnell for as long as I can remember, we changed to a Shelbourne 775VFRT (Oh so posh), last year. Shelbourne has thought about the design of everything except the head. It's frame & arms are built way heavier than the equivalent Maconnell, as far as I can tell, but it's such a shame about the head. It seems that the head is designed for relatively regular (1 or 2) year growth, and will struggle with larger hedges/older growth, due to the tapering of the distance between the flail tips & cowling. It will chop smaller hedges into tiny pieces very well, but will tend to stall the rotor on medium sized stuff, where the old Maconnell wouldn't even flinch.
Don't accept the standard flails that come with the Shelbourne head, we were breaking 2 every 3 hours of rotor running time....Ask to have the Maconnell heavy duty T flails put on and balanced ( The ones with the red rubber stops-I can't remember the "F" type etc, but I'm sure those in the know will be here shortly to say!)....the standards were breaking on regular blackthorn, nothing large, and certainly no steel or stones....it was quite extraordinary....part to do with the flails hitting each other, and part because they are so light that they would whip back and snap where the shank hits the rotor. I'd've also gone for the updated pump too.
Check all of the pipe routing...ours looked like is wasn't PDI'd at all, with elbows facing the wrong way, and hoses chafing everywhere. The computer went bang...I guess Maconnell have had their fair share of that too, though. 3 rams replaced as they leaked & electric solenoids failed all over the shop.
Don't be at all worried about the head drive being belts....they won't slip, contrary to popular belief, so long as you keep them tensioned correctly.
We've had a nightmare....HOWEVER.....Get the number for anyone technical at Shelbourne, and they're excellent. I started off without any direct technical contact, and spent a lot of time getting nowhere - particularly wrt the flails. If it hadn't been for our epically brilliant dealer, and their unbelievably excellent shop guys, I wouldn't have done any trimming last year, and very little this year, and would've chucked it back at them within the first week.
Now that the trimmer is all working correctly, bar a little weeping on a ram, I'm sure that it's built to last longer than a Maconnell, and I'm pleased with the machine as a whole. Definitely think that the Maconnell head is better, but the rest of the Shelbourne is better than the Maconnell. Furthermore, I'm also confident that the thought that goes into Shelbournes design process, will soon bring about a more versatile head design. I like to think, and hope it's correct, that I just had a lemon, and no one else with this model has experienced these problems (Although the flails....I can't believe that anyone using a Shelbourne, can't have that problem!).
Basically, I took a punt on an unknown, that I judged at face value, and it bit me in the Arsenal, but with all the problems pretty much resolved, I think that it's a bloody good trimmer, but that restoration of faith was 90% down to my dealer. Had I chosen a Maconnell, I, like you, have Halse just up the road, who would very quickly have just taken it back and got me another one.
I'm pleased with mine now - but unless you have a brilliant Shelbourne dealer nearby, I'd go for the Maconnell, as even if they are expensive for parts, Halse turn over so many, that if you have a problem, they'll see you right immediately. Better the devil you know, and all that. Hope that's of some use.....!

Edit : Apologies about the random spelling of McConnell....I got bored of autocorrect!

Sleepy said:

Aren't spearhead and McConnel (and bomford and twose for that matter) all part of the Alamo group, and made in the same factories?

I highly doubt there will be much difference in spare parts pricing.

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As I understand yes all part of the Alamo group, but each designed separately by their own individual companies.

McConnell built by McConnell in Ludlow; then Bomford, Twose and Spearhead I think are largely manufactured by a separate company, Alamo Manufacturing (as I understand it in the same factory?)

In my opinion its an almost bizarre setup with a parent company having a multitude of competing hedge trimmer companies, some of which are manufactured in the same factory. You'd have thought having so many brands and competing companies would not be good business, but it works for them and they continue to take over more and more similar companies around the world and grow them!

From memory, the standard flail weighed about 80 grams each, whereas the McConnell ones were 150 grams....way more inertia! The controls are similar to this....can take a photo tomorrow if it's not clear.....!

Got a Bomford Falcon 6T non parallel with VTB 1.2m head on axle brackets and ICS controls.

Will munch whatever you want to put in it!.... Apart from the solid anchored into the ground lower part of a telephone pole stay.... not them.

http://www.bomford-turner.com/landscape/arm-mowers/_product/13/falcon-evo/ not impressed with only a 12month warranty or the new blue!

Sleepy said:

Aren't spearhead and McConnel (and bomford and twose for that matter) all part of the Alamo group, and made in the same factories?

I highly doubt there will be much difference in spare parts pricing.

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Bomford are still made at Evesham.
McConnell are at Ludlow some twose models are made there.
Even though they are all under the Alamo group Bomford are fiercely independent.
Far better product than McConnell imo

Spearhead are manufactured at pershore at Worcester

What problems are there with XTC box? My 2011 one has been faultless touch wood