Pivot steer handler

[Niall Quinn]

I am considering changing our handler, have an mla 628 120, I need to stay with pivot steer as drivers prefer it and I prefer it myself. Not sure of jcb or manitou as they seem very big and bulky of themselves. I am considering a dieci t80 but waiting on having a demo to try it but wondering what are the opinions out there on them. I am wary of the hydrostatic transmission over the power shift I am used to. Thoughts plz?

 

[Hilly]

I am considering changing our handler, have an mla 628 120, I need to stay with pivot steer as drivers prefer it and I prefer it myself. Not sure of jcb or manitou as they seem very big and bulky of themselves. I am considering a dieci t80 but waiting on having a demo to try it but wondering what are the opinions out there on them. I am wary of the hydrostatic transmission over the power shift I am used to. Thoughts plz?

I was just about to start a thread asking about dieci, been offerd a demo soon kind o tempted , love to know how people getting on with them as well.?

 

[HarryB97]

Once you have had a hydrostatic you will never go back, the same for a vario in a tractor or an automatic car.

 

[Spotty Dog]

I disagree HarryB97. I run torque convertor Manitous and have tried 3 different hydro machines and just cannot get away with them. Combines yes sp choppers yes, handlers no.
Simple answer for the OP is just buy another Manitou in my opinion.

 

[Fergieman]

Manitou TC and hydro here and I would take the hydro everytime.

 

[Bald Rick]

Dieci will have a poor second hand value but that shouldn't stop you buying.

Had a mini pivot on demo from Weidemann that I thought was well built. They do bigger pivots as do Kramer and Schaeffer if you want alternatives

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Another plus for Weidemann. Have a mini pivot 1280 and I would say it is well built and punches above its weight.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I cannot get away with hydrostatic handlers either

 

[Pistonbroke]

Anyone got an NC handler?

 

[Mr Charisma]

Why is it some people get on with hydro and others don't , personally I get on with hydro well on my combine and sprayer but they do not compare to a vario transmission in usability, I would of thought that a hydro on a tele handler would be to "vague" when you get to the limits, but I suppose it all depends what you do, loading corn and moving fert about is different than messing around on a muck heap..

I would just add that these are my pondering and I've never driven a hydro loader

 

[ColinV6]

We have a manitou 630 with the hydrostatic “V” transmission and we all love it. Honestly couldn’t go back to a power shift type one where you have to hold it on the brakes all the time. It’s so easy to modulate the speed using the foot pedal, and you let off, you stop.

Ive heard several people say they prefer the “V” gearbox in the 630 to the V+ box in the 635. I like the fact there’s 2 speeds in ours, 0-20kh/h and 0-40km/h so it’s more precise round the yard. You can also reduce the max speed in each gear for more precision but I’ve never found the need.

 

[Hilly]

Why is it some people get on with hydro and others don't , personally I get on with hydro well on my combine and sprayer but they do not compare to a vario transmission in usability, I would of thought that a hydro on a tele handler would be to "vague" when you get to the limits, but I suppose it all depends what you do, loading corn and moving fert about is different than messing around on a muck heap..

I would just add that these are my pondering and I've never driven a hydro loader

Hydro great for muck no wheel spin more control etc it’s very precise that sitting on the brakes is miserable .

 

[Benjio]

I’ve only bit of experience on older manitou (powershift) pivots, Schaffer and Jcb 320, use ability Wise the Schaffer was impressive but Jcb cab was nicer place to sit. Schaffer is on a dairy farm where they run the 2 manitou pivots with over 14,000 hours on both. They updated their Schaffer last year as the dealer brought them a demo out and made them a very good offer on the old one!

 

[Chips]

I have a weidemann 5080t , it kind of sits size wize between the jcb tm220 AND 320 . Big advantage over nearly all other handlers is that it has a fully locking diff operating from the joystick and not a limited slip diff . this makes steering effortless and was the big difference for me between this and the schaffer . The locking diff also makes a huge difference to tyre wear , mine are like new at 3750hrs where as most would be bald by now .
Love the hydro transmission , feels very numb now when I drive my brother in laws jcb , no more leg ache from holding on the brakes all day with hydro . Only downside to hydro I guess is they are a bit noisy on the road and won't tow heavy trailers so well

 

[Spud]

I am considering changing our handler, have an mla 628 120, I need to stay with pivot steer as drivers prefer it and I prefer it myself. Not sure of jcb or manitou as they seem very big and bulky of themselves. I am considering a dieci t80 but waiting on having a demo to try it but wondering what are the opinions out there on them. I am wary of the hydrostatic transmission over the power shift I am used to. Thoughts plz?

Is this any good? Bit smaller than a TM320. Our first telehandler was a 1986 Matbro Teleram, replaced in 1995 with a Matbro TR250, then in 2005 with a TM300, that I've just agreed to replace with a TM320s (The TM300 is in the next York Machinery sale if anyone fancies it, good reliable old bus) We demo'd the new Manitou pivot steer, but none of us got on with it very well, we all universally decided the staying with a JCB was the right way for us. Manitou too complicated and not as well screwed together, nor did it have quite as much tip angle.
We have two rigid machines too, so its handy that all 3 machines are very similar.
Not sure about all this talk of 'holding it on the brakes' is coming from - not an issue to us, they have a neutral position! We found we were forever altering the max speed position on the red one, the control for which wasn't well located.
Anyway, we're all different I guess.