Solis tractors am i mad?

[buffalo_soldier]

Right totally peed off with my scraper tractor now.
It had £2.5k of repairs last year, £1.5k so far this year and its gone bang again this morning, so there's another £1k at least.

Been having a google and a dealer locally ish has these listed for sale at a pound under £7k.

Get say £1.5k for my machine and its £5.5k to swap for new.
A no brainer or should i wait till i've calmed down?

 

[The_Swede]

Is it Chinese? If so hope its a marked improvement on some of the other 'brands' i've seen from there... Don't know what your using now but is a little 26hp machine like that going to be up the scraping job?

 

[Splitpin]

Not got one myself but the hydrostatic Kiotis seem popular round here but think there more than that.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Is it Chinese? If so hope its a marked improvement on some of the other 'brands' i've seen from there... Don't know what your using now but is a little 26hp machine like that going to be up the scraping job?

Worse than Chinese i think its Indian.

Massey 550 now so it would be a step down but would only ever do scraping.

 

[Banana Bar]

Very cheap for a very good reason. In 3 yrs it would be knackered and worth a pound under £2

 

[TripleSix]

spares and backup ok?
Solis are indian, I presume they're made in India too, usually better than Chinese.

Why not an MF 35/135 for a scraper? Get a fully restored one...

 

[Monty]

We've got a 550 for scraping. Thought they were supposed to be reliable. What happened to it?

 

[The_Swede]

Take it your local dealer is Tunstalls, for comparison how much is a ~50hp SDF tractor, SAME Tiger type - BTW I think these models may be Indian built too!

 

[Blue.]

As posted get a refurb 135 or the like.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

As posted get a refurb 135 or the like.

That's what i would say as well but they are either the same money or more than this Solis and its new.

 

[brynseiri]

50hp for a fecking yard scraper? You'll need twin beacons next ffs. I'd buy anything made in India over chink Shyte any day, remember your latest MF35 is made there using the very same machines that they were made on in Banner lane. 4wd will make it kick arse on a scraper too, all the power getting to the ground. If the service and back up is there then there's no reason that thing would be fecked in two years. I'd give it a punt, it'll have a years warranty to start with, a used shitbox won't.

 

[nick...]

Very cheap for a very good reason. In 3 yrs it would be knackered and worth a pound under £2

If it lasts this long
Nick...

 

[Drillman]

Why don't more people use bobcat type machines for scraping?

 

[Blue.]

That's what i would say as well but they are either the same money or more than this Solis and its new.

Yes but when you've wrecked the 135 some bugger will buy it to do up again,and the cycle repeats.

Having seen the solis tractors locally,I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole.


What about a small power shuttle dumper?

 

[buffalo_soldier]

We've got a 550 for scraping. Thought they were supposed to be reliable. What happened to it?

Im not mechanical so you will have to bear with me.
Last couple of big ones, the rod that holds the front axle on has snapped, dropping it on its nose. From there its just pot luck what it breaks. This has happened twice.

This morning it set off with smoke blowing out of the exhaust like an F1 car does when the engine fails, then it dropped all the oil on the floor. Which was cleaned up and recorded as per whatever regulation incase any jobsworth reads this.

 

[nick...]

Ive said before on here if i wanted a scraper tractor id get a 3ton dumper.remove the skip and mount a scraper on the front using hydraulics already on the machine.these are designed to be operated by complete pond life,and if you saw ops using them you'd understand.built like the proverbial brick sh!t house,ultra reliable and 4wd too.would last for years.only down side is no cab but you could see what you're doing without looking over your shoulder
Nick...

 

[Monty]

But isn't the 550 identical to a 135 with a cab on? I think you've been unlucky there tbh.

This may be controversial but what about cheap david browns? We used to use 885's for scraping. Buy for £1000-£1500 run them for 5 or so years till they break then replace. Similar to masseys but rubbish awkward cabs

 

[Ducati899]

what about a tafe? main importer is near us and I've had a couple when he's doing work on my 135 on loan,good tractors..he goes all over the country selling them

 

[kill]

How about a new Kubota as with 5year warranty it maybe worth using 5 year repayment plan and that would probably work out way cheaper than your current unreliable machine?

I think smaller Kubota's have some sort of hydrostatic transmission that makes them magic for yard scraping.

 

[Farmergrum]

@smcapstick