I've got a lot of these units in the field... one has over 3,000 hrs; not a single bushing has been replaced. The open style operator station is safety related. It is open to allow the operator to exit the machine quickly if needed.
Hi guys, I’ve had the ditch witch for over a year now. 205 hours on it at the moment. No issues so far. To clarify a few things. The bucket that I used on this demo is not the ditch witch bucket so the dump angle was off. The 52” dw bucket I got with the machine dumps perfectly. The machine has not thrown a track yet and Maintenance has been a breeze. I highly recommend it. If you have any more specific questions let me know.
Michael Mac Tavish The Kubota is no brainer once it comes out and goes into full production mode.. it’s their engine that powers pretty well all of the mini skid steers out there.. I wonder why on top of everything else they are able to do well.. they’re hinge pin height, wide tracks even keeping to the 36” total width. In all its impressive and will take my money instantly.
@@ericpurcell9984 yeah im planing getting a 16.3hp kubota diesel generator wich was pretty cheap $8,000 for the GL11,000 11,000 watts but the cat was rediculas with there 10,000 watts wich they wanted $36,900
Have used both of these machines, the Ditch Witch was also used for some commercial demolition. For controls, I liked the Vermeer, but after a bit, the Ditch Witch was easy to use too. After speaking to a service tech, he said both have pros and cons. My personal preference would be the Vermeer.
Also when u clean down the machines u can probably spray 303 onto the tracks, hydro hoses and also the exposed rubber areas machine and let the machine sit for 5 hours so that solution can seep into the treated parts. 303 will make those areas treated with it keep their strength and hold up a bit longer to the sun/elements/strains of use.
i bought the 752 Now called the 850 back in April of 2017 it had 75 hours on it as a demo..paid 19K for it and im glad i bought it..Great machine..after renting the 1000 Dingo i noticed lots of nicer things about the 752...easy track cleanout, height advantage over a dingo and faster operation.. unfortunately you werent comparing apples to oranges here.. the DW and Vermeer were two different weight classes and two different price points....
Some good comparison material! Thanks for sharing. Was the bigger boxer not available? Just curious, I’m looking to get a mini, I do tree work and buggered my back pretty good. The closest mini dealer is nortrax who deals with boxer. Vermeer and DW are 8 hours away.
Excellent commentary. I’m in Australia and I’ve got a DW SK750 which has the kubota 25hp engine but a turbo on it boosts it to 32hp. Doesn’t the SK800 have it? No grease points is a bonus for me. The track tensioning system is very quick. I had a bolt/spring set up on my old SK600 but the grease one is much easier to use. One last point. The shape of the bonnet reduces dirt collecting on the machine.
If you want to move the Vermeer without standing on it just C clamp the saftey thing permently down, lol. Problem solved. I have used both machines and liked the Vermeer better overall. The controls on the ditch witch were actually a little too squirrelly for my skill level which made for some spills and mistakes. The vermeer controls were smoother and more progressive which I liked. Also the ditch witch bogged down when trying to pivot sharply in soft dirt, and also a bit of delay in the response at times. Also had the same experience with the bucket not dumping quite steep enough to dump dirt quickly, had to wait for it to fall out or shake the bucket and it was dry loose dirt. The ditch witch doesn't have sides which makes it quick and easy to jump off and on when you're working and you'll notice that right away. However it is nice to have the protection of the Vermeer so kind of a toss up there, but it takes a bit more time to step around the sides when getting on and off.
Ditch witch mechanic here the bushings on the Ditch witch should last well over a 1000 hours depending what the machine is doing if your ramming rock pile and hitting buildings yeah 500 hours but if your just loading rocks and not beating the hell out of it they will last along time some land scape guys never need to replace them now the tree service guys just beat them to death ramming into stuff all day every day
Ditch witch sk1050 is way better, tracks driven by sprocket give you lot more of life, other tracks dirt, stones, gravel and chips go on it and chew out pieces damaging tracks that cost lot of money before you really worn them off, ditch witch go longer on them, I have tons of tracks with plenty of life on them but useless because inside tracks damage easily, good review just forgot to mention on that, any machine new is good, we really know until the use on different situations, good luck to all!
You wont be disappointing! My wife runs a sk750 its been fantastic. Only problem so far was a glowplug relay, no biggie. Tensioning the fan belt is a pain doing it the second time for 500 hours. Also have grease zerks and shear bolts for the track tension cylinder handy. every once in a while i get a 2-3" stone in the track that pops that shear-bolt. Kinda annoying but nice that you cannot damage the track or machine by jamming the track. Be Well
Getting ready to make the same purchase this year. Thank you for pointing out the all points. Not trying to be nosey but could you share your out the door price? Just making sure that I'm not getting ripped off. Thank you. Rusty.
On my 650tx I changed the operator presence switch in the platform, to an actual switch on the dash. That way I can move the mini or arms without being on the unit, but I have a parking brake when I need it (and is activated when machine is off). I needed to do this to the switch for my truck setup, otherwise I couldn't load it myself properly.
Buy sk1550. It kicks the crap out of Vermeer. 6 inch trench 3 and half ft deep 1000 ft in 8 hours. Lifts 2500 pounds. The only down side is that she is thirsty. And it finally can run skidsteer attachments with adapter plate.
Greasless??? Even at 3000 hours. Greasing is easy. Great comparison, but I think you raised my interest in the Vermeer. And I think it can be modified to allow riderless operation for getting on and off the trailer. Thanks man!
you should have SK1050, with also dual hydraulics, but with Orange Intel telematics, auto throttle and much more power then S925TX in same footprint and same weight... It is traditional Vermeer trick, they are not able to make comparable unit, so they put spec in the gap in DW line... same with drills, etc....
Good video. Can anyone tell me if the auxiliary circuits operate when the operator is not standing on the platform? I have an attachment with an external hydraulic control valve located on the attachment which requires continuous flow to the attachment when the operator is not on the platform. I'm sure this safety feature could be bypassed, but doing that would not be appropriate on a rental.
What's the overall cost of a basic (just getting my feet wet) mini skid steer machine like those with a huge auger attachment, a brush mower attachment, a trencher attachment, a backhoe attachment, forklift attachment, grappler blade attachment?
You will be in the $50,000 range easily if you buy all that stuff new (plus a trailer to haul it). The backhoe and trencher will be your most costly attatchments.
Mike L - the items are well worth the money Cuz they make things so much easier. "Your tools and how good you use them, make you who u are" in business. Awesome products for landscaping!!!!!!
I'm about to buy a new vermeer tx925 with a 40 hp gas kubota engine at around 31k. I hope this helps. as far as attachments, you'll have to shop around and find quality. I learned about the steel that's used from China vs what's American made. you'll see it in the price you're quoted from one distributor to the next.
Good review, on the Vermeer none of them will multifunction like running the arms and the bucket at the same time. Ditch witch is light in the lifting department on that model but they make an sk1050 that will easily compete with a Vermeer. The Toro tx1000 is decrepitly underpowered known for having issues and has the slowest lifting arms I have ever experienced at the GIE. As for the bobcat mt85 I seriously think it is on par with these two models and far superior to the Toro tx1000
Let me clarify, what I was saying was when operating the vermeer when your running the arms if you try to move the bucket the arms will stall out....up or down, loaded or empty doesn't matter.
Ben Richter ...So we just went through this process this past season. I demoed just about every ditch witch sk, 2 Vermeers including the 925, the bobcat mt85 and the Dingo Tx1000. Here’s my input....They all had pros and cons like you said but, The Ditch Witch models had them all beat in just being an overall better machine. In my opinion. The all had more digging force, moved faster including hydraulic operation and ground speed, had more responsive controls, better track systems, etc. The Vermeer on 2 occasions had the track slip off from dirt getting inside the carrier, same happened on the bobcat. The sk’s track system is hands down the best and easiest to maintain. I liked the toro for the sole reason that it had a fast ground speed and turf friendly tracks, other than that....the machine was just a little under powered. But really, to make this a fair comparison I would suggest trying the sk1050. It is basically a direct match to the Vermeer at the same price point. The sk1050 is basically the 850 with a weight kit but doesn’t affect any performance, just adds ROC. It’s a monster. With 37hp it competes with smaller CTLs in performance and imo....blows the Vermeer away in almost every aspect. I strongly suggest testing it out before making a decision. Now you could most likely pick up a leftover or lightly used sk850 and buy a weight kit that would more or less give you a less expensive sk1050....But after getting the chance to demo them both back to back I feel the sk1050 had the hydraulics tweaked a little to be a little smoother in function over the sk850. Trust me when I say I put them all through the paces with just about everything we could throw at them. Overall the Sk from 850 to 1550 are the best mini skids available. We would have got the 1550 but it was just a bit too big for maneuvering certain jobs we would need it for. The sk1050 was the winner in my book.
Great review. You were fair in your appraisal. But please be aware that in this big wide world, Toro Dingo, are not true Dingo like the original built in Australia. We have all heard the bad mail on the Toro Dingo. Happy digging
@@Ray-he4oe yeah Dingo Australia couldn't sell their machines so had to get someone else to do it. The only good thing about having Wacker involved is maybe they will buy them out and start making a decent machine again. Apparently their sales have increased 300%. Can't be too hard. Only have to sell 5 machines. 😂
And BTW, please say ah or um all you want. Do these viewers really expect you to be a professional video producer? C'mon! The guy gives you a well though out review, and you're paying attention to his speech patters? Let's see your video then. ✌😜
Vermeer doesn’t get my vote in Australia. They are far to pushy at a sales level. Due to this and a better price it was a no brainer. I brought the Ditchwitch
Bud those machines can easily pay for themselves in a year or less even if you're only working them 2 or 3 days a week. Find any number of niche markets in your area and you'll likely have more work than you can get to in today's economy. Incredible ROI.
These are as valuable as 5 guys depending on the scope of work you do. They don't get sick, call off, or have a hangover. Totally worth it. I do trees and i know me and 5 guys can't lift a 2000lb log 6 feet up over a dump trailer all day every day.
really? a zero turn mower runs more than that, a nice one runs arond 9-12,000. These aren't used on 250 dollar jobs, these are used on jobs where you are moving or removing trees, rocks, whole bushes, removing turf, installing turf. You could pay for this thing in under a year if you worked hard with it and very easily within two years with it. You just have to price right and work hard man.
I can promise you one thing. U will be kicking yourself for not getting the one with more life capacity. Great video loved it, can’t stand how many times you say ummm or ahhhh. Even my wife sitting next to me asked me what the heck
Depends how you view the machines. I had a bad DW rental once and thought they were worthless. I planned on buying a Vermeer s450tx because I loved renting them. The controls are my favorite. I was in a pinch recently and had to rent a DW 600 and liked it. Talked to the dealer and he said the rental I had was a lemon,had metal in the pump from the factory or something. A friend has a Vermeer s450tx and after 400 hrs had to put new front track rollers in because so much dirt stayed packed in place- definitely a maintenance issue but with DW tracks it self cleans and no need for maintenance. DW can be operated from the side of the machine which is nice when hooking up attachments. Vermeer has a better auxiliary lever because it actually detent’s vs using a foot pedal, Vermeer has nicer joystick controls. DW 600 is faster ground speed and higher lift, extra lift capacity and easy bucket locking pin than a Vermeer s450tx. They both have the same engine. After tax I was quoted S450tx $25,800 with bucket Sk600 $23,300 no bucket I think Vermeer has to get their prices down and fix their track design to stay competitive