Greetings everyone! I've been reading this forum for a week or so and have learned a lot of good information on the RTVs. It's nice to visit a forum that is so friendly and helpful. They're not all that way as I'm sure you know.
I pastor a church in upstate NY and it has fallen on me to research some options for a vehicle to help us with our grounds keeping needs. Let me give you a bit of info about our property and our needs.
We have 15 acres in a rural setting that we built a new church on a few years ago. We also have a kids church building, a storage garage and a shed. We are planning on building a larger church sanctuary in a few years (15000 sq. ft.). I mention all this to say we are in "construction mode" for the next several years. We have a large gravel parking lot, lots of grass to mow and a 500 ft. driveway.
We are mowing with a large zero turn mower and a 26hp Utility tractor. Volunteers are plowing the parking lot with their trucks and occasionally we move some snow banks with the loader on the tractor. We need a machine to plow the smaller areas around the buildings, sidewalks, etc. as well as a machine to run around the property to haul landscaping materials, do sanding, carry the weed trimmers, etc. I looked at a Toolcat but the cost is prohibitive. We test drove an 1100 yesterday and loved it.
My questions are:
1. In cold weather (average 10 to 25 degrees), how long does this machine take to get warm enough for the tranny fluid to allow "full power" for plowing?
2. Does anyone have experience with a tow behind mower using an RTV. If so, how big? 60 inch, 72 inch
3. Would you consider this a good machine for this? Any other thoughts would be most welcome.
I've done a lot of reading about these machines and we are ready to purchase, I think. Should I make sure that the manufacturing date is 11-07 or later? I've read about some issues that have been fixed since summer 07 but I'm not sure about the latest fixes, fuel tank, limits or stops on CV joints to prevent them from popping out, etc.
Thanks everyone for all your help.
Matt
I pastor a church in upstate NY and it has fallen on me to research some options for a vehicle to help us with our grounds keeping needs. Let me give you a bit of info about our property and our needs.
We have 15 acres in a rural setting that we built a new church on a few years ago. We also have a kids church building, a storage garage and a shed. We are planning on building a larger church sanctuary in a few years (15000 sq. ft.). I mention all this to say we are in "construction mode" for the next several years. We have a large gravel parking lot, lots of grass to mow and a 500 ft. driveway.
We are mowing with a large zero turn mower and a 26hp Utility tractor. Volunteers are plowing the parking lot with their trucks and occasionally we move some snow banks with the loader on the tractor. We need a machine to plow the smaller areas around the buildings, sidewalks, etc. as well as a machine to run around the property to haul landscaping materials, do sanding, carry the weed trimmers, etc. I looked at a Toolcat but the cost is prohibitive. We test drove an 1100 yesterday and loved it.
My questions are:
1. In cold weather (average 10 to 25 degrees), how long does this machine take to get warm enough for the tranny fluid to allow "full power" for plowing?
2. Does anyone have experience with a tow behind mower using an RTV. If so, how big? 60 inch, 72 inch
3. Would you consider this a good machine for this? Any other thoughts would be most welcome.
I've done a lot of reading about these machines and we are ready to purchase, I think. Should I make sure that the manufacturing date is 11-07 or later? I've read about some issues that have been fixed since summer 07 but I'm not sure about the latest fixes, fuel tank, limits or stops on CV joints to prevent them from popping out, etc.
Thanks everyone for all your help.
Matt