Is two speed essential

[StuveCorp]

Two speed is a must, you will have no resale without it.

[cat320]

I don't think that it would make that big of a deal for resale. there is always something for someone

[peteo1]

Personally I would stay away from gehl. They're oil cooled and will overheat in the summer. We had three of them at my job. Now were down to two of them and a brand new CAT. There's a reason they're being traded out.

[Mark13]

Originally Posted by jomama45

BTW, I think the salesman may be full of BS, as I highly doubt the single speed machine even does 8 MPH..........

As stated before, go drive a Gehl 5640 around. For a single speed they cruise right along.

Originally Posted by peteo1

Personally I would stay away from gehl. They're oil cooled and will overheat in the summer. We had three of them at my job. Now were down to two of them and a brand new CAT. There's a reason they're being traded out.

The older ones are oil cooled Duetz motors. The newer stuff is Yanmar's.
The oil cooled motors are good, just treat them right. Duetz tractors are air cooled in every application that I've seen.
A lot of farmers like the Gehl/Mustang stuff, quite a few are repeat buyers so I'm sure they didn't keep buying them if their first machine sucked.

[peteo1]

The ones we have aren't really that old but we got em on a "deal". They just haven't really worked out for us so now they're being swapped out. Then again, we ask a lot out of our equipment so that probably has quite a bit to do with it.

[buckwheat_la]

Originally Posted by RLM

My bobcats are both single speeds they work fine, however if I were to buy another I would prefer a 2 speed with high flow as well, but it all depends on the deal, if I came across the "right" deal I wouldn't hesitate to buy another single speed with just standard hydro. If your buying now there are plenty of deals around just look around & take your time.

Originally Posted by cat320

I have a Gehl 4640 turbo single speed , i think unless your plowing bigger areas or small roads a single would be fine in my opinion but if you have a bigger space then a 2 speed would be better as far as hydro i think mine has std flow up 19 alot more than some of the other std size machines in that class. what model are you looking at?

Originally Posted by bluerage94

Ever hit a manhole cover or curb at 12mph? two speed is nice but single is fine for plowing if you need the speed then might as well go to a compact loader...

We run a both single speed and 2 speed machines and the 2 speed machines are great for large open lots, but in all honesty I prefer the single speed machines for small lots, it removes the temptation for my guys to use it in tight areas or around vehicles.

[PrecisionSnow]

I have 15 skid steers and most are 2 speed machines. We drive them from site to site and do approximately 70% residential and 30% small commercial/condo.

If you are clearing with a plow with a trip edge and are sure you won't hit any curbs etc. then plowing in the 2nd speed is probably okay. If you are using a bucket, then be very careful!

The only reason I ever plow in 2 speed is if we need to get extra spin on the wheels when going through deep snow or on bad ice.

Our sites are very close together: I worked out the straight math on travel times for our routes and the difference is 30-45 minutes longer in a single speed machine. The staff, however, perceive the difference to be much greater.

If you are buying new, I would get the 2 speed machine. If you see a good used machine I'd be less worried about the 2nd speed unless you have a lot of distance to cover between sites.

The picture was taken at a hospital when a skid-steer operator hit a fuel tank cap at a gas station. The employee used to work for me, but worked for a competitor when this happened...

Lastly, Bobcat and others will let you lock out the 2 speed when you are training new employees or if you are using it in the summer and don't need the extra speed.

[jomama45]

Originally Posted by Mark13

As stated before, go drive a Gehl 5640 around. For a single speed they cruise right along.

There's no shortage of Gehl's around here, and they're certainly not "Greek" to me. Their headquartered 20 minutes from my house last I heard, so there's fairly heavy market saturation here. My Dad has one. My brother has one. A friend of mine who runs a relatvily large dairy farm has 5 or 6 of them.

It's not that I think 8 mph is just too slow, I find 12 mph to be too slow most of the time. I'm currently working on a plan to offset the front to rear wheels on one of my skids for next winter and mounting tires from an ag fert. sprayer onto it.................

I won't let the picture in the post directly above sway my decision...........

[jasonz]

I have a Gehl CTL70, its a great machine, we dont use it for plowing but I spread 120 yards of topsoil last week with out the two speed (solenoid broken) and let me tell you it makes all the difference. I replaced the solenoid the other day thank god. For small tight jobs you don't need it. We do large jobs where there is plenty of space to run the machine at the higher speeds and making those long trips from the soil pile out front all the way into the back you will notice a difference.

As far as plowing I would think it would be the same thing, at a large site why wouldn't you use it? At a small gas station theres probably no need for it.

[welder1122]

A few of the machines I've spent time in lock out two speed for the first 15 mins or so of operation for some reason and let nee tell you that is the slowest time... I feel like nothing gets done