Dingo 525 vs. Bobcat MT55

[PowerPlay]

I have had an MT52 for three years now and run it almost every day. I have 1200 hrs on the machine and will tell you it is the best investment I have ever made. I can answer any questions you have about it. I will try to summarize:

1) Wheeled Platform - It is annoying at times, especially when trenching. They do make a platform that does not have the wheel and you just stand on. It's not a big deal to take it off when necessary though.
2) Attachment Plate - Bobcat makes one to adapt to the toro attachments, it cost me about $300 a couple years ago. A sidenote, the attachment plate does not adapt to the toro soil cultivator. The angle of the hydraulic attachments and distance to the machine does not work unless you have longer than normal hydraulic hoses. There is only one place I can rent this from and it doesn't work.
3) Power - People will go on and on about which machine has more power, etc., etc. The bottom line is the Mt52 will handle anything you need it to. I can trench 24" deep in red clay and run a 36" auger with it. The machine is properly powered. Also, consider the fuel savings with a smaller enigne. I can run about 6-8 hrs on a 6 gallon tank.
4) Tracks - I get about 400-500hrs out of them. But we do a lot of work on concrete and asphalt as far as picking up soil and gravel. If you mainly work in the soil, you should get 800-1000 hrs out of your tracks.
5) Grease - Keep it greased daily! I like the idea of being able to grease the machine vs. the ones that you cannot. You have control over it. I use to run mowers that had grease points and ones that did not. The mowers with grease points always outlasted the ones that did not as long as you grease them properly.
6) Dealer Support - Incredibly important. My dealer is outstanding and has me back on the jobsite witihin a day. I have only had to take the machine in a couple times, recently for a new wiring harness. But they had me ready the next day. Downtime kills you, so this is huge.

Let me know if you have any other questions about the machine.

[Summit L & D]

Originally Posted by PowerPlay

I have had an MT52 for three years now and run it almost every day. I have 1200 hrs on the machine and will tell you it is the best investment I have ever made. I can answer any questions you have about it. I will try to summarize:

1) Wheeled Platform - It is annoying at times, especially when trenching. They do make a platform that does not have the wheel and you just stand on. It's not a big deal to take it off when necessary though.
2) Attachment Plate - Bobcat makes one to adapt to the toro attachments, it cost me about $300 a couple years ago. A sidenote, the attachment plate does not adapt to the toro soil cultivator. The angle of the hydraulic attachments and distance to the machine does not work unless you have longer than normal hydraulic hoses. There is only one place I can rent this from and it doesn't work.
3) Power - People will go on and on about which machine has more power, etc., etc. The bottom line is the Mt52 will handle anything you need it to. I can trench 24" deep in red clay and run a 36" auger with it. The machine is properly powered. Also, consider the fuel savings with a smaller enigne. I can run about 6-8 hrs on a 6 gallon tank.
4) Tracks - I get about 400-500hrs out of them. But we do a lot of work on concrete and asphalt as far as picking up soil and gravel. If you mainly work in the soil, you should get 800-1000 hrs out of your tracks.
5) Grease - Keep it greased daily! I like the idea of being able to grease the machine vs. the ones that you cannot. You have control over it. I use to run mowers that had grease points and ones that did not. The mowers with grease points always outlasted the ones that did not as long as you grease them properly.
6) Dealer Support - Incredibly important. My dealer is outstanding and has me back on the jobsite witihin a day. I have only had to take the machine in a couple times, recently for a new wiring harness. But they had me ready the next day. Downtime kills you, so this is huge.

Let me know if you have any other questions about the machine.

You mentioned the Soil Cultivator. That is the attachment that I am the most concerned about. So are you saying that if I put longer hoses on Soil Cultivator it will work? I'm thinking about going to homebrew route and making my own. Taking a tiller attachment and having my welder make the bar and roller, just like that of the Toro soil cultivator. I now that I can have something made for far less than what a new Soil Cultivator will cost me.

Thoughts?

[PowerPlay]

I only rented the soil cultivator once. I just remember that the hoses were not long enough with the attachment plate and angle of the hydraulics. You should definitely check on this if you plan to buy the cultivator or use it a lot. It may not work with the attachment plate. I know the harley rake works fine though. As far as building your own, if you have the ability to do it, that would be a great option.

[jrdean62]

Just for all those interested. Since purchasing Bobcat, Doosan has decided to get out of the compact field so the MT-55 and MT-52 will be gone in the near future.

[Forkster]

where did you get this info?
are they going to get out of the all line of compact loaders?

[Junior M]

I personally like the boxer alot more than the dingo... but those are the only two i have ever ran

the platform set up on the bobcat seems like a HORRIBLE idea cuz you have to take it off just to load it on a regular equipment trailer.

but the dingo i ran was a wheeled rental machine with 1400 hours on it.. and the tracked boxer i rented was awesome the first time i rented it when it had bout 50 hours on it.. but the last time i rented it it had a little over 500 hours on it and the tracks and rollers were wore out....
idk if it is cuz it is a rental or it is just the machine but if it is the machine it is probably really hard to keep tracks on....

[Junior M]

woooooooo what? where did you hear this? that seems strange considering they havent been out the long?

[Forkster]

I don't think you have to take this platform off to be able to load your bobcat on the trailer: it's just flip-up.

[Junior M]

Originally Posted by Forkster

I don't think you have to take this platform off to be able to load your bobcat on the trailer: it's just flip-up.

thats the reason why i have never looked at bobcat walkbehind mtl's is because of the platform just seemed like it would be so uncomfortable and beat you up even more than the platforms on dingo's and boxers,

i am guessing that is after market?

[jrdean62]

I talked to a bobcat dealer and that is what I was told. The dealers in this area are discounting their machines to get them out of their inventory.