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Gehl skid steers

cat320

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Messages
913
Location
Stoneham,MA
How are the new Gehl 40 series skid steers? They seam to be very nice saw one at the mascon show. seam very basic and easy to work on .
 

cat320

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Messages
913
Location
Stoneham,MA
Any comment on this machine? Looking at a 240/250 deere and this 4640 gehl. any body run either one of them?
 

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
6,599
Location
LaGrangeville, N.Y.
Gehl doesn't seem to be distributed as well as some of the other brands, it may be why you haven't had a responce. I can't tell you where my nearest dealer is, but I know upstate NY has at least one in the farm country. They are popular with farmers because the brand Gehl has been tried and true with them in farm implements.
 

FatAlbert

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2003
Messages
6
Cat320,

We have a 2002 JD 250 Skidsteer with most of the goodies.
Cab, heat, self level, hydraulic quicktach, flashers, 12ply tires, and weight kit.

Should have got the suspesion seat:beatsme

We wanted virtical lift only, so the market was limited.
So we went around and looked at Mustang (too large), New Holland, Bobcat, and Deere.

The 360 degree visibility is far better on the Deere compared to the rest. Also, Deere uses a seat belt instead of a pull down bar.

I did test a Bobcat, but the pull down bar was too annoying for me.:banghead

So we had a Deere delivered to our sawmill for a week long demo.
Dug some sod up, dug a hole, spread rock, moved logs and lumber with the forks.

Machine had plenty of power to dig around a cornor. Visibility was good to the cornor of the bucket. Fast cycle times. Good stick feel, and pedal feel. Pedals were not stiff to operate.
Machine with out weights is almost neutral while digging, weights add a differnt feel, but is acceptable.


Our biggest problem was with the door for the cab. Dealer tried to correct the problem and was not able to. Two engeneers from Dubque Iowa came to check the cab. It only took 2 minutes with tape measure to figure out the problem. Deere warrentied the cab
:usa


We also have a Grapple and several shop built accessories.

What ever machine you go with the Hydraulic QuickTach is a real treat. We switch from a bucket to forks and back 2 to 4 times per hour of operation.

Cat makes a vertical lift machine too. The controles are way different. I did get a chance to try one out. Neat consept, but a little too much of a change for me.

Mert714 has one, and seem to be getting along pretty good. :notworthy

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask.


By the way last month I was invited for a tour of the Deere Skidsteer factory in Dubque. "Impressive" is a good word to describe the machine.

If you look at some Skidsteers on the market, they are made of flat stock welded together. Deere on the other hand has formed metal parts to add rigidity. Go look at a Volvo skidsteer then a Deere. Nothing against Volvo, just a differnt style of manufacturing.
 

cat320

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Messages
913
Location
Stoneham,MA
Is the self leveler a must have option in the deere ?
We just got a price on one with the following :

250 64 hp
12x16.5 beefy baby tires
base hydraulics
back up alarm
cab enclosure
floor plates
heater/defroster kit
72" bucket no edge

All that for $23,899 the 2 machine price $23,300

The Gehl 4640

60 hp turbo
full cab with heat
self leveler
65" bucket with edge
10x16.5 HD tires
T-bar controls with a gas pedal as well as the hand throtal.

$19,950 this a 2 machine price


Me and a friend of mine will be getting one so better to buy in bulk so to speak. right now the Deere price would have to get alot lower than it is for 2 machines.I rally want to demo both any way to make a good judgement on them.Looking at pics and specs it's hard to make a call but i have used the NH and the deere is close to it but the ols NH i used just dose not have the HP of the new deeres.
 

FatAlbert

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2003
Messages
6
CATman,

If $ is the real deciding factor, we are not compairing Apples to Apples.:(

JD has more expensive tires and larger bucket. Also more HP. The engine should be the Teer III low emision unit, also more value.

I don't know the the capacity of the Gehl, but the Deere is an 1850 lbs class with weights its 2100 lbs.

Self level is nice when using forks or loading a dump truck. For just farting around and snow it may not be worth the money.

Demos are the way to go. Here's a trick if you can pull it off. If you are leaning tords a higher priced machine. Have the cheaper one brought out and before it gets picked up have the higher priced machine dropped off. If the sales man comes out with the machine he'll be more likely to sharpen his pencil. Or the driver will report back to the sales man.


Also, call several dealers. If your not trading in, it's a snap to get a fair bid. What I found from Deere was options were all the same price as posted on there web page. The difference was in the base price and if there is a delivery charge. One dealer bid a very low base price, but when he showed up with the paperwork there was a substancial freight bill:confused:
I sent him packin'



JD Skidsteer web page has a "compair" page. Quick info:D
 

cat320

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Messages
913
Location
Stoneham,MA
Well it's not just the price I'm trying to get the most for the $$ comparing between the two.But looking at the deere price just seams he could sharpen that pencil a little especially for buying 2 of them. I like the deere just because it is like the NH But alot more advanced.But like i said have to demo them first plus my trade in That is more the reason to go new than just getting a 1 or 2 year old machine .No one seams to want the older loaders unless it's for free LOL .So that way I get a new machine not beat on warranty for a year and I get ride of extra machinery that will just sit around. I speced a cat after talking with bkrios last night but it went over $27-28 K for what I want in the machine. And I'm sure it's a very good and reliable machine but the numbers have to work for it to be a good investent for me. Well I should know were I stand next week weather it's a deere or the gehl when the sales man gets back to us.
 

FatAlbert

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2003
Messages
6
Cat320,

I went to Gehl.com and looked at the 4940 loader. The first thing I noticed is the 4940 is a 1500 lbs class loader. To get a little closer comparesion you need to spec a JD 240 not the 250. Just dropping from the 250 to the 240 will save $2330 off list price on the base machine.

Just for kicks, your 2 machine price(JD250) was $23,300 let's subtract the $2330 to goto the 240. $20,970, now we're only a grand differnt from the Gehl. But for that grand you get the better tires, bigger bucket, and more HP.

I'm not saying Deere is better than Gehl. The price is close enough with my goofy math that the real deciding factor will be the machine preformance not the money.


What are you really going to do with it?

What about resale or trade in value. If your going to trade in 3to5 years it's an issue.
But if it's a 30 year ride who cares.
It's going to be worth about 25 cents per pound:D
 

Hedge

Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
11
Location
SE Nebraska
Occupation
Heavy Equipment / Ag Operation
I would reccomend looking at a different brand than a Gehl. I work for a County Hwy Dept and we are on our 4th Gehl 2006,07,08,09. We have a buy back program with the local dealer that we purchased the first one and then we pay so much per hr meter hr each year and we recieve a new one each yr. It is a good thing that it has at least a yrs warranty. They have all been 5640's and we use them for lifting bridge planks digging out small ditches and such. They just don't stand up very well we usually put about 200 hrs a yr on it and in that time we usually put at lest one hydro in that time. The balance of that machine is very poor as well. They add the counter weight and that really makes it very rear heavy without an attatchment on front. I was using the new one (40hrs on meter) yesterday digging post holes and the ditch was soft. I had trouble stalling the hydros (in low) trying to get spun forward to get out of the mud. I sure wouldn't make the investment in one for sure. I would definitly look at Bobcat,Case,Cat,Deere,New Holland way before I would ever look at a Gehl. Heck a used one of the ones above would look better to me than a new Gehl. :beerchug
 

Tigerotor77W

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2004
Messages
1,014
Location
Michigan
Occupation
Engineer
Just a note that this thread is five years old. ***

(edit: the forum doesn't like ": p" (no space in between) for some reason -- I'm trying to use the tongue-sticking-out smiley)
 

Hedge

Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
11
Location
SE Nebraska
Occupation
Heavy Equipment / Ag Operation
Just a note that this thread is five years old. ***

I noticed that however I thought I share my thoughts anyway. Also I should note that the only reason we keep getting the Gehls is that the county board is determined to buy as much as possible from in county businesses. I agree with that right up to the point that if the product doesn't measure up that it isn't really cost effective to continue to purchase the products..
 

Tigerotor77W

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2004
Messages
1,014
Location
Michigan
Occupation
Engineer
Understood -- just in case. :)

Now I'm curious, though. By "hydro," do you the pump? And I had thought that Gehls were usually built like tanks... have all your models been this faulty?
 

Hedge

Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
11
Location
SE Nebraska
Occupation
Heavy Equipment / Ag Operation
Now I'm curious, though. By "hydro," do you the pump? And I had thought that Gehls were usually built like tanks... have all your models been this faulty?

Well I can't fully answer that. I am a blade operator and so I luckily wasn't the one running them when any of them failed. The best I can tell you is that we notice a clicking noise way before the problem becomes major. From what I understand of the deal I would say it was likely what I would call a wheel drive motor that was the problem. This new one has quite a lot of hydro noise already. In fact every one that has ran it wonders if it is the original one just refurbished....:confused:;) We really like having a skid steer around to load planks and stuff but it stinks when the unit is gone getting fixed.... We have had a set of grouser tracks on each machine and they create another problem. The tracks will push mud up into the hydraulic couplers on the underside of the boom and force the line that hooks up to the female coupler to shear the threads loose. The line is only fastened by 2 or 3 threads and it just can't take any kind of contact. It needs to be machined a bit on the end of the threads and a little longer line added so it has more threads to hold it on better. I really think the next bigger machine might be better but you know how a bid deal is just big enough to fit the specs and lump all the toys you can and yet make it the cheapest so ya get the bid. They do bid it but still no matter what take the Gehl bid... :Banghead One other problem we had on the last one was the heater line for the cab runs up on top of the motor and gets hot enough from the exhaust pipe it failed. Tends to run all the oil out of the motor and that isn't good...:eek:
 
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