# Bobcat or Tractor



## MrJeff (Mar 20, 2010)

You can't turn on a dime with a tractor.


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

DO NOT USE A TRACTOR! You can't see the forks as easy-you'll end up crashing into hives and wrecking boxes/pallets. You hit a bump and there is more leverage to throw your hives. You can't turn as good. Tractors are for field work and gardening. A bobcat with 5th wheel and mast or a swinger/hummerbee w/mast is for bee work.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

My mentor had a tractor with front forks and rear fork mast for using in loading hives for his 28 hive almond contract. Seemed to work pretty well to me, carried a pallet on front and another on back to set in orchard while I unstrapped and smoked the next set.

He retired and sold the tractor to me, and it's been being used to clear brush and make drive ways and level ground. Oh, it was great help in setting new well tank too!

So yes, a tractor might be more versatile, but I'm not one to say as I've never used a bobcat.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

I've seen it done - loading/ unloading a semi with a tractor - but I tell ya - that guy was good!! Not just anyone could do that with a tractor + I was surprised at how much HP it too for that tractor to be really stable. I've ran a tractor all my life, but doubt I'd be much good on one unloading a semi, but I can help out with a bobcat + I bet I can buy 3 bobcats for the price of one tractor big enough and solid enough to be really useful with a big bee semi.


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

When a tractor tips over usually it throws the driver down on the ground first then falls on top of him.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

Tom G. Laury said:


> When a tractor tips over usually it throws the driver down on the ground first then falls on top of him.


Good point! If you do get a tractor, be sure it has a good rollbar and seatbelts - I can not count the number of rollover tractor accidents around here in the last 25 years. Bet I can not turn our little bobcat over if I tried.... well maybe tip it.


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## HONEYDEW (Mar 9, 2007)

Tom G. thats what ROPS and seat belts are for,  Harry Vanderpool has a nice set up with a tractor and he can till his garden when needed, try that with a bobcat...


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

HONEYDEW said:


> and he can till his garden when needed, try that with a bobcat...


I have worn out my first Bobcat rototiller and am well into my second. This is the old one on the block.


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## fishhead (Mar 3, 2010)

Bobcat or hummer bee all the way
Much safer


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## John Lockhart (Feb 13, 2005)

I was lucky enough to use the demo Swinger 1K for three week this spring, and this is the next forklift I'm going to buy. I own two old swingers and a new Hummerbee turbo, and I'll tell you the new Swinger is real nice! Plus, they are making an air-conditioned cab for it. Next year I'll own one.


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## Elwood (Apr 8, 2009)

What about a Piggy Back?


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## samuri0027 (Oct 28, 2004)

Thanks for the input, I look forward to getting that Bobcat or swinger...I want to try a demo out of both.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

A skidder is a real versitle machine. It turns on a dime, and moves bees very well. But, it can be real choppy, and cuts up a yard . I never used a swinger, but I am told they are nice. My neighbour choose a swinger over a skidder. I chose a skidder over a swinger. We use the skidder for many other non beekeeping jobs


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## dbest (Aug 9, 2005)

Elwood said:


> What about a Piggy Back?


Like this one?

http://www.donkeyforklift.com/beekeeping.html


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Hey John give a shout out if you are going to sell one of your older swingers.


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## Elwood (Apr 8, 2009)

dbest said:


> Like this one?
> 
> http://www.donkeyforklift.com/beekeeping.html


I didn't know they made one for beekeepers, I was just thinking about a regular one. I'm told they get good traction and are very maneuverable. I have been looking a Princetons and Moffetts. This video is impressive though, red lights, high back stop, white steering wheel, pretty dang cool. I wonder how they are on soft ground...


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## dbest (Aug 9, 2005)

I know that they are 3 wheel drive. So would guess that they are ok. The only thing I really dont like is that there are too many controls. Its hard to multi task, which makes them slow.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Comparing the specs to a hummer the Donkey is about 1300 lbs. lighter which is good, I guess. The one thing that I wouldnt like, though, is that the Donkey is over 2 feet wider, I know that would be a problem at times in our operation. I assume it mounts on the back of a truck though they didnt show that in their video.


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

it would take me all day to get anything done with the donkey loader. good thing they were loading on smooth level ground. 99% of the time bee yards are either rough or on uneven ground.


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## bigbearomaha (Sep 3, 2009)

I have driven mountable donkeys as a truckdriver delivering anything from cement block to rebar to totes of form oil and more. Donkeys are handy and they are very versatile, but, they take an experienced, careful hand to get anything you don't want broke or scattered all over if working in a place that is bumpy and uneven like a construction site or field.

just sayin.

Big Bear


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## Elwood (Apr 8, 2009)

Maybe we should start a new thread comparing Swingers/Hummerbees, Skid Steers, and Donkey/Piggy Backs.


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## lake thompson honey (Feb 11, 2007)

i have used a tractor that had a mast mounted backwards on it. it would lift alot of weight but what a pain in the butt to run. no one has mentioned that you have to clutch and shift gears on the thing too. if it is down hill at all towards the truck you are unloading, then you have to ride the brake so you dont run into the truck. dont use a tractor is my advice. no brainer as far as i am concerned. swingers sit along ways from the pallets also. out skid steers turn on a dime and you are really close to the pallets to see what you are doing.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Elwood said:


> comparing Swingers/Hummerbees,


Ah, there's no comparison, Hummerbee is a afterbirth compared to a swinger 1K.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

So what are the retails on the Swinger, Humerbee and Bobcat. 

I know the price of a tractor that is what I have now. I have not had to load a truck yet with hives but, in a few years when I get big enough I expect that to be happening.


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## John Lockhart (Feb 13, 2005)

I listed my old swinger 100 in the for sale section, so if you need one, check it out.


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## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

so it sounds like some one has drove the new swinger is it nicer than the hummerbee?


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## John Lockhart (Feb 13, 2005)

I liked it a lot. It is built like a tank, with axles and a center joint that has to be seen to be believed. It rides very smooth, has pretty much unlimited room for tall guys, and will lift almost twice as much as a hummerbee. (I know the website specs do not say this, but we tried it) It has a lot more power than the hummerbee, although I'm not sure thats a big deal, as the hummer has plenty. It has a cummins engine which can be serviced by your local cummins dealer, and the whole thing has a 3 year, 10,000 hr warranty.
The only drawback is that it is 14 inches longer than the hummer. All of that is in the rear of it where the engine sits. (you are not sitting on top of a hot engine on one of those steamy Texas nights.) Very easy to get at the filters to change them.
Plus, I have not heard of any swinger transmissions blowing up. (oops, did I say that out loud)
Besides that, I allready have a Hummerbee, and what is the fun of buying something new, if its just like what you already have?


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Almost twice as much? We load syrup totes weighing pretty close to 3,000 lbs. with our Hummer turbo.


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## John Lockhart (Feb 13, 2005)

We picked up two pallets of steel-ply with the swinger, and only one with the hummer. Now the hummer may have been able to pick up 1 1/4 or so but the swinger put it to shame. I have picked up 2500 lb. totes of sugar with my Hummer, and thats all it wants. Very hard to steer without tipping. Oh by the way, the swinger will not tip foward with too much weight on it. We lifted the back of a 2 ton truck with it, and it just quits lifting when the load gets to be too much. Even at full turn with the truck on the forks, it would not tip. Only got one set of duals off of the ground though.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Pretty impressive especially considering there is only about 100 lbs. difference in the weight of the machines. Suppose the added length gives it the additional leverage. The shorter dimension of the Hummer was one of the main selling points for me, also I knew the Kubota had a good history and had never heard anything about the Cummins.


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## dbest (Aug 9, 2005)

I was told that you can't load a new swinger sideways on a truck. I would think that would be a big problem. We seem to be shipping our bobcats on the back with a load of bees quite often.


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## John Lockhart (Feb 13, 2005)

I dont know anyone who puts a swinger or Hummerbee on a truck sideways. I dont think any of them would fit. Most of us use trailers. The new swinger fit on my Hummerbee trailer like it was made for it, so that should not be a problem.
Now dont get me wrong, I have had a Hummerbee for two years and like it a lot, but the swinger side by side is a whole lot better built machine. Considering they cost the same,(well the swinger is on sale right now for $31,500) I would, and will buy the swinger. I'm going to keep the hummer for a long time unless my transmission blows up like so many have. If your hummer is more than one year old, you get to pay the $4000.00 out of your own pocket to fix it. If that happens to me, its gone! 
Oh yea, I know a guy who has had two blow up after they were "fixed"


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## dbest (Aug 9, 2005)

John Lockhart said:


> I dont know anyone who puts a swinger or Hummerbee on a truck sideways. I dont think any of them would fit. Most of us use trailers.


I know alot of guys that ship their machines that way. That is how Dean (the hummerbee guy) ships them to California. When the last one or two loads go up we put a bobcat or 2 on with the bees. A friend of mine in Florida sends 2 550's 2 hummerbees and 2 trailers on one 48' step deck a couple times a year.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

HONEYDEW said:


> Tom G. thats what ROPS and seat belts are for,  Harry Vanderpool has a nice set up with a tractor and he can till his garden when needed, try that with a bobcat...


Can his tractor dig ditches? There are attatchments for Bobcats for doing just about anything you would want to. Even tilling and brush cutting.


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## John Lockhart (Feb 13, 2005)

I have no idea why I keep answering these things, but here go's. I was thinking of moving bees, not shipping a machine cross-country. You have to take the forks off a Hummer or a swinger to get it to fit sideways, and thats not real handy to do moving bees. But it would work fine for shipping one.


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## dbest (Aug 9, 2005)

John Lockhart said:


> I have no idea why I keep answering these things, but here go's. I was thinking of moving bees, not shipping a machine cross-country. You have to take the forks off a Hummer or a swinger to get it to fit sideways, and thats not real handy to do moving bees. But it would work fine for shipping one.


Right, which happens often enough to make it a concern. From what I was told the new swinger won't fit even with the forks off. Is this true?


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## Kingfisher Apiaries (Jan 16, 2010)

Hey Jim what do you use that new Holland that I saw the other day for? It didn't have a mast on it so I figured it was for loading your 10 wheeler.

Mike


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Everything. Dont need no stinking mast with one of those. Loaded lots of loads of bees with it and today I even moved some dirt, everybody needs one machine like that before they start investing in articulated loaders and/or crazy wheel bobcats; we have one of each. Sounds like next time I feel like splurging it had better be on a 1K Swinger, unless of course I plan on loading it sideways on a truck


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## Kingfisher Apiaries (Jan 16, 2010)

So how high can you load a semi w/ one jim?

Mike


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

If you want to know how high it lifts its just over 9 feet and no you cant put a single pallet on over 5 high but there is almost never a need to do that. We typically load 3 to 4 pallets at a time and if the truck is overloaded we simply take off the front or back as needed.


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## Majenica Creek Honey Farm (May 31, 2010)

Neither, we bought a Bobcat when we first started pollination and the growers complained that it tore up the ground too much. The next year we bought a Swinger and all are very pleased. It is less jerky you can see around it better than a Bobcat and it rides much smother disturbing the bees much less. And they do not tear up the ground like the Bobcat. Goodluck Majenica Creek Honey Farm


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