We had a hell of a time with this one leak below the joystick In the valve body on our giant. Fist year it was at the dealer "newtown power equipment" 4 plus times and over 10 weeks of total down time. Ended up switching dealers to MTE turf. They were able to fix the issue the first visit. I was a very unhappy person during that first year. After all the bugs got worked out and switching to a dealer that actually could fix the issue, I'm happy to say the giant 254t is the best investment I have ever made. It all comes down to dealer support in the end!
I'm glad to hear that Omme has great dealer support. That's the one thing I'm concerned about when the easy lift 87-48aj gets here. Dealer is in Canada. I might need to learn French! Bonjour! LOL
We also had a hell of a time with the hoses on our BMG rotator grapple loosening.. Also rhe rotator guard used to be made out of cast steel. One day we were chipping and I saw it sitting on the feed table of the chipper. We dodged a bullet with that one. One call to branch manager and they warranty all replacement parts and even sent me a spare hose kit to replace the hoses that were loosening up on us. GREAT COMPANY!
I hear that MTE is the new place. I’ve never been there (sure I will be eventually). Very familiar with NPE (been going there for 25 years or so) but they priced themselves out of my first giant purchase, and then got pissed and went after the place I bought my 6004 tele from in PA for selling outside their area or whatever. I still go there for small tree gear stuff, they’re about an hour away so pretty handy for that.
My dealer in PA (well, Giant) has covered repairs through my mechanic up here when I needed something during the warranty period.
I have a few issues with that grapple/hanger so far:
1) falls over unless disconnected on perfectly level, solid ground (even then I don’t trust it without someone steadying it). If it rains and the ground gets soft, it falls over. I see why the rotator guard came into evolution, as the hoses wouldn’t last one day without, lol. We’ve learned to be careful with it, so hopefully it’ll survive now.
2) the plate should be wider/have a couple more large teeth on the outside to facilitate angling pieces a little sideways (and not falling over) as to not threaten to hit that grease fitting on the bottom front of the curl piston (that’s in a terrible spot). Plus it’s just nice to be able to angle pieces to clear obstacles, etc. I also feel like the whole plate could come down a little more at the teeth in general to help protect the machine.
3) as small as it is, it still doesn’t close anywhere near as tightly as my valby. Makes grabbing tips to feed more challenging than it should be at times, sucks for the occasional small branch managing, etc. lol
4) I might have that tree pusher thing cut off because it’s getting in the way of feeding my chipper (tries to hit my winch, etc). I probably would’ve already done it, but worried about making the hose guard even more prone to getting mangled.
All that aside, I love what the machine/dump trailer setup does for me so far. I don’t mean to sound like I’m hating, but just giving a realistic review of that grapple/backing plate combo. Not like it was cheap by any means. I do like it, but will probably have a couple modifications done to it eventually, just not sure why I have to?
