Slopegroomer.com

Anyone here cut pipe at all?

do you use a Zaugg? HPG? Pipe Magician? or another brand?

Not much experience cutting, but have wrenched and operated on pipe dragon(frt mounted lmc), pipe magician(pb200), and HPG R17(MP Plus), and operated Zaugg at CuttersCamp. Currently operating HPG. Sold magician last yr, still have dragon growing daisies in the garden(bone-yard).

To maintain a pipe the Zaugg is it. Price tag hurts, but it will make maintaining your pipe a lot easier. From the first cut to the last. Properly used and maintain the Zaugg should last you 7 - 10 years. Divide by the cost and it's a no brainer. I'm not a salesman but one who has used all the pipe cutting tools and the Zaugg is it right now. They Zaugg works really nice on the BR 350 or the BIson by Prinoth. Have not tried on the PB 600 or Prinoth new 500.
The new Prinoth 500 would be nice for blading out the pipe for first cut. That tractor is like a TD16 on snow.

I have only used a HPGto cut our pipe,I have heard that the Zaugg works great.The thing with the HPG is it is very slow and you can not cut very much on each pass. Years ago we used to have a PB cutter with shaped arm like the shape the wall with a snow blower ,you had to blade the wall with the wing and the snow fall down to the blower and blow it out.(that thing was bad).I have heard the Zaugg will just about cut ice.Has any one ever used a PB PipeMagician ?

We use a Zaugg at Okemo , and we have had a top rated pipe for years now.

We run a Zaugg here at Killington as well. We will start with an 18', but then for the Grand Prix, switch to a 22'. (Supposedly, we will see)

From a sales perspective the Zaugg is the market leader in a major way. It is simple to run and maintain and it is the quickest way to build a pipe. The only downside, if it can be called that, is that it is super aggressive so the operator has to be aware when maintaining the pipe not to tear into the walls too much. In just the last couple weeks I have heard a number of people mention that cutting the pipe with a Zaugg mounted on a PB with a steering wheel is the way to go. Letting go of the steering wheel the cat will go pretty much straight and only minor corrections will be needed vs. a machine that steers with sticks and requires constant adjustments/corrections to keep it straight.

Joshski highly skilled operators can operate a cat with the yoke. Not many operators left though who can operate with the yoke. Any yahoo can operate sticks. Who has a Bully and Zauagg with yoke for cutting a pipe? Would like to try. I did like the Bully with sticks with tiller functions on the sticks.

Stowe has a 300W with a wheel that they have been using to cut the pipe. I think Mt. Snow is considering it as well. People fear the wheel because they are comfortable and stuck in the groove with sticks. If they'd give it an honest chance the work you can get done with a wheel cat is easy and comfortable. We sell them both ways so everyone has options but the die hards and the smart operators are behind a yoke. A wise man once said "The wheel is your friend."

Joshski - so your calling all of us operators who have or prefer sticks stupid? Try not to speak for everyone. I find that you can cut a straight pipe using either sticks or a wheel, depends on your experience level. Zaugg is the way to go for cutting the best pipe.