Leitwolf!

[Yukon]

Just ran the new Leitwolf for a few nights, very impressive. The pushing power is great and it climbs effortlessly. I was able to carry full blades of snow up some pitches where normally only a winchcat would. Granted, the snow conditions were good for climbing, but it was still a noticeable difference from a BR or PB. The new power tiller is really nice as well. A little more adjustment is needed when operating but it leaves a beautiful pass when set correctly. The dual lateral function is awesome! The new joystick in it is a little funky, but nothing you can't get used to like any other cat. Creature comforts in the cab were the best I have seen so far, and the lighting inside and out is great. Only downside I really had was backing up with such a large tiller behind you is tricky. It's supposed to have a back up camera like the Beasts, but this one didn't come with it for some reason. Even the Prinoth rep didn't know why. The machine looks huge when you first see it and run it, but I got used to that after the first hour, so really a non-issue. Not looking forward to having to add DEF fluid with these new machines, but it's inevitable with the new emissions laws and something we will all have to deal with.

[admin]

Thanks for the Leitwolf review. I haven't had the chance to run one yet, but your thoughts align well with what I heard from the Beaver Creek guys last season.

[Yukon]

No problem, glad to share some info. Had the Leitwolf "afficianado" here from Italy for a couple nights and he went over a couple more aspects of the machine with me. Got to put the machine through its paces on a couple of trail rebuilds and it made the work much easier. I timed some other trails to see how much gain there was with running a bigger machine and the difference was better than I thought. It's not a whole lot wider than a normal snowcat (BR350 or P400), but you can finish some sections of trails much faster making the whole process go quicker. We put it with another cat on a few of our bigger trails and the time savings was quite noticeable than just having another "wingman" in a regular cat. For the price difference I could definitely see the viability of this machine.