Yanmar Rolls Out New Compact Track Loaders — So, What Happens to ASV?

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Bryan Furnace

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to The dirt. I'm your host Bryan. Today we're here to talk to Yanmar and their new one Yanmar strategy. What does that mean for the product line up here. To talk with us today from Yanmar is Peter Ovrebo to let us know what's going on.

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Bryan Furnace

So just for starters can you kind of give us an overview of what the one Yanmar strategy is that you guys are rolling out.

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Peter Ovrebo

Yeah, certainly. So the One Yanmar strategy, it was announced at Conexpo this year. And really what it is is about the way that we go to market with our compact equipment products. So it's nothing really new or big in terms of product changes. But it's it's simplifying our business. We're making an attempt to be easier to do business with, both from our dealers as well as our customers, by reducing some complexity that has existed previously, especially on the compact track loader lineup.

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Peter Ovrebo

For about 4 or 5 years, we've been carrying both the ASV brand as well as the Yanmar brands of compact track loaders.

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Bryan Furnace

So does this mean you guys are phasing out ASV?

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Peter Ovrebo

Yeah. No, I wouldn't say we're phasing out ASV. Certainly there are some export markets where we are going to continue to support the ASV product lineup and carry that brand name, but certainly for North America, we don't want to say that we're phasing out as far back as we truly aren't. There's a lot of legacy and heritage there that certainly will be carrying over into the Yanmar branded products.

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Peter Ovrebo

One of the big attributes is if a customer selects a Yanmar CTL now and wants to have Positrack undercarriage on that machine, it will be designated on the side of the machine that it has. The ASV positrack technology with it. So certainly it's a it's a heritage that we want to hold on to. But again, just for simplicity to the market, to our dealers, all the ASV will be branded as such as Yanmar.

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Bryan Furnace

Gotcha. That makes that makes perfect sense. So I guess my next question is with this relationship, does that now mean that any machine within your lineup can be equipped with the positrack undercarriage?

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Peter Ovrebo

Yeah. Great question. So every single Yanmar CTL will come with an ASV positrack option. There are some models where positrack is going to be the only undercarriage option, but on four of our models, the TL 65, the TL 75, the TL 80 and the TL 100, customers will have the option to choose either a traditional steel embedded undercarriage or the positrack undercarriage.

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Bryan Furnace

And then, if I remember right, you guys are releasing some new models. Are those completely redesigned new machines? Are these just getting positrack? What's what's the deal with those and which models are they?

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Peter Ovrebo

Yeah, customers will see new models in the in the market from Yanmar. Some are brand new models. Some are just utilizing a new naming structure under the one Yanmar strategy. So one of the new models that we're really excited about is on the ASV brand side. We had the 25 that is new for the TL 25 are one of the big differences with that new product launch is we've now incorporated a Yanmar engine into that 25 horsepower class machine, so we're really excited about it.

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Peter Ovrebo

We've also done some changes with the platforming of that product as well to help it, especially if customers have other small frame seats like the T 40, things are going to feel a lot more similar as well as upgraded things like the cab in terms of heating for that platform. So yeah, the TL 25 is a brand new product for us, one that we're really excited about.

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Peter Ovrebo

But also customers are going to see that through the lineup. The last two digits of the model number might change. They might see either an R or a VP. R is going to designate that it's a radial lift machine with the track undercarriage option, or a vertical lift machine with a positrack undercarriage option. Traditionally, with the Yanmar brand, our customers and dealers have seen R, S and VS, which again radial but steel undercarriage and V for vertical and S for steel and bed undercarriage.

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Bryan Furnace

Interesting okay that makes total sense as well. So for some of the viewers there there probably are a few out there. What are the benefits to the positrack undercarriage? Why is this such a big deal, and why was it such a big deal that ASV had this?

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Peter Ovrebo

Yeah. Another great question. The positrack undercarriage is just very unique. I mean, one of the biggest differences is within its name, steel in bed undercarriage means that the track has steel bars that are laid into the track. Certainly it gives great rigidity and durability, but with a positrack undercarriage, The track itself actually has polymer cords wrapped around it.

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Peter Ovrebo

So what this means is that as customers are going over uneven terrain, all of those undulations are allowing the track itself to flex and adjust. So that way it keeps more track on the ground for better traction, and it also provides a better ride quality to the operator. Some other things that are different between the steel and the track.

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Peter Ovrebo

Undercarriage is a way in which the track itself drives, so with a traditional steel embed undercarriage, there's a sprocket, so a tooth physically moves the track, but with a positrack undercarriage, Within the track itself are drive lugs that are into the track, and a cage type design drives those lugs. So what we see is that there's less wear on the drive system as well, as it leads to longer life of the track, with less friction between the sprocket and the cage type design.

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Peter Ovrebo

The rollers itself on the positrack are also different. Instead of just being steel rollers or idlers, they're actually a rubber coated mid rollers and idler. So you have a rubber to rubber contact, which again provides less where onto the track. One other feature that customers will also see in our larger size class. So the TL 80 all the way up through the TL 135, is going to be that they have dual level suspension.

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Peter Ovrebo

So on all of our compact track loaders, we have standard torsion suspension on each axle. So there's four independent torsion or suspension joints on the machine. So the fronts are independent from the rears and the sides are independent from each other. But with those larger machines like I was talking about, we have dual level suspension. And basically what that means is that our mid rollers underneath are also torsion suspended in pairs to be able to provide an additional level of suspension and flexibility to the machine.

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Peter Ovrebo

Truly trying to get to as much ground contact as we can get with the track, as well as providing that unrivaled operator experience by going over uneven terrain. And probably lastly, the other thing that positrack is very well known for is with many of those options, we are going to a wider track and with being able to have more track on the ground, typically operators and customers are going to see lower ground pressures with those machines. especially in our small frame size class, operators are going to see very little ground pressure in about the three psi range, which makes it very beneficial for those that are operating on sensitive turf like grass, to not

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Peter Ovrebo

just rub that as aggressively as what a more traditional machine would be that has higher ground pressure.

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Bryan Furnace

So you actually started to lead me into my next question, which is what segments of the industry typically tend to lean towards the positrack over a more traditional style undercarriage?

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Peter Ovrebo

Yeah. So I would say, you know, landscapers is probably a very big one, especially on that small frame size class. These are great products for that. But even into the larger size class, you know, we tend to gravitate more towards forestry operations, those that are working on very soft soil. But certainly there's applications like snow removal that we've been seeing increasing numbers in, as well as agriculture and even some construction applications do well with the track undercarriage. You know, one of the other benefits, with the positive track undercarriage that maybe a lot of people might not know about unless they've read up or have been a previous customer, is that we have, under our bass warranty, a no track derailment guarantee, which basically means that if a track were to come off under warranty, it would be covered to put back on the machine.

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Peter Ovrebo

But in the number of years that ASV has been offering this, there's been very little warranty claims submitted against that. So for those customers that are worried about, you know, derailing a track because they're either working very challenging conditions or even for the rental application that they don't want to have to send a service tech out to put a track back on a machine.

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Peter Ovrebo

We've seen very good benefits and and takes with that anti derailment guarantee.

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Bryan Furnace

I mean you guys have a reputation. The whole reason I'm familiar with with the ASV positrack undercarriage is is from the land clearing guys up here in Michigan. We've got a lot of super soft soil conditions. And you get out there with one of those big mulch heads out on the front, a traditional skid steer, undercarriage and track just doesn't really cut it.

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Bryan Furnace

So you guys have done something right for sure.

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Peter Ovrebo

Well, great. We're we're happy to hear about that. I mean, there's a lot of design and engineering that have gone into those machines. And, you know, we're one of the few manufacturers that actually have a dedicated forestry class of machine where our cab is forestry rated for both ROPS and FOPS protection. We have poly side rear in front windows on the machine to provide protection there, as well as with our flow rates, we have some of the highest in the industry.

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Peter Ovrebo

You know our TL 135, it puts out 50 gallons per minute of flow. And with that kind of flow and heat generation, with those demanding attachments like the forestry mulching heads, our cooling package is actually designed to meet the challenges where we can put out 100% of that flow, run it at 100% duty cycle up to 118 degrees of ambient temperature and normal conditions, and not need an auxiliary cooler on the machine and not have to worry about overheating.

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Peter Ovrebo

So yeah, I appreciate you you mentioning that because the the forestry application is definitely something that we've specifically tailored some machine models to. So for customers that are looking at that, we've also designated them with an F after the model nomenclature. So for our 135 it's now going to be the TL 135RS for forestry.

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Bryan Furnace

And just kind of circling back to that One Yanmar strategy, same machines, different paint scheme. Right.

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Peter Ovrebo

Yeah. You know. It's a very generalized statement that that is true. Pretty similar machines. One thing that customers will notice is with a One Yanmar strategy and wanting to basically simplify our offering, they're actually going to find that there's going to be more features standard on machines as what they saw before, both on the ASV side as well as on the Yammar side of the of the CTL products.

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Peter Ovrebo

So things like backup cameras on our our cab machines, especially those, you know, the 65 through the 135 backup cameras are going to be on our mid and large frames. The telematics is now going to be standard with five year free subscription for those customers. And then there's various other things that we've decided to add in, just to make it simpler for the customer that's looking to order to make sure that they're meeting all their needs without having to worry about.

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Peter Ovrebo

Are they selecting the right options to add into the machine to get ultimately what they want?

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Bryan Furnace

So maybe I should rephrase. It's improved machine. More features, different paint scheme.

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Peter Ovrebo

Yes. Yeah I think that would probably be a more accurate statement.

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Bryan Furnace

Perfect. Well Peter, thank you so much for the time. I really appreciate you being on the dirt with me. Well, thank you for Peter coming on the show and giving us all of the information on the new Yanmar one strategy. As you can see, if you are an ASV fan, ASV is here to stay. They're not going anywhere.

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Bryan Furnace

It's just coming under a new badge. Thank you guys for joining us as always I hope this helps you in your business. We'll catch you in the next episode of The Dirt.