"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote in message
. 3.70...
"Steve B" fired this volley in news:k0a2ro$2ff$1
@speranza.aioe.org:

hand control
models to be a little touchier.

"Sensitive", yes. They are less prone, though, to "pilot-induced
oscillations" - the "P.I.O" I mentioned earlier. When you've got an
arm's-reach-both-hands-on grip on the levers, and some sudden
acceleration or deceleration happens, your body rocks, and your hands
follow your body.

When that happens, the lever-action machines can get into an ever-
amplifying fore-aft rocking motion that ends up with the thing on its ass
or lying on the bucket.

Once you get an hour or two under your belt with the joy control of an
ASV, that will never happen. Your driving arm is 'anchored' in the arm
rest at the elbow, and everything is done by wrist action. When your
body moves, it pivots at the elbow and shoulder, and your hand stays
still over the stick position.

FWIW, most BobCat operators eventually learn to hover their hands, and
let the body articulate without moving the hands -- but it's a highly
practiced, deft maneuver. During the construction boom here in Florida,
hardly a week went by that I didn't see a BobCat somewhere resting on its
nose. I don't think I have ever seen an ASV or Cat like that, although
I've seen a few in ditches.

One of the ASVs even has a tilt-sensing thingy that rapidly moves the
bucket down if the machine is about to tip over forward.

LLoyd

I am sure the new ones have more safety features. Do they also have just
the hand throttles? I found that to be a problem, as you have to set the
throttle to a constant setting, and not be able to vary it in need with what
you're doing.

Steve