I Don´t Hate it, But I Don´t Love It... Leitwolf X Overview

I thought about not posting this video, because the opinion may sound more negative than positive, but it really isn´t. It is just my honest opinion after a shift in this machine. I have mentioned the things I like and dislike with my short time in the machine, so this is purely to describe those things.
This may not win me any friends, but I will always try to give my honest opinion on something when I test it. If the 600W I had had anything I found disrupted my work-flow, it would be mentioned in the review I did for that machine.
Anyway, I did enjoy my time with the machine, it still hasnt swayed me to change my hat, but its not a bad place to spend a night. Minus the winch, I think it would be a great machine!
Prinoth Leitwolf X
This is porbably the last video for this winter season. Thanks for the support of the cold months!

[@Steezicus]

Active boom is literally there to help make up for the deficiencies of the capstan winch. When you sit in a Bully winch dial up the pressure while your blade is a foot in the air. What does the blade do? It dives towards the ground a considerable amount. This happens even on steep pulls and from far away from your pick. A lot of the pulling force is wasted pulling your nose into the pack. Now try this in a Prinoth winch. It barely dives to the ground. Almost all that pulling power is pulling you up the hill in a Prinoth. In a Bully, especially the 400 on really steep terrain you literally tank yourself beyond 85% pressure. This is because the capstan winch is placed so far back on the machine. The boom is extremely long and part of why you notice the Prinoth boom can hit the tiller, it sits very close to the machine. So I have worked multiple resorts and ones that are not steep you would never know the limitations of the winch, but on really steep resorts on very soft nights we have seen where the Bully winch can't climb back up with the tiller down while a Prinoth runs over and fixes everything. This is why active boom is a thing, it has to be there to help make up for the capstan deficiencies. I doubt active boom is patented, but it would just add extra weight for not much gain. Now why Prinoth decided to move the track speed to the track controls is beyond stupid and I will never understand that. Both companies do some nice things and some are really questionable. The capstan winch works for most resorts but when it gets real steep and real soft the Prinoth is for sure going to be the more capable machine.

[@LB-kc8nc]

Nice explanation and commentary on that cat. It’s a shame that you have to have such a big disclaimer at the end. I guess opinions of your experiences are not well received by some. 🤷‍♂️ congratulations on hitting that 2k subscriber mark. Very well earned!

[@pushnpow]

Yeah, I have caught some heat for saying a lot less unfortunately. Some people take criticism of brands very personally. I offer my opinions as constructive criticism, from the perspective of an operator, in areas I think could be improved, never just to play favourites or belittle a brand. Thanks mate, thanks for your continued engagement! Let’s see what summer brings…

[@colestock9980]

I like prinoth, i’ve operated a 2009 and 2017 bison, and a 2015 beast and i often catch myself pressing wrong combos, and especially on the beast the joystick is miles away. even though the armrest is adjustable, it doesn’t go far enough back 😅 i’m very curious about how PB handles their tiller and blade and machine controls, i’m definitely most interested in the PB’s yoke control thing

[@tommofpv6497]

Maybe a bit late by now, but if that leitwolf is the same as the bisons we have here in Canada, you don't need to use the remote... Just pull on the cable and it'll lift the level winder which will activate the roll out function. It does need a bit of a pull to get the level winder to lift but once it's rolling it doesn't need much to keep it going 🤘 No one uses the remotes on our winch cats here 👍 all our winch points are ground level tho, so I definitely appreciate your frustration with using the remote to get the cable hooked up!

[@pushnpow]

Yeah you can do that on the old Leitwolf too, I guess it’s the exact same winch system. The remote stopped working on the leitwolf I learned to winch on in nz, so I had to pull the cable every time to get it out. We had difficult anchors to reach there too, usually on rocks or icy spots, so if the winder stopped and you needed more cable you had to yank it out again, which was a bastard trying to pull more cable out because you’re barely finding the traction to walk as it was. When I moved from the Leitwolf to the 600w I couldn’t believe how much easier it was. You’re basically just carrying the weight of the winch hook. Everyone has their preference anyway, I just like how simple the PB winch is to use. The winch is the only thing that really lets down the Leitwolf for me, but the video is just my personal opinion, everyone has their preference. Skistar bought a Leitwolf X winch this season and so far the operators are loving it compared to the old one 👍

[@colestock9980]

Had a stage 5 Bison for a week, and i got to try it out. After an hour the joystick felt very nice, sure the buttons are a bit cluttered, but the joystick itself was very comfortable, very smooth, and blindingly quick. Got back into our Beast, and i had to relearn the joystick 🤣

[@snowcatoperator6515]

I wish i could compare some of the new pb machines to our prinoths. Right now all i can compare is our 2012 10,000+ hour pb 400s to our 2020(and newer) Bison x's. Our problem has been less with the machines and more with the companies. Our Pistenbully reps in the western part of the states have shown little to no intereset in working with a smaller family owned mountain where as prinoth has practically bended over backwards to help accommodate us. The year we made the switch, pistenbully had brought us a worn out 600 to demo that broke down on the first night. Instead of fixing it, they just let it sit at our shop for a week and then came and picked it up. Prionth however brought us a low hour stage 4 bison x and a brand new stage 5 bison x to try out. The Prinoth rep also stayed in a hotel close to the mountain for a couple days and if we had a question or an issue at two in the morning, he'd come up and help out. Ended up buying two brand new cats that year and we've bought two more since then. Now the rookies argue over who gets to run a bison and who gets stuck in a 400. (Spoiled brats, when i was a rookie 6 years ago we were still grooming with LMC 3700s) Great vidoe though! Cool to see some honest comparisons.

[@beaumershon3066]

Great run down!

[@franklegare7922]

nobody uses that remote here, the winch is pressure sensitive to like the pistenbullys just gotta pull on the cable

[@Steezicus]

this bully cable isn't pressure sensitive. It almost just falls out. It is the one and only good thing I like about the Bully Winch, it is so easy to pull cable out of it. The capstan style of winch just pulls the machine down too much into the snow when dialing up the pressure.

[@Eric-on7wk]

Prinoth leitwolf power💪😎😍

[@ravenwhite4125]

No.

[@dj__mitch3705]

Y like the normaal leitwolf more