Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRxy9We42s4 (4 min)

One of our RS06 mini skid steers wouldn't hold a charge after four or five rounds of charging. Mike shows the quick fix and shares how he keeps batteries healthy.

BATTERY CARE

- Mike uses NOCO Genius battery tenders (about $35 on Amazon) and keeps them on new machines for around 24 hours.

- Once a year he runs a desulfating maintenance charger on batteries for about 24 hours. It pulses the battery to knock corrosion off the lead plates. He says this gets him 5 years from a vehicle battery where many people get 2 to 3, especially in Texas heat, and 3+ years from ATV and mower batteries versus about 1.

SWAPPING THE RS06 BATTERY (ABOUT 10 MINUTES)

1. Remove the hold-down screws at the front and back.

2. Lift off the shield plate.

3. Disconnect the wiring harness that is in the way, then the positive and negative terminals.

4. Lift the battery out, set the new one in, reconnect and tighten everything down.

The replacement came from AutoZone for just under $81, and it has more cold cranking amps than the battery that shipped with the machine.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM054ldOQOA (7 min)

Mike walks through the Rippa 4-in-1 bucket on an RS03 at the Boyd dealership. It is a bigger bucket than the standard one, and he says he would personally rather have it, because it holds more and the quarter-inch plate handles heavy loads without bending.

WHAT IT DOES

- The clamshell opens and closes, so you can dump from the bucket, grade, level and grab.

- It is great for finish grading and is one of the top attachments for many skid steers. Pallet forks are number one.

- The hydraulic lines plug in just like other powered attachments.

TIPS FOR MOUNTING IT

- The biggest problem new skid steer owners have is the attachment plate not being angled enough. Tilt the plate well forward before backing into the bucket, or the lower edge hits and it won't seat.

- Lock the pins in every time. Never leave an attachment unlatched.

- Grease all the fittings, including those on the other side of the cylinders.

- Because the lines and cylinders hold hydraulic oil, watch your machine's hydraulic oil level whenever you swap attachments.

We only sell Rippa, so every attachment we offer will fit your machine.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgOaksKs_Ps (1 min)

A customer asked to see how the redesigned lift arms on the RS06-2 behave, so Jake raises the boom on camera.

- The arms were completely redesigned compared with the RS06-1.

- It is not a true radial lift where the bucket stays level, but it's not as pronounced as a vertical lift either. It sits in the middle.

- The bucket starts level, give or take a couple of degrees, and tilts as the arms rise.

- At full height the pin height is 83 inches.

- The machine was run at low idle for the video, so the arm speed shown isn't representative.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X1K6yl__pU (6 min)

Mike and Dakota unbox a new Rippa auger (about 12 inches in diameter, 11.87" by 31") and use it on an RS06-1.

ASSEMBLY

- It comes out of the box ready to go. The auger shaft is held on by a retaining bolt and nut.

- Grease it, connect the hydraulic lines, make sure everything is tight, start it and check for leaks.

DIGGING TIPS

- As you go deeper, drive the machine forward slightly to keep the shaft vertical.

- Every so often raise the auger to clear dirt out of the hole, then lower it again.

- A cone of dirt about 8 inches wide builds up around the hole. Clear it away or kick it aside, because the plate should be flat on the ground, especially for a 36-inch-deep hole.

- In this soil (not many rocks) the auger plowed right through, and the RS06 has more power than needed for this size hole.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI_z-cEWDEA (4 min)

Mike shows how quick it is to switch attachments on the Rippa RS06 mini skid steer.

STEPS

1. With the bucket already detached, turn the locking pins and lift them slightly. They come right out.

2. Put the pallet forks on the same way.

3. Lock the pins back in. The machine is ready to pick up a load.

Mike says it really is that simple. Part two shows the forks picking up a load.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smRrq_bb064 (28 min)

In the second half of his factory tour, Mike moves from the finished machines into the production areas of the Rippa factory.

WHAT HE SHOWS

- Skid steer and loader assembly, including RS06 mini skid steers being built, and the operator seat he likes.

- The paint booth area, which is much larger than in the original factory, with multiple booths.

- A comparison of welds on older machines (February 2025 and earlier) with current ones, which he says are a world of difference.

- Where large steel sheets come in and are cut on CNC tables before frames are assembled.

- The machine shop, which now runs many more machines than the three he saw the year before, cutting bar stock into parts.

- A third building under construction next to the finished second one.

Mike also demonstrates the proper way to grease the excavator swing gear: two to three pumps, rotate the cab a little, and repeat around the machine so the teeth are covered evenly. The tour ends after about an hour in the factory, followed by a look at finished machines.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06yh21mZuBY (5 min)

Mike shows the official look of the Powston mini skid steer, a machine similar to the RS06 powered by a 25 HP Kubota, in its painted two-tone gray finish. The unit in the video is an older model without the newest changes, so the shown machine is mostly for color; production versions will have internal updates.

WHAT HE POINTS OUT

- The bucket sits flat on the ground, unlike many mini skid steers where the bucket does not sit flat.

- A standard safety valve, similar to the explosion-proof valve Rippa uses on its excavators. If a hydraulic line fails with the arms raised, it keeps the boom from dropping to the ground.

- A planned improvement: sending extra hydraulic pressure to the tilt so the bucket can still tilt at full load, over 2,000 lb.

- A Kubota D1105 engine, a three-pump hydraulic system, and a large battery and fuel tank layout that is easy to see.

Mike asks viewers to comment on the gray color scheme.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFATFXN8FVk (1 min)

A quick look at the next batch of Rippa RS06-3 mini skid steers shipping out. The main news is the new, improved track: the thick part of the track is about double the previous thickness, and the new tread pattern is less aggressive, so it tears up grass and disturbs soil less. Mike's tip: avoid zero-point turns, since learning to turn gently also helps protect the ground. The units in the video were leaving that day on two trucks.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0YUmDLmIRY (7 min)

Mike gives an update on mini skid steer attachments after Rippa changed how it ships them. He points out that Rippa did not build the attachments itself and sourced them from another company, and that he found a manufacturer whose attachments look to be a little higher quality.

THE PLAN

- Place an order with the manufacturer, covering about 33 attachments already requested by customers, with a quick turnaround since attachments are all this company does.

- Visit the factory on his China trip and show the process on video.

- The attachments are listed on the website under mini skid steers.

He also mentions two attachments he's curious about: a vertical grapple that grabs a tree or moves concrete, and a vibratory roller, which suits the RS06 because it weighs roughly 450 to 500 lb. Questions? Call or email us from the site.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw5HQDVAc8E (22 min)

Mike walks through our first trencher in a while, using an RS06 (it also fits the RS03 and RS04).

PICKING IT UP BY YOURSELF

- A trencher sits tilted on the ground. Hook the lowest corner of the attachment's pickup plate first with the machine's plate tilted well forward, raise the boom and the trencher flops over onto the plate. Creep forward about an inch as it settles, then lock the latches. It can take a couple of tries.

HYDRAULICS

- Relieve pressure first by moving the joysticks with the engine off before disconnecting or connecting lines.

- Keep dust out of the quick couplers and make sure fittings are tight.

- Most Rippa machines have two auxiliary levers. One is continuous flow (stays on, for trenchers and augers) and the other is intermittent (stops when you let go, for grapples). The trencher should run from the continuous side. If you hear the engine bog, you are probably on the wrong lever. Mike has had reports of the lines being swapped on some RS06 machines, in which case you simply swap the hoses.

- Some high-flow attachments have a third line as a case drain that returns to the machine. Our flail mowers for the R22, R32, R57 and R82 excavators come with one.

CAN AN RS03 OR RS04 RUN IT?

- Yes. They have less than half the hydraulic flow of the RS06 (about 21 gpm), so it's like running a push mower at half throttle: it still mows the yard, just slower. The RS06 will trench two to three times faster.

- For a homeowner who isn't racing the clock, the smaller machine is fine and costs about a third as much.

- The trencher includes a backfill blade, so you can flip it and push the dirt back into the trench.

DESIGN NOTE

- The trencher is centered, and the machine is about 42.3 inches wide, so you can't trench closer than about 2 feet to a wall or fence. Mike prefers offset trenchers for that reason.

Part two runs the trencher in the ground on an RS03, RS04 and RS06.

Questions? Call Rippa USA Sales at 817-382-3201 or visit RippaUSASales.com. We deliver nationwide with flat rate shipping, and you get 50% off attachments when you buy a machine from us.