what do you think of the mutoh toucan LT

[bigben]

I've looked around the net for reviews, problems, etc. about the Mutoh toucan LT. What should I know about it before I buy it?

I've run a roland XC-540 and a epson gs6000. How can I compared them to the Mutoh toucan LT?

Thanks for your help.

Ben

 

[amgraph]

Had one at our last shop. Once it was properly set up I loved it. We could print an entire roll of material pretty much unattended. It also seemed to print better (higher quality) than the vJ. Im guessing the two additional Lc and Lm gave it a better/higher density...

 

[bigben]

Had one at our last shop. Once it was properly set up I loved it. We could print an entire roll of material pretty much unattended. It also seemed to print better (higher quality) than the vJ. Im guessing the two additional Lc and Lm gave it a better/higher density...

Thank you. What to you work with now? How is the maintenance and parts replacement/cost on this printer?

Anybody else have experience with it?

 

[poslive]

We've had one for 5 years and have absolutely beaten the crap out of it but it just refuses to die. I'd say it ran non-stop for 15-20 hours per day for 3 of those years and still runs like a champ. Granted, we've replaced just about everything at least once (Main board, heater control board, Carriage drive motor, Grid roller (which feeds the media) TWICE and it still keeps on ticking.
We've always used third party inks and have been buying replacement parts from CMYKparts.com for a couple of years with few issues. It still prints great quality and is very reliable. If you can find one at a good price grab it; just don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.

 

[amgraph]

Hi Ben, Once we got it going as poslive said the thing would just run. Had to replace the pumps and when I left the feed reel sounded iffy but aside from that we really had no problems. Still had the original heads after 6 years and even they were acceptable. We would load a 100 yard roll of banner on there and let the thing print overnight unattended. At least twice the machine the VJ was. If I had the space and cash Id buy one tomorrow.

 

[MarqueeWraps]

There is a Mutoh Toucan Lt 64" selling in my area for $4500. I haven't seen it in person yet, but the pictures look like it's in decent condition. The seller says they use it everyday and it works great. I'm assuming this a good deal? Thoughts?

 

[jhanson]

If it's still in production use, go take a look at it. That's your best bet if you haven't had one before.

Still, around $5k for a working LT is a pretty good deal. You can find them for less, but they have usually been broken for a while when you hit the $2500 range.

FYI, if an LT needs all new heads, expect it to cost $6000 (around $1k per head) plus labor to replace. That's where the savings come in with the ValueJet. Other than that, it's built like a workhorse and damn near hard to kill (although I've seen people try pretty hard... like a hole in the ceiling raining on a running machine, not once, but twice in a row.)