Gehl
Gehl RT135
The bright segment is what Gehl RT135 is rated to carry; the grey run past it is the rest of its tipping load. Bar length is tipping load drawn to the same scale on every machine on the site, so a short bar is a smaller machine and not a conservative rating.
Slotting between the gate-friendly RT105 and mid-frame RT165, the Gehl RT135 is a small-frame radial-lift compact track loader from Manitou Group, also sold as the Manitou 1350 RT. A 46.6 hp Yanmar diesel, a 1,350 lb rated capacity, and a 57-inch width aim it at the Bobcat T550/Cat 249D class.
Also sold as
The same machine is sold as the Manitou 1350RT, which we do not list separately. Different paint and a different dealer network, same hardware.
Suits: More muscle than a mini without a full mid-frame footprint, on tight residential lots Its radial lift path reaches furthest at mid-height, for digging, grading and backfilling.
Lifting and reach
- Rated operating capacityTrack loader rating convention
- 1,350 lbs
- Tipping load
- 3,858 lbs
- Lift height to hinge pin
- 110 in
- Lift path
- Radial Lift
- Operating weight
- 6,510 lbs
Power and hydraulics
- Engine power
- 47 hp
- Engine
- Yanmar 4TNV88
- Auxiliary flowStandard circuit
- 17 GPM
- Flow type
- Standard
- Warranty
- 2 yr / 2,000 hr
Fitted or available
What this machine can be ordered with. Some of these are standard and some cost extra, and which is which moves between trim levels, so check them against the quote rather than against this list.
What owners report
Summarised from the sources listed below. Nothing here was tested by us.
Access is the entire product. Fifty-seven inches across and 76 inches tall puts it through gates and under eaves that a mid-frame cannot approach, and owners who buy it are buying the ability to get to the work rather than the ability to do more of it once they arrive. Gehl aims it squarely at rental fleets, small contractors and property owners, and that is the right audience.
The experience is a 46.6 hp Yanmar with automatic regeneration and no fuel additives, 17 gpm of auxiliary flow, a 110-inch hinge pin and 6 mph of single-speed travel, all on a rigid undercarriage with automatic track tensioning as standard. The cab-forward layout and Level II FOPS give decent visibility to the cutting edge. The hard limit is hydraulic: there is no high-flow package, so the attachment list is settled the day you buy and any future ambition to run a mulcher belongs to a different machine.
Width decides whether the job is possible, and that puts it on landscape and fencing work, confined residential sites and rental duty. It is the wrong machine for anyone who expects to add flow-hungry attachments later. Gehl publishes no list price, so quote it under both the Gehl and Manitou 1350RT badges. Before signing, be honest about your attachment plans given the flow ceiling, price the A/C and self-leveling options into the comparison, and confirm the tow vehicle you own will actually pull 6,510 lbs plus trailer.
What owners like
- Fifty-seven inches wide and 76 inches tall is the reason to buy it. That gets through a standard double gate and under obstructions that stop a 66-inch mid-frame at the driveway, and it is what makes backyard and inside-the-fence work possible at all.
- The 1,350 lb rating is taken at 35 percent of tipping load against a 3,858 lb tipping load, so it carries a pallet of sod or stone with real reserve rather than feeling light in the rear the way an aggressively-rated rival does at the same number.
- IdealTrax automatic track tensioning is standard, which on a small machine that spends its life turning tightly in confined spaces is worth more than it sounds - track life on a compact CTL is heavily affected by tension, and this removes the chance of getting it wrong.
- Level II FOPS protection and a cab-forward layout give it better sightlines to the bucket edge than the size class usually manages, which matters when the whole job is precise placement in a confined space.
- At 6,510 lbs it still moves behind a well-equipped three-quarter-ton truck on a standard equipment trailer, so it does not force a fleet change to get to the job.
What owners complain about
- There is no high-flow option at any price. Seventeen gpm is what the machine has and always will have, which permanently rules out mulching heads, cold planers and most breakers. This is a decision made at purchase that cannot be corrected later.
- Travel is 6 mph single-speed with no high range, so any move longer than one side of a property is dead time.
- The 110-inch hinge pin height will handle trailers and one-ton dump beds but will not clear the sides of a full-size dump truck, which caps what it can be used for on a construction site.
- It is not the DEF-and-filter-free machine it is sometimes described as. Gehl's 46.6 hp Yanmar in this model runs automatic regeneration - there are no fuel additives to buy, but there is a particulate filter that regenerates on its own schedule, and that is a different thing from having no aftertreatment at all.
- Radial lift limits reach at full height, so the little height it has is harder to use over an obstacle than a vertical-lift machine's would be.
- A rigid roller undercarriage with no suspension option means frozen and rutted ground is transmitted straight through the seat, and on a small machine there is less mass to damp it.
- Air conditioning, Power-A-Tach, self-leveling and a suspension seat are all extra-cost options, and on a machine at this price point they add up quickly relative to the base figure.
Drawn from gehl.com, constructionequipmentguide.com, melkerbaltik.eu.
What buyers ask
Can the RT135 run a mulching head or a cold planer?
How wide is it and what will it fit through?
Does it need diesel exhaust fluid?
Is 1,350 lbs a conservative number?
What can it load?
Machines in the same range
The rest of the Gehl line
Gehl
Gehl RT105
$42,000
Also sold as the Manitou 1050RT
- Engine
- 35 hp
- Aux flow
- 15 GPM
- Weight
- 4,720 lbs
At 50.8 inches wide with a 34.7 hp Yanmar diesel, the Gehl RT105 targets backyard landscapers and rental fleets in the Bobcat T450/Cat 239D small-frame class. It's the smallest track loader in the Gehl line, a 4,720 lb radial-lift machine built by Manitou Group and also sold as the Manitou 1050 RT.
Full sheet & owner reports
Gehl
Gehl RT165
$64,850
Also sold as the Manitou 1650RT
- Engine
- 70 hp
- Aux flow
- 18.7 GPM
- Weight
- 8,020 lbs
IdealTrax automatic track tensioning, a 69.9 hp Yanmar diesel and a 1,650 lb rated capacity make the Gehl RT165 a value-priced alternative to the Bobcat T595/T64 class. It's a mid-frame radial-lift compact track loader built by Manitou Group and sold in identical form as the Manitou 1650 RT.
Full sheet & owner reports
Gehl
Gehl VT320
$85,000
Also sold as the Manitou 3200VT
- Engine
- 114 hp
- Aux flow
- 29 GPM
- Weight
- 11,799 lbs
The Gehl VT320 is the only vertical-lift track loader in the Gehl line and its outright flagship, built by Manitou Group and also sold as the Manitou 3200 VT. A 114 hp Deutz turbo-diesel and a 3,201 lb rated capacity put it head-to-head with the Bobcat T870 and Cat 299D3 at a substantially lower price.
Full sheet & owner reports