Skid steers

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I want one soooo badly! I turn 40 in September so I’m thinking it will be a perfect gift for that occasion. With that said I would love to stay around $25k for a tracked unit. Don’t care the brand. For anyone who has one what kind of price did you pay? I can’t justify going much over that because it will literally never move from my property and not make me dime like some folks who can use theirs for work.

 

[bjseiler]

Not sure if you have timber or not, but I'd save enough money to buy one that has the high flow required to run a forestry mulcher.

 

[hillrunner]

Not sure if you have timber or not, but I'd save enough money to buy one that has the high flow required to run a forestry mulcher.

You need a lot more than just high flow to run a forestry mulcher

 

[WeedyJ]

I am at work now but I can say more later. I have the T770 from Bobcat. I think it ran around 60-65, but I had finished with alimony and one college tuition payment, so I splurged:-). I originally got a stump bucket, a toothed bucket, forks, a grapple, and a 6 way dozer blade. The blade was a waste of money so far. The bucket will do 98% of your work, but I still see some blade work in my future. I have added a Blue Diamond Extreme brush cutter(hi flow) and most recently a stump grinder (See my recent birthday post!). I have 125 acres, with 1/3 planted pines, 1/3 old cutover that used to be entirely thicket, and 1/3 wetland. There was NOWHERE for a tractor, and this was my first ever big machine.

It has been a beast of a machine and phenomenally useful. Lifting trees that are down, clearing thicket for fields and plots, lifting storage containers, rototilling (before I saw the light!), trenching for pipe, digging and pushing over trees, cleaning up the MESS left by the loggers etc. Way more versatile and useful than the tractor for my needs, especially with all of the trees I still work in. I finally had some thinning done and fields opened enough so that I had a need for a tractor, so I did finally get one. However, this machine still does 90% of work on my place. If you have a farm with lots of roads and fields, then it may be less useful, but I had (and still have) a lot of woods and thicket work, so the mobility and agility of a smaller tracked machine makes the task easy. My tractor will follow in the footsteps of what the Bobcat has created. I'll be grinding stumps in the pines this year to plant some woods plots with the tractor. As my wife would say, I love love love it.

 

[WeedyJ]

Also, from what I learned, you need a lot of lift power for mulching heads as well as hi flow. Also, Bobcat will not rent me one unless I have a protective door, I think Lexan? Stories of people dying with flying debris that rebounded through a traditional door. The door is 2000.00. Regardless If I were to prioritize the attachments, I would say Bucket, Grapple, Forks. I don't have a bush hog so I got the brushcutter so I could cut up to 5" saplings, but still have a mower. You definitely want Hi Flow. Allows you so much better performance on many attachments. I got tracks because of the mud at my place.

I know people say Cat is so much better, but I went with Bobcat for a few reasons.
1) It's less expensive than Cat.
2) Any skid steer is better than NO skid steer.
3) The Bobcat dealer is 15 minutes from my house in Atlanta. Makes it easy for rentals, and they have a lot of attachments for rent. Also makes it easy to have my wife return them on Monday morning!
4) There seems to be a lot of Bobcats in use.
5) Supposedly it is easier to blow an engine on a Cat if you overload it, because it doesn't let you know you are overloading it. The Bobcat bogs down when the load is getting too much, so you just back off. And that is a very frequent situation when I am behind the controls!

My children and my buddy who now drives it more than I do, told me I would use it once and never again. Said it would be a waste of money. I have had it a little over 2 years. My place is 4 hours round trip from my house. We rarely use it during hunting season. That said, I have over 500 hours on it so far. All of the naysayers have retracted their doubts. If you need a tracked skid steer, there is no substitute.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

That’s great information thank you. Unfortunately if I spend $65,000 on a skid steer I will then find out what alimony payments are like! I can argue that a skid steer may be the most useful piece of equipment you could own. Possibly more than a tractor if I’m weighing the benefits. I live in Gainesville so I have access to all the major dealers as well. I’m looking for a used one but just didn’t know if 25k was realistic. Obviously in a perfect world I would have your exact setup.

 

[chummer]

I sell equipment. CAT skid steers are way over rated. They have as many or more problems than the rest. $25k will probably get you one in the 4K hour range. I sell Volvo but they have a horrible skid steer. Despite Volvo not liking it we buy Kubotas to rent and sell from the Kubota dealer. Customers like them and they have been bullet proof so far. I would look for a private sale. Any dealer that has one in that price range probably took it in on trade because it has issue. They also marked it up 20-30% from what they took it in at.

 

[hillrunner]

That’s great information thank you. Unfortunately if I spend $65,000 on a skid steer I will then find out what alimony payments are like! I can argue that a skid steer may be the most useful piece of equipment you could own. Possibly more than a tractor if I’m weighing the benefits. I live in Gainesville so I have access to all the major dealers as well. I’m looking for a used one but just didn’t know if 25k was realistic. Obviously in a perfect world I would have your exact setup.

Saying a skid loader is better for loader work than a tractor is like saying a motorcycle is faster than a bike. No comparison at all. Tractors are great for plotting and light loader work but heavy loader work is not what they are designed for. A skid loader is built around the loader, you can push, wedge, twist all day every day with no damage to the machine and get 20x more done.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Saying a skid loader is better for loader work than a tractor is like saying a motorcycle is faster than a bike. No comparison at all. Tractors are great for plotting and light loader work but heavy loader work is not what they are designed for. A skid loader is built around the loader, you can push, wedge, twist all day every day with no damage to the machine and get 20x more done.

Im saying on my property I can get more done with a skid steer in the big scheme of things than my tractor but they both have their specialties

 

[4wanderingeyes]

$20k will get you in a decent machine. Hi flow is nice, but not a must if you aren’t using a mulcher or a post hole digger, or snow blower. Sure you “May” need one some time, but upgrade later. Buy what you can afford and switch up later. They don’t lose much value when you buy used if you don’t use it much, and beat the snot out of them.

I use Cats, yes they are nice, they are expensive, but buy something that has service close to you, and has a good service department, because it will break down no matter what brand you buy. Craig’slist and Facebook has many options.

 

[cavey]

I rented a skid steer once or twice a year for a number of years, 25 bucks an hour - no maintenance no up keep costs - was an awesome option... just lined up a number of projects and did them all at once.

That being said a few years ago during one of those rental times after a week of having the thin, on the day I was going to take it back, I stuffed a log through the window. In the end I decided to buy it, When I picked it up to rent it had less than 200 hours, hi and low hydraulics -a new holland l220 super boom - wheeled and I got a new window tossed in on the deal. It was pretty much mint and I paid under 28K for it. Its been a good machine for me - I have heard of issues with the newer New Hollands but mine has been good to me. One of the best purchases I have ever made. A track would be nice but for the money and low hours this has worked for me.

 

[WeedyJ]

Wheels may be an option on some cases, but they are only useful 50% of the time at my place in middle Georgia. Tracks are useful and awesome 100% of the time for me. I will warn you, they do come off occasionally if you are "driving it like you stole it" or not paying attention to the tension over time. The first time I tried to replace them by myself I failed and shattered my door :-). The next time I put and inexperienced person in the cab and it took me 4 hours, I got heat exhaustion and never completed the task. Now, once I setup properly, it takes about 3 minutes :-)

 

[jsasker007]

How big of stuff are you intending to remove/shred?

 

[cavey]

I had to cut out before I finished, I would say the only down fall is not having tracks which I have learned to live without, considered the steel tracks that go over the tires - if I find a set I will probably grab them but they are not without issues. Main point is that the skid steer is something you will use every day where a tractor only every once in a while. Not saying a skid steer replaces a tractor but in a nut shell:

I would rather have a nice skid steer (as nice as I could afford) and a cheaper tractor.

 

[Catscratch]

The steel tracks that go over the tires do a very good job and make a machine much more usable. The skid that I use started with inflatable tires, when they were worn out the got replaced with solids, then when they had worn off all their tread steel tracks were put on. Each move was a step up from the previous 10 fold!

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

How big of stuff are you intending to remove/shred?

standard stuff. Just clear some larger plots, fix roads, tsi...I have a decent section of my place that use to be cattle pasture 30 years ago and what has grown up needs so knocking back. Autumn olive, winged sumac, red bud, etc. stuff that needs to be kept in check and it’s a million times easier with a skid steer than by hand. Buddy brought up his Kubota svl 75 in February and I was immediately sold. We did more in a day and half than I could do in months.

 

[WeedyJ]

standard stuff. Just clear some larger plots, fix roads, tsi...I have a decent section of my place that use to be cattle pasture 30 years ago and what has grown up needs so knocking back. Autumn olive, winged sumac, red bud, etc. stuff that needs to be kept in check and it’s a million times easier with a skid steer than by hand. Buddy brought up his Kubota svl 75 in February and I was immediately sold. We did more in a day and half than I could do in months.

What has always appealed to me with brush cutting on a skid steer is that I don't have to drive into the thicket before cutting. I clear the path so I can see stumps or ruts. Also if I hit something I shouldn't, I don't break a PTO. Adjusting the height is quick and easy and I can do some mulching with it if the stuff isn't too thick.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

What has always appealed to me with brush cutting on a skid steer is that I don't have to drive into the thicket before cutting. I clear the path so I can see stumps or ruts. Also if I hit something I shouldn't, I don't break a PTO. Adjusting the height is quick and easy and I can do some mulching with it if the stuff isn't too thick.

I have a tractor with a rotary mower so I doubt I would get that attachment but when I watched my buddy take is skid steer right through a stand of 4-6” trees and cut a swath like a tornado I immediately fell in a deep love for one! And then 5 minutes later he digs me a fire pit for burning trash that would have taken me a week with a shovel! Oh not to mention this was after we trenched a 3800’ water line in a day.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

For that kind of budget you may consider something a bit larger. Especially if your planning on doing any pond work. Just picked this one owner 555G up for 11k. Anxious to put it to work

 

[TreeDaddy]

^^^^^^^^^^
thats badass

bill