CAT skid steer durability?

How are the 226 & 236 on durability? Are they expensive to maintain as compared to Bobcat or other makes?
I'm going to demo one & was wondering if the higher price on the machine is jusitified. - Eric

Steve can really coment on that part about the cat but I think just because it cost more does not mean it will run any better no mater what the brand.What you got to do is compare specs demo them and see what is right for you.

Im in the process of comparing skid steers as well. I really am intrested in the CAT 268B, which I hope to demo in a few weeks. I demoed the Bobcat A300 and it was a very nice machine, especially with the AWS. I plan on trying out a CASE 90XT and a 95XT as well. I will be trying the Bobcat S250 also. I know CAT has a great service dept. nearby, but they are also the most expensive. I can get a Case for about $10,000 less and same with the Bobcat S250. I could get the Bobcat A300 for the same price as the 268B and have the All Wheel Steer mode, so that makes choices even harder. I have not heard anyone near me who has been happy with Bobcat's service dept., so that does have me concerned. I am in the process of doing pros and cons of the machines.

Eric, I've got a 248 I bought new in 2000. I've got almost 1000 hours on it and I've done nothing to it other than scheduled maintenance. I've used the machine beyond it's recommended capabilities numerous times without harming it.

When I shopped for my machine, I didn't shop price, I can't even tell you how a Cat compares in price to other brands. I demoed a number of different brands that are available locally, and I found the Cat to be the most user friendly. The hydraulics are very powerful for its class, in fact Erskine, a division of Bobcat at the time, told me they were the most powerful in high flow when I bought my blower.

Another factor that entered in to my decision is I live 10 minutes away from H.O.Penn, a full service Cat dealer. If something does happen and I need parts, if not in stock they will be brought in overnight in most cases. I don't know if the other brands offer this or not.

We are new to the Cat machines but had Mustang's for 25 years. I have not had the oppurtunity to do various things with it yet except snow removal. However, we use a blade that is like 1500# and the controls are easy to operate and precise with minimal effort (servo assist controls). It just takes a little practice to get used to them. As for price, I was a bit surprised, I thought ours was going to be more than it was.

Service: when you demo it look at the manual for the service intervals. On our 262 it is 500hrs, which is a far cry from the every 100hrs of our older Mustang. In our case, that is about 1-2 times per year. I am not sure the cost of the filters and oil but it surely cannot be to radical. After our warranty period we used Baldwin filters because a service man recommended and we had an outlet close by (oh and they were cheaper ) This could come into play with a used machine but don't know if you can go the 500hrs on those filters.

Like cat320 said, demo as many as you can for as long as you can and make sure you try everything you think you will do with the machine. We even loaded it up on the trailer and took it to a scale to check some weight issues because ours is not a normal stock machine. Also weigh the issue of how you feel about service. It becomes more and more of a headache the further you are away from the dealer. Lets face it, sometimes there are issues and/or oops happens and things need to get done. It does not matter what brand or size machine. When you start demoing the machines, you will know which ones will work for you and which won't. When you narrow it down is where most of this info become more valuable. Have fun demoing!

What kind of blade are you running on your skid steer?

Hydra-mac?

Anyone have experience with Hydra-mac? Are they a decent unit? - Eric

I am not sure of the brand. I will look at it and see if I can find out.

River Hill

I could not find anything labeled on it. I believe it is a brand named FFC? :beatsme I think it was farm implement oriented but we got it through a construction equipment dealer. Soon I am going to post some pictures of our new machine and I will get pics of the blade as well.

Old topic... anyhow. Hydramac is an old skid-steer company (I don't know if they have dissolved) but they did make very heavy skids in the past. Their machines were gear drive (rather than chain) and so held up very well in demanding applications. Maintenance was a headache and they really didn't have the market share. Deere and coneq.com no longer list Hydramac for comparison... so I would assume they're gone.