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Want to buy a skid steer for snow removal, pros and cons

Steve G.

COPPA
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
59
Location
NY
Occupation
Electrical
Haven't been around in a while, I'm looking into buying a skid steer for snow removal. It's for a church, we currently use a quad with a plow and two snowblowers. Space is very limited, so we try to Blow as much snow over a fence into a field beside the parking lot. (city owned, won't take fence down)

When we get big storms like we just got (25" of snow overnight), it gets rough with the blowers and quad.... So. We need a skid steer to put the snow over the fence.

I'm currently looking at a john Deere 250, bobcat 773 and a few others, but it's pretty much between the Deere and the bobcat now.

I assume I should be looking at wheels not tracks, and a heavy machine with say more than 50-60 hp. Am I on the right track?

Beside that, I don't know what to look for when testing the machine out. Any advice on what machines are good and what aren't would help.

Thanks,

Steve
 

xcmark

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
357
Location
Foxboro , Ma.
Occupation
construction
I think I would look at a high HP tire driven Machine with High flow and put a big blower on the front with a large snow bucket as a back up for a failer if needed. Something that has28~30+ gallons a min. so it will drive a high flow blower thats say 72+" wide.
 

Steve G.

COPPA
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
59
Location
NY
Occupation
Electrical
A lot of our snow will be wet and not blowable, it's usually slushy, therefore we cannot use the blowers most of the time. What doe a 6' blower for a skid steer go for?

I'm hoping to get a unit about 10 years old for around 10k, I think a blower would make that price go way up.


What should I look for in a 10 year old unit that has under 1000 hours on it?
 

norite

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Messages
483
Location
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
How about a farm tractor with a blade or bucket on front and a blower on the back. You'll need a blower to get the snow over and away from the fence and the bucket, blade or snow pusher could be used to quickly pile the snow against the fence so the blower could get it over in one pass.

I wouldn't use a skid steer for snow unless it is a very small area with little room to manouver.
 

Steve G.

COPPA
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
59
Location
NY
Occupation
Electrical
That's the point, there is basically no room to maneuver, were in the middle of NYC, so room is limited, besides this city field next to the property.

Snow blowers do not work 75% of the time, it's usually 2-3" of slushy snow we get. That just shears the pins on the blowers. We bought a quad to push the slush around, but that doesn't put it over the fence.

How much would a 10 year old farm tractor with blower on the back and bucket on the front got for?
 

maxamillion67

Active Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
37
Location
North Dakota
Occupation
I am scruber attendant at a coal fired power plant
Check out machinerytrader.con or Ebay. They have a lot of used skid steers, but one that is ten years old with under a 1000 hours will be hard to find. A blower for a skid steer new will be around $6000.00. I have a skid steer and just use the bucket to push and pile snow. Skid steer will probalby be you best option, you can turn them on a dime and and they are more compact then a tractor. I have posted a link below for you to look at. Good luck with what you buy.

http://www.machinerytrader.com/dril...id=1055&guid=E80042C7554045D5B4D9145181EB1530
 

norite

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Messages
483
Location
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
A good used tractor with a loader should be about 5k, (more for 4wd) a good blower for the 3 pt hitch should be about 1k (used). It is a lot cheaper because the tractor PTO powers it unlike a skid steer where you either need a separate engine on the blower or extra capacity hydraulics and a big engine on the skid steer to power it. Assuming you are using walk behind snowblowers the snowblower on a tractor will amaze you with it's power to chew up banks and throw snow compared to the small ones.

As far as using a bucket on a skid steer (or any loader) to put snow over the fence, the snow buildup against the fence will damage the fence. You either need to blow the snow over the fence, pick it up with a bucket and carry it over there, or load it in a truck and haul it away if you don't have room to pile it somewhere on your property. The tractor will handle a bigger bucket than a skid steer and is less expensive. Also most people find a tractor easier to learn to operate than a skid steer. Unless you have another task a skid steer is more suited to, I would go with a tractor.
 
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frogfarmer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2010
Messages
234
Location
South East Missouri
With very little room and heavy wet snow a skidsteer will work great. We dont use blowers here in MO so I cant say how that would do. A 10 year old skid with 1k-2k hours on the meter will go for 10-15k. I would pick the 773 over the Deere because my experience with that model Deere has been very poor. A comparable used farm tractor will cost the same if not more and will take alot more room to maneuver. Placeing your snow on anothers property without consent could land some pretty big fines in this area not to mention the damage to the fence issue. A small lot as you describe wont acccumulate a huge pile so it might work out. Unless there will be other use for the skid it may be money better spent to contract the snow removal from a reputable company in your area. Good luck and happy hunting.
 

Steve G.

COPPA
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
59
Location
NY
Occupation
Electrical
Just went shopping around at the local bobcat and cat dealers here in west palm beach, learned a lot about the skid steers from the guys i talked to.


I'm looking heavily into a bobcat 863 now. Anybody have any advice about this machine, about 10 years old, 1500 hours on it.

Thanks,

steve
 

bobcatmechanic

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
429
Location
kansas
Occupation
bobcat mechanic
timing belt and head gasket make sure the head gasket is not leaking"oil on back of the engine". Get the timing belt done immediaty after purchase safe insurance on done time due to a broken belt and bent push rods.

The steering controls look for the pintle plates and solid flat bar rod steering stay away from the cable and round rod steering systems. I say that because steering adj ie tracking and neutral are a hell of a lot easier to adjust on these systems and the seals are more durable. Also the control is better with this system than the cables less banging into stuff in close quarters.

the acs version has a metal controller and non calibrate able actuators they run about 500 to 600 dollars just for the part. try to find one with either foot control or hand control with cable lift and tilt not steering. less head ache and cheaper on the wallet as in less to go wrong electronically.

look over the hydrostat mount bolts and engine mount bolts that they are all their. If they are not it will allow the engine to drop down and rub on the fuel tank rubbing a hole in the oil pan. Its up to you but the g series has a side access cover plate to get at the gear pump easier if it ever goes out. Or you can cut a hole in the side of the machine and buy the plate and put it on the older ones. Never done it personally but have seen them come in that way.

Fan drive belt and idlers check they are not groved out and that the idler arm is not laid back against the drive belt tension spring. check the condition of the drive belt not cracked or glazed over. fuel return lines of the injectors at the injectors are not leaking. control valve not leaking or seeping sign its about to start leaking bad and need resealed before anymore use it can dump alot of oil in a hurry.

Axle seals not leaking axle bearings are tight up and down and in and out. lift tilt cylinders not leaking check wear in the bushings. look over the machine for cracks in the boom and mainframe around pin bosses especially. the 873 was known for cracking the boom if you find one of those its just a vertical lift machine instead of radius lift.

Other than that basic pm and care will get you buy with these machines. I have seen them neglected to no end and they keep on ticking. they are tough machines and im not just saying that because i used to work on them. a lot of farmers have 863 and 873s and run them day in day out so there is an abundance of them out there you should be able to find them a dime a dozen in your price range. they should go for anywar from 10,000 to 18000 depending on condition and hours and owner.
 

oriden

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
189
Location
Winnipeg
Occupation
Equipment operator/ truck driver/ wrench operator/
we just traded in an 863, was a great machine. almost 6000hrs later was still working great.
 

frogfarmer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2010
Messages
234
Location
South East Missouri
863s are good strong machines and should be a solid performer I would think they are a little large for snow removal. I prefer the kubota power plants to the deutz engines; parts are cheaper and they dont require the timing belt service and arent prone to head gasket failures. 773Gs and S185s have been bobcats best selling units for the last 10 years or so and they are available everywhere for reasonable money because of the number of units out there.
 

LWG

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
90
Location
Reisterstown, Maryland
'timing belt and head gasket make sure the head gasket is not leaking"oil on back of the engine". '

I think I may have this problem. I just got an older T-200. There was some oil leaking from the back side of the engine. I had the machine inspected, and the mechanic said that there was a breather at the top of the engine, and sometimes oil was purged through the breather. The compression test was okay.

I am having the timing belt replaced, as well as two injector pumps. The machine was a little hard starting, and the mechanic was pretty sure it was the injector pumps. The machine seemed a little weak to him, and he said that injector pumps could cause that problem.

My question is, how big of a problem will I have with the oil leak? I do not plan to run the machine commercially- just around the property.
 

bobcatmechanic

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
429
Location
kansas
Occupation
bobcat mechanic
lwg

should not have a big problem with the oil leak. Is it accross the hole backside of the engine or localized in one spot? if its across the entire engine its more than likely a head gasket leaking. I know the vent your mechanic is talking about but i have never seen one puke that much oil out usually its a head gasket leaking. just what i have seen personally. have your drive motors been replaced with the updated versions?
 

LWG

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
90
Location
Reisterstown, Maryland
bobcatmechanic-

This is my first machine this big. I don't know if the drive motors have been replaced. I have had a good shop I trust look over the machine. We ran it a little and saw a touch of oil spray on the inside of the door. He traced the oil to a small drip which started out near the breather on the top left side if the engine (looking from the back of the machine), down towards the right side of the engine, on the belts and then sprayed on the door. It sounds worse than it is. The compressions were generally good, but there was an out of spec discrepancy between the high and low cylinders. The low cylinders were at the low end of spec for the engine. The high were at the high end of spec, so the difference exceeded the spec. I don't know what to make of that.

I am having the timing belt replaced and the timing set.
 

Steve G.

COPPA
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
59
Location
NY
Occupation
Electrical
Ok, so I bought a bobcat 843 2 days ago, it's a very tight machine, sounds good, 6500 hours on it. We moved a bunch of snow piles around and it did great... up until now, the main arm wont go up. The bucket tilt works perfectly, fluid level is right. When you depress the left pedal to bring the main arm up, there is no back pressure and it doesn't return to it's natural position like the other side does. If I depress the left pedal as to bring the arm down, it makes the noise like it's moving (meaning it's working). So I'm stuck with the main arm down all the way.

Is there a way to tilt the cab up so that I could look at the linkage to see what the problem is?

Anybody have any suggestions as what to do, look for? It's at about freezing out here and below... no way to defrost the machine.

thanks in advance,

Steve
 

LWG

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
90
Location
Reisterstown, Maryland
Don't know much about these, but there should be two nuts and steel pads in the front corners of the cab. If you have air springs on the back sides of the cab, when you remove those nuts the cab will rotate up and back, giving you access to all of the pumps and plumbing.
 

shooterm

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
93
Location
Midwest
Occupation
Operator
Only real issue with skidloader snowplowing is the logistics of light snows. Your almost salting more and maintain main travel alleys then actual large snowfalls pushes. Just me but I think plowing with trucks besides the little stuff listed above is foolish waste of money.
 

jav

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Messages
110
Location
MA
Steve-

I have an 843. it sounds like a linkage problem. Yes - you can lift the cab to check the linkage. Something likely came loose.

To lift the cab, there are two large nuts at the front inside of the cab (approx. over each pedal inside the cab rail). Remove these nuts then up plug the 2 electrical connectors behind the seat (left side) and lift the cab. Hopefully the helper springs are intact. Also- most had a latch so when the cab raises, it keeps it up. Don't trust this and prop up the cab but make sure the latch isn't locked before trying to pivot it back down.

There's an arm from the pedal running front to back. That arm drives another arm that runs from the left to the right side under the hydraulic pump. Then another rod that runs front to back from that arm to the valve itself. If any of the linkage pivot points fail- you'll get what your seeing.

Also- the pedal assembly can come loose from the floor and slide front to back so that instead of moving the linkage, the pedal moves but doesn't drive the linkage.

Good luck. BTW- the 843 is a great machine. Simple, direct drive pump, and rugged.
 
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