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the right skidsteer/track loader for me??

crane operator

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Hi Billybonds, I work for Doggett Heavy Machinery, a John Deere dealer out of Houston and in my opinion, skid steers are one of the most universal pieces you can own. I'm not sure about other manufacturers, but Deere sells a steel track to go over the skid steer rubber tires that could help with your wear and tear issues. I know that you mentioned wanting a compact track loader, but this fix would make a skid steer more versatile.

He's moving mulch/ bedding/ manure around in a horse farm, plowing a little snow on the driveway and trying not to tear up the riding arena. And you are recommending steel over the tire tracks? I don't know if your a salesman, but buddy, you better learn a little more about what you are selling. I don't think Over the tire steel tracks are the solution here.

I think for the gooming of the riding arena, you aren't going to have anything do better- than the 3 point pull behind, on a small tractor, like you are already doing.

A rubber tracked loader that will do your forklift duties with pallets and concrete blocks is going to have to be pretty good sized.

I'm going to throw out a little something more outside the box- how about a small wheel loader? Something like a Cat 924 or the IT version. They make a smaller one than that even- I'm not sure on its model number. Visibility is great. Controls would be much like your tractor, steering wheel and loader joystick.

Better lifting capacity than a tractor loader, and I'd recommend a quick attach for the front, so you could switch quick between a set of pallet forks and a bucket.


The downside is going to be size, if you are trying to get into a free stall type building and clean stalls, it would be way too big. But if your just clearing outside fenced in paddocks, I think a small wheel loader wouldn't be a bad choice. You would sit up high like you do in a tractor, but it will turn shorter and be more manuverable.

Probably the only other tight thing would be the gates, if you are all 8' gates, it might be tight for a 924. If you have really small areas to clean, a skid would zero turn and clean out corners.

If you are driving between your farms, I'd lot rather road a wheel loader than a skid steer, or especially a rubber track loader, they are horrible rough to road any distance in on pavement.

If you are loading the manure in dumpsters, a loader would be much nicer for that than a skid steer or compact track loader. Keep you away from the material a little, and be higher up for visibility.

I do have question though- What's RCA? Recycled Crushed Asphalt?
 
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Welder Dave

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I had the same thoughts about steel tracks over the tires. For a riding arena, a 3 pt. hitch is the only way to go. There are a multitude of arena drags, harrows, land planes, box blades and other attachments available for just about any task. I would look for an industrial loader/landscaper with a 3pt. hitch or possibly an AG tractor if it had a good loader that you could easily level the bucket with. Better loaders will have return to dig that automatically levels the bucket. They used to be a lot more common but the loader would lift more, drive a lot faster if needed, not tear things up as much as a skid steer and the 3 pt. would be the best for the arena. You could use a rear blade for fast driveway clearing as well. I think a tractor would be easier to maintain than a skid steer too. A skid steer is a super versatile machine but not for everything. Most are a PIA getting in and out of, especially if you're doing something like loading a truck and you have to be getting in and out a lot. Skid steers can be dangerous as and tip without much warning. I've tipped mine into the side of a dump truck a couple times loading wet clay. You have to really keep your wits about you when it happens. It didn't start to tip until I was just about high enough to clear the box. I also ran a larger skid steer and it tipped with a pallet of sod going down a very slight grade.
 

mg2361

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John Deere 204K wheel loader would work nicely for your application.
 

Shimmy1

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For you guys that are suggesting a loader tractor, any tractor that will have a loader that can lift 2500 lbs will be way to big and clumsy for the work he wants to do. Remember, he has said 8' gates. The only thing mentioned that might work as well, maybe even better than a skidsteer, is a compact wheel loader. A few guys around here have those instead of a skid and really like them. In my opinion, however, a tractor/loader combo, even an industrial one, is not the best option for this situation.
 

griffon02345

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I also think a compact wheel loader could work better than a skid steer for what you are trying to do. A Cat 924 would be to big, but something like a 908 would be good. A compact wheel loader will lift more than a skid steer and probably do less damage to the ground. A 908 has more than twice the rated operating load of a 246 skid steer and is less than 7’ wide.
 

Tags

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A compact wheel loader is great as long as it's not too muddy or too many slopes....most of the new compact wheel loaders can run all the skid steer attachments and most have a feature where you can set the throttle and and select your speed to run those attachments.
 

td25c

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For you guys that are suggesting a loader tractor, any tractor that will have a loader that can lift 2500 lbs will be way to big and clumsy for the work he wants to do. Remember, he has said 8' gates.

Funny story …… Remember the Old Man arguing with Grandad back in the late 1970's .

Was time to upgrade on some equipment . Grandad kept going on about how it would not fit though the existing gates .

The Old Man decided it was time for a wider gate ! LOL :D

Moral of the story ….. Don't let the width of a gate determine your future . :)
 

Shimmy1

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Funny story …… Remember the Old Man arguing with Grandad back in the late 1970's .

Was time to upgrade on some equipment . Grandad kept going on about how it would not fit though the existing gates .

The Old Man decided it was time for a wider gate ! LOL :D

Moral of the story ….. Don't let the width of a gate determine your future . :)
No, but I grew up using a loader tractor for these type of chores. Not one as teeny-tiny as he's currently using, but an 830 Case isnt that much bigger. We never had a skidder, lots of neighbors did. When we finally got our first skidsteer, I thought I was on top of the world. The jobs I used to dread were all of the sudden a piece of cake. While you *can* grade and push snow with a loader tractor, it is so much easier with a machine designed for the task.
 

Welder Dave

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One of the jobs he wants to do is groom a riding arena. A 3 pt. attachment is the best and fastest method for this. A skid steer big enough to lift a 2500 lb pallet is a big skid steer. A compact wheel loader wouldn't work very good for arena grooming . Lots of tractor loaders are around 7' wide and some are narrower but will easily lift 2500lbs. A 1960's 830 Case with a loader compared to something like a Case 570M-XT is like apples and oranges. This is what I was thinking if you found one with a cab.

https://www.machinerytrader.com/listings/construction-equipment/for-sale/24789611/2006-case-570m-xt
 
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billybonds

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Thanks for all the input. Wheel loader won’t work for me, my space it just too tight. It’s def a skid, wheels or tracked. Unloading the occasional pallet of something too heavy for my tractor is maybe 1-2 a month. 98% if the use is moving material/snow in tight areas. And I plan to keep my tractor, or sell it and buy an older gear tractor without loader to drag the arena. Or I save the 50-60k, put a plow on my truck, unload pallets too heavy for tractor by hand, and rent/borrow a skid when needed.
 

td25c

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If your happy with the Workmaster 35 tractor keep it and find a used skid loader .
 

crane operator

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I don't think I'd spend 50-60k, like td25c says, find a used skid steer.

If you want to, just find your local equipment rental place, and rent a wheeled skid steer for a month. Don't rent it for a day, that won't tell you anything. Rent it for a month, see how you like it.

You could do the same thing with a tracked one the next month if your still thinking about one of those.

Keep the tractor you have while you are renting the other stuff. Should cost you around $2-3,000 for a month rental. If you're serious about spending $50,000, that might be money well spent.

There are a lot of really good used skid steers for $20,000.
 

billybonds

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If your happy with the Workmaster 35 tractor keep it and find a used skid loader .

Actually, I am not happy with it. I guess it does everything it is supposed to do, but I guess every compact tractor does everything minimally well.

Its hydrostatic which makes maneuvering easy, but it can only pull the drag in "medium" gear, which is so slow. Turning radius sucks, and lift capacity sucks without the drag as a counter balance, which kills the maneuverability even more. Even with the counter balance, i am stuck to about 1500 lbs a couple feet off the floor. Without it, I cant even handle full bucket of rca. No forward hydraulics, so I can run a plow or grapple bucket. And there is no cab to keep me warm/cool and dry and out of the sun/dust.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have purchased a bigger used gear tractor without a loader to pull the drag, and invested in a skid steer. Even now, my tractor is a 2015 with 300 hours, I can probably sell it for 16-18k, buy a good used tractor to drag with for 6-8k, and apply the 10k towards a skid.

I'd love to find a pre-emission, low hour machine with pilot controls, heat/air, etc, but all I seem to see are much newer machines for almost new price or really old and high hour machines, and I dont know enough about this stuff to avoid a lemon. Also pilot controls seem very rare in the older machines, especially the Bobcats, which seem to be 90% of the used market around here.
 

Welder Dave

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Do you have money burning hole in your pocket that you want to 50 or 60K to put 100 hours a year looking after 4 acres? Pilot controls are just something more to go wrong and if they do more money to fix. Pilot controls are nice if you're running a machine 40 hours a week. 100 hours a year I wouldn't consider a necessity, same as air conditioning. How big is your is your arena drag and just how fast do you want to go? It just appears to me you're looking for way more machine(s) than you really need. It's like looking for a fully loaded 1 ton diesel dually to pull a 1500 pound utility trailer 4 times a year. Will it do it, yeah but is it really necessary, no. It's way overkill for the intended use. Reminds me of the infamous post on here a few years ago involving 2 mining shovels for something like 10 acres.
 

billybonds

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Do you have money burning hole in your pocket that you want to 50 or 60K to put 100 hours a year looking after 4 acres? Pilot controls are just something more to go wrong and if they do more money to fix. Pilot controls are nice if you're running a machine 40 hours a week. 100 hours a year I wouldn't consider a necessity, same as air conditioning. How big is your is your arena drag and just how fast do you want to go? It just appears to me you're looking for way more machine(s) than you really need. It's like looking for a fully loaded 1 ton diesel dually to pull a 1500 pound utility trailer 4 times a year. Will it do it, yeah but is it really necessary, no. It's way overkill for the intended use. Reminds me of the infamous post on here a few years ago involving 2 mining shovels for something like 10 acres.
Is it necessary, no. Do I want to spend 50-60k, no. But this is my life, and we will most likely trade up to a bigger farm or more properties, and I will be spending the rest of my life doing this stuff, so I would like to make my life as easy and comfortable as possible. I'd love to find a 5 yr old machine with 1000-2000 hours with most/all of my wishlist for 25k, but they dont seem to exist in the used market, or I am not looking in the right place. I am not comfortable buying a 15 yr old machine with 3k+ hours without someone knowledgeable looking at it. Is there such a thing a getting a survey done like you would on a used boat?

I probably waited a little late to do this, I am sure contractors are gobbling up the decent machine for snow season. Maybe I should revisit this in the spring and hopefully find the used machine that fits my needs after snow season?
 

Shimmy1

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Hopefully this post doesn't ruffle things up even more, but at the end of the day, you're the one paying for it, and if you want to spend 100k on a 299 and put 10 hours a year on it, that's your business. For what I do, the same could be said about the tires vs. tracks argument, but after having tracks, I would not take 10 tire machines if they were given to me and I had to use them. The productivity of tracks over tires on any surface other than asphalt or concrete is more than marginal. Leveling anything, carrying anything, not making ruts, not tearing the crap out of whatever you're working on, all these reasons will lean me towards tracks, even though they don't last like tires.
 

Tags

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I see it the way Shimmy does but it's also one of those things that once you have it you wondered how you got by without it and end up using it more and more. I also would only get a tracked machine, if you treat a track machine with a little care the tracks will last more than 1000+ hours
 

Welder Dave

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A lot of people would prefer a 10 or 15 year old tractor that is all mechanical and not electronic. Just look at all guys with semi's that want older units that they can actually work on themselves if needed. I have a tractor that's over 50 years old and it's most dependable machine I own. I think a lot of that is due to its simplicity and lack of fluff. 3000 hours is just getting broken in for most equipment that has had reasonable maintenance. You can always pay someone to do an inspection of a machine. If you buy from a dealer, it could be contingent on a complete inspection report and/or maintenance records. A lot of larger equipment dealers have a complete inspection report on their used units.

https://www.brandt.ca/Products/Used-Equipment/Details?unit=0U275799
 
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