s2dm
Member
Hey All,
We have a small farm south of Santa Barbara and need a small wheel loader. I have a SVL75 track loader that just isn't strong enough for some of what we need to do, and I also occasionally need a strong forklift for moving things around the property. We got hit with the floods, so we have around 2500 yards of dirt to move, as well as a bunch of big sandstone boulders. I've had an excavation company out helping, but its just pricey enough that I'd rather buy a machine and keep it and log some hours myself.
Looking for the smallest machine that will do the job as my wife wants to be able to operate it as well. Originally we were looking at 300 series Deeres, but a few folks told us Deere parts get harder to source after the machine is 25 years old. Lately been looking more at CAT IT12s or IT18s in the 4k hours range.
Any thoughts on whether that would be a good choice and how much bigger an 18 is to operate vs a 12? Any other machines we should really consider?
We have a small farm south of Santa Barbara and need a small wheel loader. I have a SVL75 track loader that just isn't strong enough for some of what we need to do, and I also occasionally need a strong forklift for moving things around the property. We got hit with the floods, so we have around 2500 yards of dirt to move, as well as a bunch of big sandstone boulders. I've had an excavation company out helping, but its just pricey enough that I'd rather buy a machine and keep it and log some hours myself.
Looking for the smallest machine that will do the job as my wife wants to be able to operate it as well. Originally we were looking at 300 series Deeres, but a few folks told us Deere parts get harder to source after the machine is 25 years old. Lately been looking more at CAT IT12s or IT18s in the 4k hours range.
Any thoughts on whether that would be a good choice and how much bigger an 18 is to operate vs a 12? Any other machines we should really consider?