I'm thinking about buying a used skid steer. I have never used one before so I'm very green on skid steers. I'm going to be using it for unloading things from the truck bed and car trailer. Also I plan on doing some landscaping and driveway work next year. My preference is toward diesel unless someone is giving a gasser away. Any ideas on what the average skid steer wieghs? it would need to fit on my car trailer (steel deck with 2 5,200lb axles both with brakes, 18ft long). Price range I want to be in around 5-8k less is ok but from looking thats going to be rare thing. Just looking for thoughts and opinions.

 

My opinion is to go with a track skidsteer, Much more stable and can go about anywhere without problems. The excavating company i work for has a few bobcat T300's and are alot better when compared to the wheeled skidsteers.

Bobcat and Caterpillar make great skidsteers

As for your budget, look for local auctions and classifieds but usually a good shaped diesel skidsteer with decent hours goes anywhere from 5-20k easy (atleast where i am)


Good luck!

 

unless you have a lot of money to replace a track when it goes bad then stay away from them. beleive they are around 2000 apiece. i run john deere and have good luck with them. they seem to be a bit more stable then bobcat and operate better then a case. cat's are way over priced, bobcats are probably the most affordable. go and rent one to see which one you like and then decide. my jd weighs in at almost 9k and its the middle size. wouldnt own a gas one unlesss it was given to me then i would trade it off

 

I have a cat 226 skid and it weighs more than my truck. One thing to remember is these machines are short, heavy and have no ground clearance, so do not play in the mud with it, because you cannot steer them and you will be stuck Other than that, get a set of forks along with a bucket and you will love whatever machine you chose.

 

I have run cats, John Deere, Bobcats, New Holland's all were good machines and had minor short falls here and their.

For the price range you mentioned I would look for a Bobcat or New Holland loader.

 

Ditto, I own a excavating business & New Hollands are the caddy of skidsteers. I've run them all & my New Holland LX985 is my favorite. For what you are doing, the price range you are looking for, you can find a good one if you are patient. I have a Thomas 133 "S" series that I use around the farm. They are hard to find parts for, but they are "simple stupid" for a average homeowner looking for a good machine. My Thomas has only broke down on me one time in 2000hrs & it cost me $10.00 for a track adjuster bolt.

 

On the buckets and forks are those unversal for all skid steers? I hear of a quick attach and thats what I'm told I want. I just don't want to get stuck with an odd ball where I have to custom make everything. Also how is the parts aviability for older unit from say the 90's?

 

For the most part they're interchangeable but there can be some problems. I currently have a New Holland L175. This is the third NH I've purchased and I can't see any reason to change. With rare exception they have been very reliable and haven't given me any unusual problems. The machine weighs about 6500# and is rated to lift about 2000# to full height. Tipping load is 4000# I believe but you can add aux. rear weights and increase that.

 

I am personally a Bobcat person, it is what I have been around my whole life. They are usually decent priced, because they have made so many of them over the years. Depending on how much you need to lift, if its in the 1000-1500lbs range I would look for a 642a, 642b, 743, 751, 753, maybe even a 763, 773. The 1st two are gassers, the A runs a Ford OHV 4 banger, the B runs a Mitsu OHC motor. Both are good and dependable, the Ford is the cheaper of the two to repair. The rest of them, with the exception of the very 1st 751's run the Kubota 2200 diesel. Very good on fuel and power, and will run 10,000hrs+ without any major problems. I did work at a Bobcat dealership in parts, and in the shop for a while. I know quite a bit about them and can help you with any questons you may have. Hope I was helpful.
DS79

 

I had a CAT 245. I liked it because of the joystick controls. Very versitile machines and if you have a rental place nearby, there are a million attachments. Buckets and forks are interchangeable as trad stated but if you need a hydraulic attachment, the fittings are all different. So I would suggest going to a rental yard and driving a few around. We bought ours used from a CAT dealer/rental shop. I'm thinking we paid about 12 but it was only a couple of years old. Bobcats have a good rep but I could never get the controls down. The CAT is like a video game, right one runs the bucket and left one runs wheels, pretty easy to learn and very comfortable to operate. We had a trailer very similar to yours, just make sure you have jacks in the back if it does not tilt. fewer white knuckles that way!!!!

 

Get a JD or a New Holland in the late '90s vintage, all diesels, a 7775 or LS175 would be great. They have longer wheel base than Bobcats and are less prone to rock over.
Don't go to any auction, you will find units that have been beaten or have issues. Get it from a dealer, they at least can give you a small warranty.

I bought my JD7775 at a CAT dealer, they gave me 4 days warranty even if they didn't know much about the machine. It had 6700 hours now and finally one of the pumps start leaking.

The quick connect are all identical from late '90s to now, some have it servo, some manual, but both use same pattern. A set of forks is MANDATORY besides the bucket, you won't believe how much work you can find for them.

Your trailer should handle the unit with no problem.

 

We've always used CASE skid steers on the farm and they've always been gassers. The one we have right now has given us over 5,000 hours of completely trouble free service and it gets used HARD. CASE and CAT have joystick/hand controls while most of the others use foot pedals to run the hydraulics although I believe some of them offer conversion kits to eliminate the pedals. I would look for something that parts and service are availiable for in your area. Good Luck with your search!

 

We have 2 Case loaders, an 1845C and either a 445CT or 450CT (can't remember which) and they're both great, both have a 4B cummins in them (turbo on the late model one.) The later model one has a much higher capacity and tipping load numbers. I however recommend finding something that is easy to get parts and/or service in your area. Cat, case, JD all seem to have a wide dealer network.

 

if you dont want to be dealing with annoying little electrical problems all the time, get a machine with mechanical linkages from the pedals and hand controls to the valves. overall, electric joysticks are nice for the operator only-no one wants to change them out, diagnose them, or pay for a new one. Changing actuators on tracked machines sucks. You cant get anymore dependable than a hand/foot control bobcat. skid steers weigh more than you thinkl. I work at a bobcat dealer, i know.......

 

I have to admit the Case 1845c is a heck of a machine. My son in law has one at his farm with 14,000 hours. Yes, 14 thousand (!!) hours and still working like a mule....in a farm.

Best thing: they have a Cummins motors, they use the 4BT engine.