Who else on here has a Skid Steer?

   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #21  
Have a 2007 JD 317 w/ 450 hours on it. (As seen in my picture) With Prowler rubber/steel tracks

Also have a 02? JD 240 that we have with tires on it.

Attachments:

x2 buckets
x1 Blue-Diamond heavy duty grapples (Also used on the tractor)
x1 Post hole digger (howse?)
x1 Post driver (I forget the brand)
x1 Hay spear (also use on the tractor)
x1 CID 5 foot Heavy duty Hydro ax.
x2 Forks (also used on the tractor)
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #22  
We were looking for a compact track loader for the farm. We feel in to a 2003 t250, with cab heat and air. I knew i would love it for moving hay and cleaning barns, how ever i have used it for so much more then that. We built an addition on to the house so when i got all the lumber from menards. I made sure i put everything up so the skid steer could do all the unloading. It is great to be able to unload 70 sheets of plywood at one time.

Right now, i have a tooth bucket, pallet forks / bale sticker, and a home built snow plow.
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #23  
I have a Thomas mid 90's 5000 hrs plus or minus. Great for loader work, great around the farm, great manuverability. Terrible for visability when backing up, terrible for rough sloping terrain, and I never have been able to find the PTO shaft on the back. All that being said not many farms without one nowadays. Hard to beat the lifting capacities, durability, manuverability for loader work. They will never replace a tractor, 2 different animals really. I also don't think tractors should have front end loaders on them so maybe I should shut up. When in Rome do as the Romans do so to speek.
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #24  
I have a 2007 ASV SR 80 hp with tracks. It was a rental I bought but gave what I thought to be a decent price for it. Have had one or two electrical issues with it but I have not got excited and sold it. I work out the issues which have been kind of easy and I have replaced the tracks. The unit is strong and has high and low flow hydraulics and I am clearing 340 acres with it. I have a tree shear,cuts up to 14", tree slasher brush cutter (like a brush hog), cuts up to 8 ", grapple rock and brush bucket slotted open bottom, regular bucket, pallet forks, hay spear and am about to get a rock bit auger and rock rake. In brush clearing, I have gotten dry brush down by the muffler and had a fire, but had a water fire extinguisher and doused the flame and had tools to remove the skid plate to remove the debris. Will not sell it unless I sell all my property in SE OK.
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #25  
I have a Case 85XT I bought in 2002 I believe, and still has less than a 1000 hrs. on it. Was the Last Skid Steer I bought when I was in the Construction Industry before I retired. It's a very good tractor, and never have had any problems with it.
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #26  
I have put a fair number of hours on a Bobcat S185. Also used Bobcat S150, ASV RC30, and a CAT tack loader about same size/hp as Bobcat S185.

They are great, and have a million uses. As others have mentioned, CUT's and SS/CTL overlap a lot, but do have some areas where each excel.

In addition to using them for work, I did get to keep the S185 at my place for a while. It was great till the ground got saturated. Then, the "skid steer" really made a mess. While it was here, I had a Kubota B8200; 19hp CUT It was really hard to compare really, 19hp CUT to 56hp SS. I did get to use the CTL(I really liked the ASV RC30...) in real wet muddy conditions, where the CUT and the SS did not work worth a hoot...

The biggest thing I found, and it's a major stumbling block me and many others, is $$$$$. SS and CTL are way expensive. So are hydraulic implements. And, where I can use a 25-30hp CUT(albeit my current CUT is 40hp), I would want a minimum 45hp or so SS/CTL.

It would just cost way, way, way more to get a SS/CTL, and the hydraulic implements compared to the price of those for a CUT. Otherwise, I would love to have a SS/CTL. I would probably leave the CUT parked most of the time.

Bobcat has a nice history page, which shows pictures etc of how the Skidsteer started out totally as a farm tractor, especially for clearing muck and manure in barns. You'd be surprised at the agricultural beginnings...

Our Story - Bobcat Company

New Page 1
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #27  
I have put a fair number of hours on a Bobcat S185. Also used Bobcat S150, ASV RC30, and a CAT tack loader about same size/hp as Bobcat S185.

They are great, and have a million uses. As others have mentioned, CUT's and SS/CTL overlap a lot, but do have some areas where each excel.

In addition to using them for work, I did get to keep the S185 at my place for a while. It was great till the ground got saturated. Then, the "skid steer" really made a mess. While it was here, I had a Kubota B8200; 19hp CUT It was really hard to compare really, 19hp CUT to 56hp SS. I did get to use the CTL(I really liked the ASV RC30...) in real wet muddy conditions, where the CUT and the SS did not work worth a hoot...

The biggest thing I found, and it's a major stumbling block me and many others, is $$$$$. SS and CTL are way expensive. So are hydraulic implements. And, where I can use a 25-30hp CUT(albeit my current CUT is 40hp), I would want a minimum 45hp or so SS/CTL.

It would just cost way, way, way more to get a SS/CTL, and the hydraulic implements compared to the price of those for a CUT. Otherwise, I would love to have a SS/CTL. I would probably leave the CUT parked most of the time.

Bobcat has a nice history page, which shows pictures etc of how the Skidsteer started out totally as a farm tractor, especially for clearing muck and manure in barns. You'd be surprised at the agricultural beginnings...

Our Story - Bobcat Company

New Page 1
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #28  
I wonder if the moderators would be willing to add a skid steer forum to the general forums area? I realize that the Bobcat area has it's own skid steer forum but there are a lot of other brands out there.

Tim

I second that

They're very popular with farmers and ranchers, and people love to share stories about what thay've done with their skidsteer
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #29  
I have a NH LS190 and I don't think there's much we haven't done or tried to do with it. It's main purpose is general farm use hauling hay, clean fence rows, loading lime, forklift etc...

We are looking at getting a post drive for next.
 
   / Who else on here has a Skid Steer? #30  
We have a few skid steers & find them indespensible around the farms & for some contracting tasks:
- Baldwin 3.25Tonne built like a tank & extra HD, an ex-underground mine machine so it's flame proofed with an exhaust scrubber, no electrics & uses compressed air for starting
- HydraPower again extra HD, 3cyl Perkins 52hp, 4 wheel hyd motors (no chains), Hyd flow 16gpm
- Bobcat 751
- Toyota SDK7
- 2x Takeuchi TL250 Compact Track Loaders
Over the years apart from the above brands we have also run Mustangs & Ford/NH's - And a JCB & a Komatsu (both were complete "disasters" & we disposed of them at less than 12months old)

We use predominately:
- 4/1 buckets
- "bulk" grain buckets
- Hydraulic Augers
- Levelling Bars
- And if required fit over wheel steel tracks on the wheeled machines
 
 
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