Ditching my tractor for a skid steer

[jenkinsph]

The Kubota 520 compact wheel loader I mentioned is articulated and would do a good job imo. A nice feature on it is the hydraulicaly operated lock on the skid steer quick attach, you can lock and unlock from various skidsteer attachments without leaving the seat. That is pretty convenient.

[Johndeere3720]

As a skid steer owner I have to say it far surpasses anything I could do with the FEL on a compact tractor. My machine is rated to lift 2100 lbs with the rear counter weights, plus it's compact size pared with a 61hp engine makes it a power house compared to a compact tractor. I have loaded dozens of pallets with Skid steers and CTLs, on gravel, dirt, across lawn, through the mud. Both performed well as far as lift capacity, of course the CTL does have quite a bit more lifting capacity. My skid steer doesn't do hardly any damage to the gravel i run on, plus my machine weighs close to 7k lbs, the damage it does is no worse than a small tractor with 4wd making sharp turns. I also have gone across the lawn with much success, no damage to the lawn, just make wide turns and everything will be fine depending on how soft the ground is. I know what you mean by the big bulky tractor, the Case JX tractors are pretty big, I cant imagine trying to get into a tight place with one. In your case I would opt for a CTL, yes the undercarriage costs a lot to maintain however for home owner use it wont see anything close to the wear it would usually have on a construction site, plus if properly maintained you can get quite a bit of life out of them. The new CTL's use the block style rubber tracks (like most mini excavators have) which are great on lawns, the damage they create is far less compared to a CTL with the bar style tracks in an ASV undercarriage. Plus you will get an extra 1k lbs lift capacity to boot! As a deere guy I would look into the CT322, it has the power you want as well as the compact size to get in and out of tight places, plus it is excellent at grading and moving a lot of dirt fast. Just my

[crazyal]

I think I would rent one the next time you have some pallets to move and try it out. You may find it's exactly what you need or not. Either way you should be able to make a much better decision before investing that kind of money.

[TomSeller]

I considered a skid steer but it just isn't versatile enough for me. Plus they are hard on the grass. If I did get one it would be additive and I would keep the tractors that I now have. I don't really have anything that skid steers can do that I do repetitively enough to have me looking at them again. But that is me, others have very good reasons to have them instead of a tractor.

[Gale Hawkins]

Let us face it, who would not like to have every motorized piece of equipment out there.

[catdozer]

After reading it all i would say an bobcat A300 skidsteer would do you well. You can switch between all wheel steer and skid mode with a flip of a switch.

[jenkinsph]

I am curious how many people that are recommending a skidsteer here have ever used a compact wheel loader such as the Kubota 520 or Cat 902 thru 906?

[catdozer]

I am curious how many people that are recommending a skidsteer here have ever used a compact wheel loader such as the Kubota 520 or Cat 902 thru 906?

Ive ran many of the small cats, very nice but an A300 is nice to turn and skid.

[hydro2]

I have had two skidloaders. A bobcat and john deere 240 which I bought brand new. I had a set of steel tracks for it. I own 337 acres and use them for firewood and road maintenance. At the end of 6 years the John Deere had a whooping total of 260 hours on it I finally decided to sell it and replace it with a 4x4 40 horse tractor in less.than two years I have almost 200 hours on the tractor and use it for everything under the sun. The skidloaders were worthless unless I had the tracks on.

I pondered for several years about getting rid of the skidloaders. Now that is gone. Good riddance

[puckgrinder85]

Its going to be a decision based on what you're using it for obviously. Loader work and lifting I would go with a skid loader or something with better lift capacity. A tractor is going to have more uses but if you dont utilize them there is no sense in choosing it over a skid steer or anything else.