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 :2cents: