What is The Best Mid-Size Skid Steer?

[4570Man]

I poo pooed Kubota tractors for many years as less than the construction skiploaders I was used to. But this new to me MX5200 has changed my thinking. It is a very capable tractor that is infinitely easier to use.
My Bobcat 773 is a machine you have to have a specific use for and a lots of seat time to get handy with it. It's really not an all around tool for a ranch or nearly as versatile as a small or medium tractor

A 40 year old and fairly small skid steer isn’t a close comparison at all to a more modern CTL. Obviously the price point of a CTL sets them above the average homeowners budget and the tearing up grass isn’t ideal either but when it comes to doing work a CTL will make a tractor loader look silly. A joystick control machine is nothing like an old school foot pedal machine either. An inexperienced user can make the joystick machine do what they want with just a few minutes practice.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I had rented a SVL 75 this spring to load about 1600 tons of sand. Thats when I was convinced I needed to upgrade to a Kubota.

Yes sir, I am sure that most brands are capable, but the overhead sliding door and the overall simplicity of the Kubota made it an easy choice for me.

 

[ning]

Thanks for linking this. I would rather be terrified of what can happen and be more careful than operate with my head in the sand. That poor bastard what a way to go.

I think in general that investigations into accidents of all sorts should be published in an easily found fashion - preferably anonymized, of course.
I often see a report of some accident that closed this road or some fire started "cause under investigation" and we never find out how did that fire start??

These are really useful bits of information; how can I learn from someone else's mistake unless I know how it happened? This is supposed to be a benefit of society, but we seem to have lost this; unless you're in the know or get really lucky (like that study linked above) it's just "i guess we'll never know".

I realize that there's a segment of society that is attracted to disaster media, but I think for the most part there's a natural inclination to want to see what happened to get some notion of how to keep this from happening to you, and I suspect much of ancient story tradition was built like this.

 

[4570Man]

Deleted

 

[4570Man]

My wheeled skid steer was able to lift and carry this but it was pretty much done. My similar sized track machine will lift about 1/3 more. That’s still about double what a larger compact or smaller utility tractor can lift.

 

[4570Man]

Yes sir, I am sure that most brands are capable, but the overhead sliding door and the overall simplicity of the Kubota made it an easy choice for me.

The roll up door is nice in it’s own way. It’s kinda aggravating but that trade off is much better than the alternative option of a swing out door. I’ve been very happy with my Kubota SVL-75. I’ve had one for several years and just recently sold it and bought another new one. The Kubota is also considerably cheaper than a Deere or Cat.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

My SVL 65 is an open cab, but I have used a 75 with a closed cab and they are nice.
There seem to be a lot more of the 75’s available compared to the 65’s. I felt that the smaller 65 fit my needs better than a 75. I bought mine from a rental company and it took them a year to get one available. They had to wait on new ones to put into their rental fleet.
I did price one about 18 months ago, and they quoted me $28,000 back then for one with about the same hours and the one I just bought for $35,000

 

[4570Man]

My SVL 65 is an open cab, but I have used a 75 with a closed cab and they are nice.
There seem to be a lot more of the 75’s available compared to the 65’s. I felt that the smaller 65 fit my needs better than a 75. I bought mine from a rental company and it took them a year to get one available. They had to wait on new ones to put into their rental fleet.
I did price one about 18 months ago, and they quoted me $28,000 back then for one with about the same hours and the one I just bought for $35,000

My Komatsu is open station and my Kubota has a cab. The cab is way better. Just for a little bit I’d sell the Komatsu and buy something with a cab. The Komatsu is a nice pre emission machine otherwise I probably would have already done that.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

The roll up door is nice in it’s own way. It’s kinda aggravating but that trade off is much better than the alternative option of a swing out door. I’ve been very happy with my Kubota SVL-75. I’ve had one for several years and just recently sold it and bought another new one. The Kubota is also considerably cheaper than a Deere or Cat.

That price was another thing for me as well, I originally wanted a JD for service and parts reasons, but the price tag made me look at other brands the comparable Kubota was $18k less than the JD and there was just no way that I could justify it.

 

[airbiscuit]

I had a skid steer and liked it, but it has a learning curve and I don't know anyone who has ever operated a skid steer who hasn't put it on its nose at some point.