Help me pick a skid steer

[jlgurr]

By watching video of the actual equipment in action as well as calling professionals to ask how much they charge and what equipment they use, I have learned much, much more than this forum could provide.

Boy o boy, you are a hateful person aren't you.

Sent from my iPhone 2.0 using TractorByNet

 

[zmoz]

There are jobs that I bring my Track Loader to.... And jobs that I bring my Tractor to. And there are other jobs where I bring both. They both have benefits and deficiencies. I still think the OP would be better off with a Tractor, as a whole, it would offer more long term flexibility and cost savings.

I don't claim a skid steer to be perfect at every job, but, it will accomplish a wide variety of jobs with a little effort, ingenuity, and the right attachment. Attachments can be bought and sold quite regularly and custom built rather easily. It would be great to have a track loader to remove big stumps and cut a road, but, the amount I would need to use it does not justify the purchase, and I refuse to rent.

I don't know where you come up with cost savings for a tractor...the base machine is about the same cost...most attachments for a skid steer cost roughly the same as the equivalent attachment for any other kind of tractor, and, you can use an adapter to attach any sort of implement attachment to a skid steer if they are cheaper or you find a good used one.

 

[zmoz]

Boy o boy, you are a hateful person aren't you.

Sent from my iPhone 2.0 using TractorByNet

When people make stupid useless replies such as yours...yes, I absolutely hate that and have no respect for those people.

 

[TSO]

I don't claim a skid steer to be perfect at every job, but, it will accomplish a wide variety of jobs with a little effort, ingenuity, and the right attachment. Attachments can be bought and sold quite regularly and custom built rather easily. It would be great to have a track loader to remove big stumps and cut a road, but, the amount I would need to use it does not justify the purchase, and I refuse to rent.

I don't know where you come up with cost savings for a tractor...the base machine is about the same cost...most attachments for a skid steer cost roughly the same as the equivalent attachment for any other kind of tractor, and, you can use an adapter to attach any sort of implement attachment to a skid steer if they are cheaper or you find a good used one.

Which implements/attachments are you referring to? For example, a 5' Brush-Hog for a tractor will cost under $1k, but over $3k for a skid steer.

Also... I'm not sure why you keep saying "tractor with equal HP" in your comparisons. HP is not very important when comparing the two. A 30 HP tractor will handle a 5' Brush-Hog, but you'll want a 70+ HP SS with high flow to run that same width hog.

 

[EddieWalker]

You guys are absolutely right. Skid steers are horrible machines. They can't do anything right. That must be why they are so incredibly popular with professionals....

You've missed the point entirely why skid steers are used by pros. It's not that they are the best tool for the job, it's because they are the easiest to get there, and they do a variety of things adequately. In construction, portability is very important. Having a machine that you can haul around with a pickup truck is going to be the deciding factor 90 percent of the time.

If you are not moving it to a different job site every day, there are a lot better machines for clearing land and moving dirt.

And while you may consider four wheel drive on a skid steer to be able to drive it in mud, it's lack of a suspension, and it's tire design makes it just about worthless in wet conditions. It's weight acts as a negative where in all other types of tractors, the weight is a bonus. Since it does not have steering tires, the treads are always smooth, leaving it without any traction.

You will also find that anybody making a living required on the use of a skid steer either owns other machines, or rents them. In my experience, there are very few skid steers on any jobs I've been on. Excavators have taken over, especially mini ex's. Still plenty of dozers, backhoes, loaders and graders. The only place I've seen skid steers on jobs are with landscape contractors planting flowers and moving pallets of grass.

If you get one with skids, it will perform a hundred times better off road. The question is at what cost and how long will the tracks last?

I am a contractor and have a fair amount of time on skid steers. I also have quite a few hours on other machines. I don't know where you are getting your information about the pros, but look forward to you proving us wrong.

 

[zmoz]

Which implements/attachments are you referring to? For example, a 5' Brush-Hog for a tractor will cost under $1k, but over $3k for a skid steer.

You can use a 3pt implement on a skid steer with a relatively cheap adapter. A skid steer will run any type of attachment with the right adapter. Sure you gotta pay for the adapter, but it would work for more than one implement also.

 

[zmoz]

It's not that they are the best tool for the job, it's because they are the easiest to get there, and they do a variety of things adequately.

And those are a few of my reasons which I have stated repeatedly.
1. Portability.
2. Variety.

I never said they were the best at every job, but they can do most jobs if you have the right attachment. It might take a little longer sometimes, but it can be done. They can also be advantageous in a lot of situations where a regular tractor would not be. Cheap tracks over the tires handle the traction problem.

There's a low hour tracked machine that looks pretty nice for $15k, but I'm not really interested because I don't want the extra maintenance and cost of a dedicated track machine.

 

[jlgurr]

When people make stupid useless replies such as yours...yes, I absolutely hate that and have no respect for those people.

And you, sir, will receive the distinct honor and privilege of being the very FIRST person to be on my ignore list.

Sent from my iPhone 2.0 using TractorByNet

 

[zmoz]

And you, sir, will receive the distinct honor and privilege of being the very FIRST person to be on my ignore list.

Sent from my iPhone 2.0 using TractorByNet

Have you bothered to add anything useful to this discussion yet? You're trolling, which is forbidden on this forum. Go away.

 

[motownbrowne]

Have you bothered to add anything useful to this discussion yet? You're trolling, which is forbidden on this forum. Go away.

I thought you were done with this thread about 4 pages ago...