Buying Advice Is there anything comparable to a Bobcat ToolCat (besides Power-Trac/Ventrac)

[60047]

I live on 14 acres of ag-zoned land in suburban Chicago. The ToolCat is incredibly expensive, but I'm really attracted to the stability and general utility of the vehicle. It's known as a swiss army knife without being able to do anything particular well, which is just fine by me. I don't have any specific projects in mind, but I'll likely need to brush cut, mow, load/unload, take my kids to the bus stop (1/2 mile round trip).

Is there anything comparable on the market, at a lower price? These are the features I like the most: 2-seater, fully enclosed, front-mounted cutters, 14 MPH, 4WD.

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's a cool machine and I don't think there is anything else like it.

I test drove one years ago. I found it rode like a ton of bricks as it has to have a front suspension capable of carrying weight. Not, what I would consider a comfortable mode of transportation.

Also, I do believe that there are more and more failures of the rather complex electronics and sensors in Aging Bobcat equipment.

 

[ruffdog]

I test drove one years ago. I found it rode like a ton of bricks as it has to have a front suspension capable of carrying weight. Not, what I would consider a comfortable mode of transportation.

That is probably why they changed the front axle and suspension to full independent ~2006....the newer ones ride much better.

 

[ruffdog]

A few years back, Polaris had the Brutus that you could get a front bucket, blower, finish mower. They weighed 2150lbs for the HD PTO model while the Toolcat 5610 is almost 6000lbs.

Polaris BRUTUS - UTV Guide

 

[60047]

Did Polaris discontinue the Brutus?

 

[MossRoad]

I live on 14 acres of ag-zoned land in suburban Chicago. The ToolCat is incredibly expensive, but I'm really attracted to the stability and general utility of the vehicle. It's known as a swiss army knife without being able to do anything particular well, which is just fine by me. I don't have any specific projects in mind, but I'll likely need to brush cut, mow, load/unload, take my kids to the bus stop (1/2 mile round trip).

Is there anything comparable on the market, at a lower price? These are the features I like the most: 2-seater, fully enclosed, front-mounted cutters, 14 MPH, 4WD.

You need to define your projects before you decide on a machine.

 

[ruffdog]

Did Polaris discontinue the Brutus?

BRUTUS has been discontinued as of January 2019. Polaris is committed to providing support for BRUTUS owners, and has a dealer channel dedicated to continue service and warranty support until 2027.

 

[fishhead]

The bobcat UTV 3650 is kind of a toolcat light, lighter, less powerful but still can power attachments with front PTO- not much of a bucket lift height but otherwise kinda cool
Looks like its half the price or so too

I live on 14 acres of ag-zoned land in suburban Chicago. The ToolCat is incredibly expensive, but I'm really attracted to the stability and general utility of the vehicle. It's known as a swiss army knife without being able to do anything particular well, which is just fine by me. I don't have any specific projects in mind, but I'll likely need to brush cut, mow, load/unload, take my kids to the bus stop (1/2 mile round trip).

Is there anything comparable on the market, at a lower price? These are the features I like the most: 2-seater, fully enclosed, front-mounted cutters, 14 MPH, 4WD.

 

[Jchonline]

How much are we mowing. How thick is the brush you want to cut with the mower? What type of surface are you removing snow from? How high can you foresee needing to lift things?


To me the toolcat is for paved roads. I cant imagine mowing an uneven pasture with it. Also the implements are hydraulic driven if you get the model with the bed (ie no 3 PT)...and expensive.

 

[MossRoad]

Also, consider this...

A local university here has about a dozen toolcats. They are used primarily with the bucket for hauling landscape materials from point A to point B and the bed has landscape tools or plants in it. They are never used for excavating. They do have a small backhoe attachment for one of them. And a nice stump grinder. And they use them to power sweep snow from many miles off sidewalks, and a couple have salt spreaders in the back in winter. No snowblowers or plows for the toolcats. They never use them to mow the lawns. They have many Toro Groundsmasters for mowing and leaf blowing.

They also have several Toro workmasters(?) that are like golf cart trucks. They use those to tow leaf blowers and one has a sidewalk edger (very nice!).

So by looking at that, they are pretty adamant that the toolcats has its uses, but there's better machines for a lot of the tasks.