Buying Advice Skid steer vs loader tractor vs telehandler

[searcyfarms]

Main uses would be moving straw and silage around for Feeding and bedding in the winter.
Current options we are looking at is an old JCB loadall, a small ish loader tractor or a skid loader.
Loader tractor would be handy in the summer for odd bits of field work but not essential.
Downside of skid steers I知 told theyæ±*e not particularly stable on hills?

I知 just curious to hear anyone else痴 thoughts on what may be suitable? Particular things to look out for/avoid?

= i own both loader tractors and a wheeled SS
i would take the SS hands down over any tractor for moving silage, bedding, straw, feeding hay ( unless you are traveling long distances for speed )

I would take my SS hands down over a tractor for stability on hills they will slide before tipping over on a side hill and going down hill you can use the bucket for a brake or even more stability - going uphill load the bucket and never look back or just back up the hill

If its muddy and you go with a wheeled loader get bar tracks it will go anywhere and i can got place you cant with a CTL, my cousin has one and my wheeled with bar tracks will have to pull him out from time to time

use the 454 for small disking jobs and you still have it as a loader for dry stuff - if you want something all around i would say go with a tractor/loader/4wd its more versatile in the long run but since you said not essential i would lean toward the SS.

not sure what you do for cleaning up these bedding/feeding areas but a SS might be good for that as well in small areas.

if its frozen rough ground its tough in a SS comparing it to a tractor even in a CTL. they are all way more rough period.

we dont freeze hard here too often and only for short periods so we have more deep mud in winter than frozen ground, that is why i opted for the bar tracks over tires i have pulled so many stuck things out with my bar tracks over tires from semis, propane trucks, dump trucks, concrete trucks, tractors, cars, pickups, other SS and CTLs, if you arent afraid of tearing up the ground they are hard to stop except for on ice or hard pack snow then you better take them off

 

[Xfaxman]

Surprisingly the Bobcat dealer in Oklahoma City also sells Merlo, so I have seen them up close and personal .
https://www.totalequipmentandrental...-bobcat-v519?dlr=1&pcid=3511041&lpcid=3274513

 

[4570Man]

Main uses would be moving straw and silage around for Feeding and bedding in the winter.
Current options we are looking at is an old JCB loadall, a small ish loader tractor or a skid loader.
Loader tractor would be handy in the summer for odd bits of field work but not essential.
Downside of skid steers I知 told theyæ±*e not particularly stable on hills?

I知 just curious to hear anyone else痴 thoughts on what may be suitable? Particular things to look out for/avoid?

= i own both loader tractors and a wheeled SS
i would take the SS hands down over any tractor for moving silage, bedding, straw, feeding hay ( unless you are traveling long distances for speed )

I would take my SS hands down over a tractor for stability on hills they will slide before tipping over on a side hill and going down hill you can use the bucket for a brake or even more stability - going uphill load the bucket and never look back or just back up the hill

If its muddy and you go with a wheeled loader get bar tracks it will go anywhere and i can got place you cant with a CTL, my cousin has one and my wheeled with bar tracks will have to pull him out from time to time

use the 454 for small disking jobs and you still have it as a loader for dry stuff - if you want something all around i would say go with a tractor/loader/4wd its more versatile in the long run but since you said not essential i would lean toward the SS.

not sure what you do for cleaning up these bedding/feeding areas but a SS might be good for that as well in small areas.

if its frozen rough ground its tough in a SS comparing it to a tractor even in a CTL. they are all way more rough period.

we dont freeze hard here too often and only for short periods so we have more deep mud in winter than frozen ground, that is why i opted for the bar tracks over tires i have pulled so many stuck things out with my bar tracks over tires from semis, propane trucks, dump trucks, concrete trucks, tractors, cars, pickups, other SS and CTLs, if you arent afraid of tearing up the ground they are hard to stop except for on ice or hard pack snow then you better take them off

The metal over the wheels tracks might beat rubber tracks in traction ( personally I hate them ) but you can’t touch the weight distribution of the CTL. So you might win in a soupy mess but if it’s half way solid the CTL can work on it and your machine is on the belly pan.

 

[Xfaxman]

Main uses would be moving straw and silage around for Feeding and bedding in the winter.
Current options we are looking at is an old JCB loadall, a small ish loader tractor or a skid loader.
Loader tractor would be handy in the summer for odd bits of field work but not essential.
Downside of skid steers I'm told they're not particularly stable on hills?

I'm just curious to hear anyone else's thoughts on what may be suitable? Particular things to look out for/avoid?

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Evidently you haven't seen what my compact telehandler can do, or you would have one .

The old JCB Loadall will do it but it is big and heavy. Most compact telehandlers come with aux hydraulics on the boom and SSQA or can be fitted with an adapter to SSQA.

At 6.5' to the top of the cab mine is very stable on side hills. 4 wheel steering and crab steering are awesome and very handy.

 

[searcyfarms]

The metal over the wheels tracks might beat rubber tracks in traction ( personally I hate them ) but you can’t touch the weight distribution of the CTL. So you might win in a soupy mess but if it’s half way solid the CTL can work on it and your machine is on the belly pan.

absolutely agree, it all depends on the situation and you might be able to stay on top with the CTL but it wont get much work done if you break through just like a SS however the bar tracks will keep going around here in most of our muds/clays/dirt but you are making deep ruts, but it will drag my machine through it and keep on going even on the belly - there is no perfect machine thats a given but for all around conditions and what he said he wants to do, if you are working around bedding and silage its soupy unless frozen and usually deep - id rather risk the need of putting on the steel tracks and have that option vs a machine i cant use sometimes due to conditions, granted i would rather have and use a CTL 80% of the time as they are so much more better but when in certain conditions not so much.

I dont like the bar tracks either - hard on machine, hard on terrain, hard on bodies, really bad in wet snow that sticks and freezes between the track and tires, but if you are working in crappy muddy conditions they are a necessity and I have yet to be stuck with my tracks outside of pinning myself up against a tree and sinking in a creek in mud/sand with no bottom at all.

with a big bale of hay on the front of any SS/CTL, you are going to need a lot of traction in mud to keep moving

 

[Big Barn]

Tractor first choice for me,
a Telehandler coming in second,
third would be an articulating wheel loader,
in a distant 4th would be a skid steer.

Agreed except skid steer wouldn’t even make it on the list. I sold mine 27 years ago.

 

[MossRoad]

Agreed except skid steer wouldn’t even make it on the list. I sold mine 27 years ago.

View attachment 644213

Nice forklift! Got any more info on it?

 

[Big Barn]

Nice forklift! Got any more info on it?

It’s a rough terrain forklift made by Mastercraft Corp out of Georgia

Custom Built Rough Terrain Forklifts - Tifton, Georgia - Master Craft Industrial Equipment

I bought mine new in 1991. It was the first one ever shipped into Canada. Mine is based on a Ford backhoe frame, power and running gear. I ordered it deliberately with the low 10 foot mast as it was only going to be used for loading trailers. I didn’t want the extra mast weight in the field.

We still use it every day.

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks. I noticed the low mast. Reminded me of a huge forklift I had to use to load a C130 cargo plane operated by a CIA front company back in the 80s. :laughing:

 

[Jchonline]

Evidently you haven't seen what my compact telehandler can do, or you would have one .

The old JCB Loadall will do it but it is big and heavy. Most compact telehandlers come with aux hydraulics on the boom and SSQA or can be fitted with an adapter to SSQA.

At 6.5' to the top of the cab mine is very stable on side hills. 4 wheel steering and crab steering are awesome and very handy.

I demoed one on my mountain property. Very stable. Much more so than a SS or Tractor or CTL. You can still roll a CTL end over end, and that cant happen with a Telehandler if you use the boom properly.

OP I hope you have tons of room to maneuver the JCB. For me even the Bobcat Telehandlers were really large machines to zip around in. I cant imagine a JCB Loadall!