Thinking about trading tractor for a skid steer, am I dumb?

[Gomer pyle]

I own 20 acres with about 11 of it that is overgrown and kinda rough. I find myself doing a lot more loader work and wanting to do more rough bush hogging. I have a pond to clean out, dirt to move, trees to pile with grapple, and underbrush to cut. So, I've started looking at tracked skids. My tractor(2017 Kubota M7060) only has 250 hours, I hate to get rid of it but I don't have room to park it out of the weather if I get a skid. I know the 8 acres of bush hogging will be slower on the skid. I don't want to destroy my tractor/loader trying to do a lot of digging, so have put stuff off and rent on weekends to get by.
Any opinions?

 

[4570Man]

A tracked skid will blow away your tractor for doing loader work. The skid isn’t a great tool for bushhogging but if it’s super rough maybe it won’t be that bad. The worst part about a skid is how bad they scar the ground. If you can look past that you’ll probably be happy.

 

[dusty3030]

A good used 35 to 45 pto horsepower geared 2wd tractor without a loader is easy to find cheap to run a bush hog. Use the skid steer / track loader for everything else. I have contemplated doing the same. Best of both worlds.

 

[4570Man]

A good used 35 to 45 pto horsepower geared 2wd tractor without a loader is easy to find cheap to run a bush hog. Use the skid steer / track loader for everything else. I have contemplated doing the same. Best of both worlds.

You can probably buy a decent mowing tractor for the price of a good skid steer mower and the tractor will be a lot cheaper than the skid to operate.

 

[johncanfield]

I would love to have a CTL but I don't have enough work for it. There's a million attachments for them available especially with high flow hydraulics.

 

[EddieWalker]

For opening up your land, a rotary cutter on the front of a tracked skid steer is very impressive. For digging out a wet pond, the tracks are better then anything with tires. The issue you will have is that as soon as you finish doing what you need to do with the skid steer, it's pretty much worthless compared to what your 7060 can do. Considering that it's not a huge amount of land, I would seriously consider hiring it out, and keeping the 7060.

 

[Gomer pyle]

I've thought about the skid marks and don't think it will be a problem, my place is kinda rough, I'm trying to make it look better. I like the idea of a small 2wd tractor, I can find a pre emissions and the current fad is 4wd so the 2wds seem to be cheaper. I do believe I would want a tractor back in a few years after I got the place cleaned up better.
I've added 3rd function and flat face couplers on the front of my tractor. It works for things like a grapple but a skid would be so much better wiggling around to get a mouth full. I tried a auger and it did okay but not great.
I think I want a cab just because I'm right there on top of the work and dust from bush hogging, bees, etc.. but I don't see many used ones that aren't really high hours or ragged out.
I'm trying to decide rather I want new or used, also what brand. I've looked at a Kubota SVL75 and I really liked it but that price!!! Used equipment holds it's value in my area or is ragged out. I don't mind used but from what I've read I need to stick to 2k hours or less.

 

[Gomer pyle]

For opening up your land, a rotary cutter on the front of a tracked skid steer is very impressive. For digging out a wet pond, the tracks are better then anything with tires. The issue you will have is that as soon as you finish doing what you need to do with the skid steer, it's pretty much worthless compared to what your 7060 can do. Considering that it's not a huge amount of land, I would seriously consider hiring it out, and keeping the 7060.

I have considered renting a machine but there's always that little bit I forgot or added after it's gone. LOL I've also looked at getting a older used skid and keeping my tractor but I hate for equipment to set out in the weather and I don't have the room in a shed for it until I get my shop done.

 

[Industrial Toys]

A neighbour of mine who had a NH skidsteer but also a NH 5610 tractor, once asked me, why I was messing around with tractors. He was rich, I wasn't, but basically it was just an evolutionary thing. PROBABLY, I think I would have done well getting into a Skidsteer early on. It's construction grade, not Ag or consumer equipment. Although nowadays, it would pretty much have to be a tracked loader. They kind of addressed the traction issues of wheeled skid loaders.

 

[pokey1416]

I have a part-time construction business and my skid steer was the answer when I was younger. Now as I exceed my 6th decade I wanted something that was a little more versatile without having to swap attachments. Most importantly though, my broken body screamed for a change. The cabbed tractor with BH fit my bill and I’ve been happy with it. Won’t win any tournaments against a CTL or a mini and the vision sucks if you compare but I’m happy with the tractor. It makes it easier to call my buddies with the construction equipment to do those portions of the project - and I’m home drinking a beer instead of grading or digging.