Compact Track Loader

[Darth_DMack]

Good Day Everyone,

I currently own a 2023 Mahindra 5155 with FEL. I use my Mahindra Grapple more than anything, and this tractor has proven itself to be a very easy to operate and hard working piece of equipment. Now, I'm looking to add a Compact Track Loader (CTL) to my stable. I've rented a few for small jobs, but having my own, will allow me to do my own maintenance and have my own attachments that I can use.

Been looking into the following brands:

CAT
BOBCAT
TAKEUCHI
KUBOTA
DEERE

and now, I have seen that KIOTI has their first CTL out on the market. I'm shopping in the 74 hp range, for general dirt work, land clearing, driveway work, homesite / work shop prep.

This CTL will be owned by our small business, and used commercially. I'm new to this type of equipment, but my business partner (My Brother) just retired from our home County land works division. He's a triple ASE Certified Heavy Diesel Mechanic and Heavy Equipment Operator with over 30 years of fleet maintenance experience.

Should I continue to rent for each job? Or is buying outright and having our business own it more of the way to go. So far, the local equipment rental company has been awesome. I just want to get this done right the first time. I know brand loyalty IS a thing, I just want to spend my money the right way. So far, CAT and TAKEUCHI have my interest, but I am also interested in the new Kioti.

Probably a can of worms here, but I look forward to those more experienced than me, providing much needed input.

Thank you in advance!

Cheers,

Darren

 

[MTGreen]

If you're going to be using it commercially and relying on it daily for income, there's a reason the majority of commercial folks use Cat & Deere commercial equipment.
There is a big difference between commercial designed equipment and the home/ranch grade stuff that most of us on the forum use. Kioti appears to be new to the commercial grade market and as such I would be very hesitant to be an early adopter although they generally have good reviews on TBN for their home/ranch grade equipment and the price is likely attractive.
I imagine your brother being a 30 year operator/fleet maintenance can speak to the build quality, longevity, and reliability of Cat & Deere versus some of the competitors.

 

[4570Man]

People tend to talk up Tackuchi but I remain to be impressed. The ones I have ran have loose joysticks, a very basic cab and the cab entry step is so big it blocks half the bucket cutting edge visibility. Cat and John Deere machines cost considerably more than the competitor machines. I just bought a Kubota 75-3. It’s currently sitting with 0 hours because of unfit weather to use but I like a lot of the upgrades it has over the 75-2 machine. I would be skeptical of buying a Kioti because it’s the first CTL they’ve ever made. If it was like 60k I might give it a shot but the prices I’ve seen are the same or more than the Kubota 75-3.

 

[JethroB]

I recently hired a fellow with a JD 333 CTL to do some forestry mulching, grapple, and bucket work. He said if he were to buy again he would probably buy one size smaller due to the heavy weight (12,000 # ?) potentially damaging customer’s ground and not being as nimble. He also said keeping it busy could sometimes be an issue in our area due to the cost. $200/hr for mulching with preferably 8 hour minimum. FYI His comments.

 

[2manyrocks]

The guy I hired to mulch used a Cat 299d. He said he chose Cat because there are two good dealers locally. One 20 miles away. The other 60 miles away. With paid work to do, downtime costs money while loan payments don't stop.

 

[dieselscout80]

I would look at what dealers are near you for support and then make your decision.

 

[jmc]

If TAKEUCHI is of interest to you, keep an eye out for Gehl too. TAKEUCHI makes, or made, Gehl's CTL. Very well made machine, IMO.

 

[4570Man]

If TAKEUCHI is of interest to you, keep an eye out for Gehl too. TAKEUCHI makes, or made, Gehl's CTL. Very well made machine, IMO.

Gehl was at one point a partner with Mustang and they might do business with Manitou but they’ve never been partners with Tackuchi.

 

[Darth_DMack]

ALL:

Great input... very informative. I'm not looking to do any mulching, for in my area, I'm seeing that most don't want to pay the cost. I have a Ranger Buddy that has a land business a few hours from me. He has a BIG dedicated FECON forestry mulcher, and can't find work for it.

What I am getting into, is land clearing. Tree removal, stump removal, driveway / home site / shop site prep. Playing around with an older CAT 289D and a Stump Bucket, the amount of work I could get done in one day was impressive. I'm dealing with mostly pine, gum, holly and some small scrub oak, but nothing huge. Starting slow, moving up. Just keeping myself busy.

My Brother and I have talked extensively. They have a few 300 Series John Deere CTL's in their fleet, and he calls them pieces of sh**. I guess because he has to work on them constantly. Again, these are owned by the County, and the operators run them like they stole them.

I will most likely go with CAT.

We have a HUGE CAT repair facility near me, and I love that you can get on-site service from them.

That little CAT 289D impressed the heck out of me!

Again, thank you all for the input. Very well received!

 

[jmc]

Gehl was at one point a partner with Mustang and they might do business with Manitou but they’ve never been partners with Tackuchi.

I have a Gehl CTL 60 from 15 or 20 years ago and it was made by Takeuchi. It even has that annoying step plate you mentioned earlier.

 

[2manyrocks]

I paid $185 hr for forestry mulching. Seemed like a lot until I saw that he could do more in 30 minutes than I can do in a week with a tractor, chainsaw and grapple. After I saw how much he could get done in a few minutes, I paid him to clear some additional areas figuring it saved me a huge amount of work. There were some thorn trees growing in one place--he ground them to pieces in a few minutes.

That being said, there's a substantial investment required to buy the mulching head. I forget how many teeth and tracks they said they'd replaced. They also have to take the belly pan off twice a year to clean out debris. I suspect mulching is harder on the CTL than a heavy duty brush cutter which can also do a lot so long as one doesn't expect to mulch 6" trees with it.

If your friend can't find work for his machine, I suspect his customers may not understand how productive forestry mulching can be compared to trying to clear property with a chainsaw and then having to find a place for all the brush. It could be that he could get more work if he can show his customers that he can do things they practically can't and get it done faster.

 

[two_bit_score]

New Holland makes a nice CTL. If you have a dealer nearby.

My preference is Deere but I've considered NH because of a local dealer.

 

[two_bit_score]

If your friend can't find work for his machine, I suspect his customers may not understand how productive forestry mulching can be compared to trying to clear property with a chainsaw and then having to find a place for all the brush. It could be that he could get more work if he can show his customers that he can do things they practically can't and get it done faster.

No kidding! I have a guy that cleared out some underbrush on the back part of a lot I have in town. It would have taken me a year to clean out what he did in 4 hours. And, like you said, if I was doing it where would I have burned the brush in town? Couldn't. Would have had to make many many trips to the dump to get rid of it. That cost saved alone paid for the CTL clearing.

 

[Darth_DMack]

I will most likely buy a mulching head in the future. You are correct saying that they can do more in 4 hours than I could in two weeks with a chain, chainsaw and grapple on my tractor. Once I start getting out there more, that's the plan.

Been doing a ton of research on the topic, watching the YouTube channels that cover this, but in my area of South Carolina, there just does not seem to be a huge market for it. However, I must say, I have not been out there actively pursuing it. Finding a mulching head to "rent" is almost impossible.

I spent a lot of time speaking with Jason (Pasco-Hernando Land Services, LLC) out of Florida. He has an ASV RT75 with a 60" FECON mulching head. He was very open with me, even showed me his equipment in person. He told me that he could do more work with his mini excavator and dump trailer, than he could with his mulcher. By that, he meant, sourcing more jobs. Also, those who are successful with the smaller mulchers, also have other avenues for income. Using the mini-ex to "pop trees" / root balls, and then haul off in the dump trailer, seems to be the way to go. I can say, my 55 hp Mahindra is strong, but NOTHING like that CAT 289D... Once I started getting seat time in the CTL with different attachments, I knew I had to have one.

I can rent mini-excavators with a thumb, easy locally. Owning a CTL, then getting all the attachments are first on the list.

As always, thank you all so much for the input.

I'm building this airplane whilst in flight!

Cheers,

Darren

 

[finn1]

Mine is a 74 hp Case 8800 lb machine. It’s been fine for personal use. The earlier machines had harness issues from what I have seen but that’s been fixed. New Holland sells essentially the same machine wit different paint and graphics.

It replaced a Deere wheeled skid steer.

The Kioti dealer said he would be carrying the Kioti machines, but I haven’t seen them yet

 

[D&D]

Good Day Everyone,


Should I continue to rent for each job? Or is buying outright and having our business own it more of the way to go. So far, the local equipment rental company has been awesome. I just want to get this done right the first time. I know brand loyalty IS a thing, I just want to spend my money the right way. So far, CAT and TAKEUCHI have my interest, but I am also interested in the new Kioti.

Probably a can of worms here, but I look forward to those more experienced than me, providing much needed input.

Thank you in advance!

Cheers,

Darren

I’d start by talking with my CPA to explore the difference between owning vs. leasing. one really nice thing about rentals, when it breaks you call them up and say “it’s broken, send someone out or bring me another one”.

Rent vs. Buy Heavy Equipment - Weighing the Pros and Cons - Carolina Cat Construction

When you’re in construction, the decision to rent or buy equipment is vital. Whether renting or buying is the right move depends on several factors, such as how often you use the machine and how readily available it is on the rental market. Your choice must also make financial and operational...

carolinacat.com

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I bought a Kubota SVL 75-2 for my business that I started when I retired, I looked at JD, Cat and Kubota, price on the Kubota was about 18-20k less than the others, the overhead door was a must for me as I work by myself and need to be able to get in and out of the cab with the loader arms in any position ( something you can't do with the other two ) and lastly the simplicity of the Kubota, it's simple not a ton of bells and whistles but it's made to work, so far mine has been flawless, use it mostly for forestry mowing and grapple work and a little limerock/driveway work. Good luck on whatever you decide. Charlie.

 

[Darth_DMack]

I bought a Kubota SVL 75-2 for my business that I started when I retired, I looked at JD, Cat and Kubota, price on the Kubota was about 18-20k less than the others, the overhead door was a must for me as I work by myself and need to be able to get in and out of the cab with the loader arms in any position ( something you can't do with the other two ) and lastly the simplicity of the Kubota, it's simple not a ton of bells and whistles but it's made to work, so far mine has been flawless, use it mostly for forestry mowing and grapple work and a little limerock/driveway work. Good luck on whatever you decide. Charlie.

Thanks for the input Charlie... I grew up in Alachua, FL... so I know LaCrosse very well! Definitely looking at Kubota!

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Thanks for the input Charlie... I grew up in Alachua, FL... so I know LaCrosse very well! Definitely looking at Kubota!

Small world, I was born and raised here graduated SFHS in 1986 , let me know if I can answer any questions for you about the Kubota.

 

[Darth_DMack]

Small world, I was born and raised here graduated SFHS in 1986 , let me know if I can answer any questions for you about the Kubota.

I graduated from SFHS in '87, went directly to the Army... just retired this past March 1st. VERY small world!

I'm looking at the SVL75-2 or -3.