Compact Track Loader, whos the best?

[groundcover]

When I bought my Kubota SVL 75-2 back in 2022 Deere and Cat were around 18-20k higher for similar sized machines, which was just to much more money for me to justify, lastly I wouldn't own a CTL that didn't have a roll up overhead door, it's a must for working by yourself IMO.

Friend of mine has a Cat. Was with him one day when he got a call from his employee saying he was trapped. He was running a Harley rake and got too far into a muddy spot. Cat wouldn't move and door wouldn't open !

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Friend of mine has a Cat. Was with him one day when he got a call from his employee saying he was trapped. He was running a Harley rake and got too far into a muddy spot. Cat wouldn't move and door wouldn't open !

I saw right away that as much as I would be working by myself that the overhead roll up door was what I needed, your friends employee's only option was to wait on someone to come pull him out so that he could either raise or lower the arms in order to open the door or pull the ring on the back glass seal and pop out the back glass to exit through the back glass hole, nether are appealing to me, the overhead roll up door solves that problem.

 

[Dukeisok]

I think like most things it's highly dependent upon your intended uses and for heavy equipment, your dealer support. In my area the Kubota Dealership is hands down the best one to deal with. I was set on buying a Kubota and when I was looking they had a pre-emissions case 450 on the lot with all the bells and whistles of the era including high flow, for a song. Given my intended use which is a low volume landowner, it was a no-brainer and I've been very happy. Hard to beat a Cummins 4 cylinder engine.

That said, I don't make money with my equipment I just use them as toys so price point is extremely important. I do have to run it with the door off for frequent moving of logs and whatnot because I can only get out if the arms are all the way down. If they're up even 2 in the door won't open. A roll up door would be nice, perhaps even nicer would be the JCB single arm unit that lets you go out the side door. That appeals to me from an engineering and safety perspective although they only have a 74 horsepower engine which is insufficient for my needs ( I'm an unusual homeowner and that I have a forestry Mulcher that requires 40 gallons per minute to run) I never get out underneath the arms but it's often the case that I climb out while the arms are a foot off the ground holding a log in a grapple so I can use a chainsaw at chest height without digging in the dirt

 

[Flogger]

I can't share any specific complains, just that guys who had Bobcats, often for several cycles, opted to go Tako/Kub/Cat over the last few years, and i know two guys who specifically said "anything other than a bobcat".

My experience with Bobcats local standing are purely dealer. We gave the local Bobcat dealer a real wake-up call back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s with Scat Traks. Good service and follow-up is a real selling point and they had lost sight of that.

 

[Flogger]

New Holland is one i think we left of the list. They aren't really one of the more common ones, but if you have a dealer close, I wouldn't rule them out. They do appear to average a bit lighter for the same HP; which can be good or bad,View attachment 2207193

New Holland is taking the Deere business in my area mainly because of Deeres asinine approach to dealing with customers. Let’s sue them seems to be the new motto. New Holland made the Deere for years until Deere tried the sue them approach. New Hollan has always been the lifting machine but in the dirt they often come up a little short.

 

[groundcover]

My experience with Bobcats local standing are purely dealer. We gave the local Bobcat dealer a real wake-up call back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s with Scat Traks. Good service and follow-up is a real selling point and they had lost sight of that.

Same experience here. I said I wanted a mini track loader and they treated me like I was wasting their time, after a couple of inquiries I called Ditchwitch. They were more than willing to drop off a much better machine to demo. Bought that one and since have added another. A few months after I bought the Ditchwitch Bobcat called me back, I said I bought the Witch and couldn't be happier! Salesman said , I guess you were serious ! You think ?

 

[groundcover]

Had her out this morning tugging over and hauling some future firewood.

 

[paulsharvey]

Wish there was a better source for equipment prices, figured I'd post this one cause it popped up.

 

[paulsharvey]

Couple more comparison prices

 

[paulsharvey]

The Kioti really isn't much savings over the comparable. Although $68.5 gets enclosed AC vs Kubota $73.5 without enclosed. I have yet to see a single Kioti in the wild with a contractor, and I wouldnt be in a hurry to get one. I don't doubt it's fine, but parts supply make take a while