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.