Deere vs. Case vs. Bobcat vs. Caterpillar Skids

gatractorman · Jan 29, 2005

Personally I would spend 1/4 of the dollars I would spend on a new one and rebuild the 1845 and use it many more years, if someone gave me the money and said I had to go purchase a new skid-steer with it, I honestly do not know which brand I would purchase. All these new computer controlled things are nice when they work andI can speak from experience as I worked for a Bobcat dealer as a mechanic for a while some years ago, fully 6 out of 10 new Bobcats that returned to the shop were for an electrical problem, 3 of the 10 was for a leak of some sort, and 1 in 10 was for something else, Bobcat has a good product but in my opinion they went down hill when they installed a computer on them.

baddog201 · Jan 23, 2010

i just bought the last new John deere 317 ive been a bobcat man for years and demoed a cat. I am a farmer in Indiana and main reason i decided not to buy bobcat is because they wont be putting kubota engine in them anymore and I use deeres and kubotas on my farm i make about 800 acres of hay and 3000 acres of corn and beans. I was really impressed with the visiblity out of the deere the weight distrubtution was alot different with the deere there is more weight on the front so it doesnt tend to ride on 2 wheels. my john deere 250 i still have has 3500 hours on it and is all orignal so they hold up just fine for us around here

20 20 · Jan 23, 2010

Guy up the road bought one of the gehl skid steers {has a construction company} says it's great, much better then his cat????

Soutthpaw · Apr 21, 2010

I was a mechanic at a local JD dealer for a couple of years... I own a Bobcat! JD only makes Skid Steers so they have something to see the Green machine Fanboys.. They are made as cheap as possible and had lots of warranty work and hydraulic issues.. . Unfortunately all the newer machine all have computer controlled systems that just make repairing them more expensive. My vote is for Bobcat as that is really their specialty. Also Bobcat dealers and replacement parts are easy to find... have not had much experience with the other brands but have driven then and don't care for the design/control setups on them.
It would help if you told us how you were planning on using the machine... as for tracked machines, unless you need the low ground pressure or traction of tracks and dont run on hard surfaces much I would stick with a wheeled machine. you can get several sets of tires for what a set of tracks costs

ddawg · Jan 22, 2011

im only 16 years old but i live in alaska and get the pdf every year and i used that money to buy a bobcat s160 and made good money and i loved it and just this past year i bought a new bobcat s185 and i absolutly love it and i have ran case and i hated it but i will say if youve got the money cat is awsome but right next to it for a lower cost is bobcat and i have never had any big problems with it and they both stilll run like a champ and would not trade them for the world so best bang for ur buck is deffinetly bobcat:thumbsup:

jbooth · Jan 22, 2011

Why trade? Don't know the hrs on your 1845C, but I have nearly 6000 on mine and it has been bullet proof. Good on fuel and easy to run with the hand controls. I imagine the new machines with the fancier control sustems would be real nice, but every device besides essentials are is just something else to go wrong. A comparison was made between a 863 and the 1845C on digging ability. I believe the 863 is about 15 more horses and 1000 lbs heavier so one would expect to dig faster. If speed is the issue, why not get one in the 90 -100 hp range.