noobie asking for advice

ToolcatWonka5610 · Jun 8, 2009

Been trying to find this for an hour:
What brand of engine does Komatsu use in their Skid Steers and CTLs?
I've never really looked at Komatsu so I'd like to know.

Digdeep · Jun 8, 2009

I think they make their small engines either in Japan or China and their large engines in the US. At one point they had a partnership with Cummins.

ScottAR · Jun 11, 2009

The engines in the backhoe/loaders are yanmar I believe... I'd expect most of the
other smallish engines are too... I've been wrong before so it could happen again.

LHB_Texas · Jun 25, 2009

I must have missed something. Not sure where Newbury made the decision to go from skid steer to TLB, but it would be helpful to me to get back to the discussion about the capabilities of the skid steer. My situation is similar to Newburyç—´ but on a much smaller scale. I have 30 acres in the Post Oak Savannah (Milam Co.) area of Texas that Iå£‡ like to slowly improve. It will be my retirement homestead and hobby. Soil is sandy with some clay. It doesnç¨š take much to bury a wheeled vehicle in either wet or dry soil. Actually somewhat damp is best, but with drought in progress thatç—´ not likely on any regular basis. Anyway, thatç—´ why I started thinking about a tracked skid steer. (Not a wheeled skid steer with add-on tracks.) Figured Iå£‡ have better traction which translates to pushing/pulling force. The property is totally wooded with maybe 2 acres cleared. I have lots of post oak, blackjack oak, and cedar. The thing I have the most of however is yaupon and thatç—´ what I want to get rid of. I also want to clear trails and move dirt around, but for now I want to clear the yaupon.

I had a small tank dug a few months back and the dozer operator suggested I find a small used dozer so I could clear at my leisure. I started looking around but then thought about a skid steer with a dozer blade or maybe just the bucket with a toothed blade. I figured it would provide a lot more versatility, but I donç¨š know if it has the ability to knock down/uproot the yaupon. I also want to be able to push dirt. Because of all the trees and my not wanting to clear too much, I have a very high berm on one side of the tank that was dug. It really needs to be reduced. I figured if I could take out the larger trees with a chain saw, but this would leave stumps anywhere from 4 8 in diameter. Mostly cedar, but some oak. Would a skid steer be able to uproot the stumps if I push on them? For that matter would a smaller dozer like a Komatsu D21 be able to do it? Once the trees were cleared, I could spread the dirt further out and flatten out the berm.

IçŸ¥ also curious about how stable one of these would be traversing a slope. I know youæ±*e supposed to travel up and down, but sometimes I need to go across the face of an embankment. For instance, how prone would a skid steer be to rolling over or sliding down the slope sideways. How about climbing or descending? What are maximum safe slopes?

I canç¨š afford to buy multiple pieces of equipment. I figured a skid steer or dozer now to clear and then later sell and buy a tractor to maintain and do other tasks once the place is more manicured.

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.

newbury · Jun 28, 2009

My opening statement for this thread was "Tractor/Dozer/skidsteer?"

It was primarily Eddie and AkFish that talked me into a TLB. I had originally thought older used dozer or skid steer, but the prices and sizes on them started to make things complicated. The evolution came about when I realized that to keep under CDL limit I might as well get a TLB, and if I was going to get a TLB I was going to need experience in using one. So I needed a training machine.

My plans have also changed slightly, I envision dragging a lot more trees around and putting in a lot of postholes.

My present ride is underpowered for long term with what I consider a great BH.

I almost went with a BX24/23, but they looked tiny.

So far the only things I've done are move a truckload of sand, haul a bunch of stuff around my lot. play with my boxblade, landscape and install a bigger gate for my fence (so I can get the tractor in the backyard), and pull that stump. Next up are ditching and replacing a concrete sidewalk.

Where I'm going there is little sand and a lot of clay, so I'd probably need at least a 50HP machine to push over trees.
My 23HP machine digs out trees, it just takes a couple of hours.