I have ran some skid steers over the past 10 years. Most recently I operated an 08 S300 and 08 T300 doing snow removal. I have always operated machines with hand and foot controls but am interested in joystick controls. I have two bad knees and operating the pedals especially in cold weather gets painful fast. This will be my first owned machine. I have always borrowed others or worked for someone who had them. I only ever ran them for side work when available. I guess I am looking for a midsize machine. I want to be able to run attachments with auxiliary hydraulics such as stump grinders and snow blowers. I am not sure how much that affects the size requirement of the machine. My usage of the machine as of now would be doing stump grinding on the side, snow removal in the winter, mulching, grading, fill dirt, and light stone/gravel work. I would prefer not to spend over $10000 after the machine, bucket, grinder and possibly a snow blower(all used) I own and operate my own custom automotive shop, so servicing an old machine would be no issue, I just dont want a basket case. Sorry for the long speech, just trying to provide some background beforehand. Thanks everyone!
1845c
Some of those attachments are 5/10k alone. Also most grinding jobs ive seen can only be accessed wit smaller grinders so you might want to consider a used skid and a standalone grinder
Sorry I meant to say 10K for the machine and 10K for all of those attachments.
Welcome to the Forums straight exhaust! :drinkup You might want to consider putting more of your budget into the skid and rent attachments as needed. The last thing you want is money tied up in attachments sitting while the skid is down. $15-18K will put you into a different level of machine, dependability wise. Stump grinders should be available for rent when you need one. I don't know how much a snow blower is because I live in Alabama and when it snows we just shut the city down and drink beer.
I found that joystick controls are generally available only on the bigger (more expensive) machines. I too needed joysticks and that limited the choices. If you haven't noticed, skid steer attachments are expensive, especially any attachment with hydraulics. I would be leery of any low cost hydraulic attachment, it might be beat to death. Hydraulic motors, etc. are not cheap. Carefully look at the flow requirements for any attachments. I suspect that the ones you want will require high flow hydraulics. Again, that will limit your choices. It's not just the ability to perform maintenance and repairs, it's also the cost of parts.
I don't know where you will find a joystick machine with all of that for under $10,000. But case has H pattern which is pretty close. You can get an 1845c for around 8-9 grand. I was looking at one with a cab/heat for $9,900. Hope this helps.
Thank you everyone for all the replies. I just was speaking to my co-worker and his fried is selling a 2006 New Holland LS190 with 580 hours on it for $15000. After looking on machinery trader that price sounds way low. Im going to meet the guy this week and take a look at it. Any thoughts on this machine. It is really close in specs to the Bobcat S300 that I am used to running.
If the machine is in decent shape and not stolen..........buy it.
Is there some type of database for equipment I could use to search and make sure it is not stolen. To my knowledge they just have serial numbers?
Call your local sheriff's department or if your in the City, the local PD. They will will send someone out our maybe let you provide them with the PIN verbally. They will check it NCIC (national data base). If it was stolen and reported to the LE WITH THE PIN, it would be entered into NCIC.
Thanks for all of the help ended up buying a 2006 LS170 with a tooth bar, tracks and a 18 foot 12K pound equipment trailer