I am looking to buy my first skid steer soon (ive been an operator for over 15 years) to work in my land clearing and firewood business. Ive already cut and processed a significant amount of wood with a NH L170, and it was a great little machine. I know its a skidsteer I want... picks up the log out of the dirt and carries it and not drags.... much nicer on the saw chains. Also will do some excavating and such with it... so Id like to possibly run a rock hound with it or a stump grinder attatchment. Im looking in the 50-60 HP range. Id like to keep it around $10K but may spend upto 15 on the right machine (Id like to plow maybe as well so a cab with heat and ac, but not necessary). I dont have much of a preference to foot controls or pilots; however, I HATE the Case pattern. Machines in interest: New Holland L170/180 Case 430/440...??? Cat 236/246/? Bobcat S180/185 Am I missing anything?
I think the only machines listed that are rated at 50-60 hp are the BC machines. The 440 is 85, the 430 mid 70's along with the CAT machines. Pilot controls can be had in ISO (cat) or H pattern (Case). If you want to really run a stump grinder you would want high flow. Interesting you would go with hand foot controls or pilots but not CASE controls. Usually the love hate is with foot controls.
I learned on the foot controls so its intuitive. The pilots (Cat) are intuitive for me as well, just never liked the case setup. Dont get me wrong I can run them just fine as Ive spent quite a bit of time plowing snow with them. As my first machine I was thinking of staying around $10k... see how things go with it. But I also think more important is getting something for the right price so I can get some use out of it at very little cost for awhile. Its going to be mainly used (initially) for pushing brush and carrying logs with pallet forks.
You may find something in the 10K range but I think if your willing to step up about 4K you could get a much nicer machine. You never know though if you are patient you might find one of those listed machines in good shape for that money. Most likely the BC since they are smaller than the others.
I say this almost every time I see a thread like this, whatever dealer can get your broken machine back on line the fastest is the one you should go with. My personal preference is Cat, my dealer is 15 minutes away with a parts program that's second to none. I'll also recommend that you look at machines in the 70 to 80 horsepower range, they can do so much more work that a smaller machine. I agree with KSSS, if you raise the amount you're willing to spend a little, you can get a bigger machine with some life left in it.
I have Cat, John Deere, Komatsu, Case, Gehl, Bobcat, and I dont remember what else within 30 miles of where I live... I guess I got it good I sure would like to get something with Heat...(and then with a cab AC is a must if you run it in the summer) Im trying to keep the machine within 7,000 pounds
I am not sure that AC is as important. I say that depending on what your doing with it. My 440 had heat only. I pulled the door off during the Summer and that worked just fine. If your doing alot of mowing or something that of course would not work, but for normal dirt work that set up worked well for us. If you can find a heat/ac unit great but if you only find one with heat, I would not automatically discount it. My reasons for wishing I had ordered AC when I ordered the machine is that I would have got most of my money back at trade in so it would not have cost me anything besides upkeep to have AC. Buying something used of course is a different story. A heat only unit will be a cheaper.
Mine is heat only ,yes AC would be nice but I find I am not in the cab all day so is no as big of a deal. atleast up in here , down south differnt story.
I run a JD 8875 that paid for itself in a firewood business. I bought just the machine with a smooth bucket, and open cab first. I built a set of pallet forks and bought a tooth bar. Now its set up with grouser two bars, and a 72" Root grapple that never comes off if I'm working in the timber. I produce around 100 cords of firewood a year plus work a full time job and run a small excavating business. I use my skid loader for everything in the wood business, it pushes brush, moves and loads logs, powers my four way splitter, loads split wood, moves trailers, pulls stuck trucks, whatever.... To do over again I'd buy a wheeled machine at least the same size, good tracks, and a grapple bucket right outta the gate. The grapple bucket was expensive but it paid for itself quick in not having to change attachments. Same with the tracks, they let you run a lot of days that tires won't and it doesn't take long for them to pay you back. John
Hi John A newbie here. You said you'd buy a wheeled machine, and good tracks. Can you explain that? Also, tell me (us) about your wood splitter attachment. Thanks
what log splitter do you run? 4 way ? thanks chris
True logging and timber work is hell on equipment with a wheeled machine there are no exposed hoses or drive motors to smack, hang up or destroy in the brush. With steel tracks I can let them pull and slip all day in the brush and rocks and not worry about tearing up a track. The undercarriage maintenance cost is so much lower. So is the initial cost of the machine. The downside to ott's in a firewood business is that if you push into a pile when loading a truck a stick can fall inside the track and wedge itself very tight. I run my tracks usually only in the winter when I need the traction in mud, snow, and frozen ground. I run a homebuilt three legged splitter that splits four ways. It runs a four inch cylinder and 25 gpm valve. Its built to be semi stationary, but can be picked up with my pallet forks, grapple bucket, or tooth bucket. It runs off of my loader hydraulics on the constant detent. It will split a cord an hour if you have the logs blocked up. John
Great posts guys. I have a lot of timber work to do (although not for a business) and I'm new at this. Thanks.
Over the tire (metal) tracks- or OTT's , and I couldn't agree with JD8875 more.