Hey all. So I own a small field mowing business and a client of mine offered to sell a piece of his equipment (he owns a tree company in Marin County) with some attachments for a fair price. A bit about the equipment: He purchased The Bobcat T300 HF new in 2006 as his personal machine. It is the Gold Package with all the options at the time. Eventually it was used by some of the workers for jobs, so the care was not the same for a while I would assume from condition of it, IE: for any repairs or service it was sent to the dealer, but general stuff was lacking, like debris in the seat tracks, missing grease fitting.... I bought it from him about a week ago along with a grapple (also purchased new at the time he picked up the machine, with receipts for everything), two buckets of different sizes and a Brushwolf 9000 HF mower. The Bobcat, which I have named Berta, has 1881 hours on it as of today's date and seems to run really well, though a thorough cleaning was in need. Anywho, I was not in the market for this, but when he made the offer and I saw the machine, I fell in love and with a SBA loan from COVID and some other funds I had I was able to afford this and knew it was a good way to advance my business. I have had absolutely zero experience with a machine like this and had never even driven something like it before. I have been doing nothing other than using it, cleaning it, repairing or researching since I picked it up. I am just trying to get an idea from the crowd as to what I can expect time-wise with repairs, motors, things to look for or be aware of... yada yada. Hell, there are hand controls I am still not sure how to use. So far, I love the machine and the design seems to be well thought through for the most part. I like how easy most maintenance are to get to and the machine seems pretty comfortable to drive. I am a sole proprietor and just spent a load of cash on this baby. I would hate to damage or break things out of ignorance.. Thank you. Sorry for the novella.
Just a word ... if you're mowing. Dry grass is an excellent tinder for starting a fire in the machine. Be a shame to burn up a nice pre-emission machine. Keep it clean & carry a fire extinguisher. I do when mowing.
Yes, I am ultra aware of the danger and I do keep safety and cleanliness in mind with both of my machines. The tractor actually has two extinguishers and currently Berta has one in the cab. eventually there will be two, one inside and one outside most likely. The photo/thumbnail was actually a city lot and not county and as an extra safety measure I mowed a fire break completely around the 22 acre property before attacking the bulk of it and only worked until 11am at the latest. I would hate to watch my investment burn to the ground!
I am currently using a T300 for land clearing. It is, I think, the same year as yours. It was purchased used in 2007 for me to use on clearing, then in 2009, when I finished, the ranch foreman used it as needed. Currently it has about 2700 hours on it. The T300 I am using was rode hard and put away wet, as they say down here. Plus, in the last 10 years, it has been used only now and then, and sometime sits in the field for months unused. I can not tell you how good it is running right now with all those hours on it. So far, we have found a cracked coolant holding tank, a mouse nest behind the panel that has the A/C controls, and we threw a track. However, after a short on the A/C, (we got it fixed), put in a can of freon, and it is keeping the cab cool. The main thing to do on this machine seems to be cleaning the A/C and main radiator coolers. Over the years, it has often operated in 100 degree temps., yet if cleaned daily, it does not overheat execept occasionally. Also keep the air filter element really clean, as it can nearly plug up in less than a day, when mowing. Ours does not have a high flow on it, so it puts quite a strain on the hydraulics when I am running the big Ambusher brush hog. In hot weather with the brush hog, it will overheat often, and require you let it idle a while to cool down. Currently I am stacking brush with a big brush grapple bucket. I can push a pile 4 times a big as the machine. In fact, another operator who is helping me said sometimes all he can see is a pile of brush moving across the field. He can not even see the T300 pushing it. I believe this T300 is the best skidsteer machine I have ever operated. The only downfall I can find is that it sure RIDES ROUGH on those tracks. Jeff
Nice looking mowing machine. Just to help you out- you'll find a lot more info on here on your type of machine in a different category. There's a category for "compact track/multiterrain loader" its further down in the equipment lists. The "Track Loaders" section is really more for the larger steel tracked 953-963-973 Cat machines and such. So if you want to read other threads about your style machine, you'll be better off scrolling through that category.
Thanks for the tip. I actually saw that after the post was made.
Yes, I feel like most all machines probably have this issue with the cooling system needing to be cleaned often. And so far, that is actually my biggest complaint on this machine. There does not seem to be a quick way to clean them out. On my tractor I am able to blow the radiator out with an air hose pretty easy. The stacked method is fine on the T300, but since they are not on hinges and it seems to be just cramped enough that things don't just move out of the way for easy cleaning. I think the newer machines have hinged radiators to make it quick and easy, but not this one sadly. I will have to get quick at it since they will need to be cleaned out pretty frequently when they days are dry and dusty. Part of the trade off of an older, cheaper machine..