I am in the market for a new skid steer. It needs to be able to lift 2000lbs. I have looked a John Deere 320D & also a Bobcat 205. Both, when equipped with what I want, will price between 33 & 35k. I want a cab with heat & ac, power attachment (bobtatch etc) The Bobcat I want would have to be ordered, and will take 10-12 weeks to get. The John Deere is on the lot. I am really leaning towards the John Deere right now based on availability and some other details, cab wise and serviceability. I should be able to demo the 320D this weekend. I am however concerned about past John Deere skid steer issues (200 series) Anyone have any input on the 2 brands? I don't want to get the John Deere if its a POS. I will be moving round bales, pallets, barn cleaning, etc, but only putting maybe 500 hours on a year, tops. BTW my user name has nothing to do with the BRAND....
I dislike the JD because of the rollup front door. It was a real PITA on the one I demoed. Other than that, it was as good as the 205 it was replacing. The door was a deal breaker. I would take a hard look at a Bobcat 220. Better to be at the bottom of a larger size range rather than the top of a smaller one. A 220 will work rings around a 205.
There seems to be some issues with the JD E/H controls. You might want to asked them about that or get some additional warranty worked into the deal in case you run into those problems. I would think that if a BC is 12 weeks out, you would likely be getting an M series machine I would think that since they have just released the midsized M series. I am sure the M series is better than the older machines but you might want to run one to confirm that.
Roll-up front door? Not sure what you are talking about there.. The John Deere I drove had the same door style as the Bobcat, but the door didn't open quite as wide. I don't see a 220 in their offerings, only the S630, which I hated when I test drove it. Very jumpy and the controls felt very disconnected.
I am planning to lease the machine most likely. I am looking at extended warranty on both machines, 3 year 3000 hour on the Bobcat and 2 year unlimited hour on the John Deere, but I am only getting foot controls for the bucket on the John Deere.
one of the generals i do work for has a jd 325 the machine its a horse but he is lucky that it only gets about 100 hrs a year because if you figured hrs between breakdowns it would blow your mind i partialy blame the lack of use but never the less 700 hrs now and broke drive chains 3 times 2 different fuel problems and although its not a big deal the grease fittings on the very bottom of the boom behind the bucket are constently broken off and ive never liked to see an engine start at full throttle the way do no matter where you put it .I know its only about a second but still its crazy especially in winter . I think his machine is a 05 so hopefully they have changed that now
any reason you are not looking at some other brands. around the farm we love our mustangs. we dairy they have to run 365 d/yr. i also like to operate the newer cases with jsc. not that deere and bobcat don't make good machines, but there are other good ones to look at. heat and a/c are a good choice we have 3300 hrs on our 2076 and would hate to think of not having those options on it. it makes long days of haying or hauling manure go much easier. good luck with your new purchase.
I will look into the Mustangs. We don't appear to have any dealers close-by though. Nearest one is about 100 miles away.
the 2000# gehl, mustang, and 205 are old school machines. the deere cab is a lot nicer. 205 m series wont be out till fall or next year. deere got rid of the roll up door with the new series. the deere rear end would be much more prone to damage than bobcat with its solid heavy duty steel back door and sides.
For farm use--lots of lifting and stacking--I like the vertical-lift models, whatever the brand.
Good to know. The Bobcat did seem a bit outdated IMO. I'm not too worried about the rear being damage prone.. It will mainly be myself and my fiance running it.. We shouldn't hit anything. The John Deere cab is very nice.. The "twist knob" throttle is kind of hokey, but I like the auto-style vents etc for defrost and such.
there is a lot of interesting stuff in these comparison videos... http://netdrive.bobcat.com/advantage/compacttrack/index.html everyone knows im a big advocate of the new jcb skid steers. http://www.jcbvision.com/en/
I'll pm you with a Mustang salesman, he is much closer than 100 miles and is real good.
case has an excellent page on their skid steer site where you can compare 4 machines spec wise side by side. look at reach, lift height etc. might be helpful.
has a cat crossed your mind ?
Ive been waiting for to say that. The only people that doesnt like em doesnt own one
My 2.5 cents would be a Cat! I was looking for the exact same specs you are. I demoed a s205 Bobcat, a new holland of the same size, and a Case 430 i think... I liked the case other than my dad buying a new one and having the head gasket and head replaced 3 times in the first 100 hrs. Reliability was the issue there.... No offense KSSS! I liked the Bobcat but couldnt find one with the pilot controls, also the machine was very dated. I didnt like anything about the NewHolland. Ended up with a used 246B model, i liked that one so much i bought a new 246C model. They are a Cadilac! I cant say anything bad about it except for having to have the control response adjusted. Thats just my take on the situation. I will say with the Mustang/ Gehl, they are pretty good machines overall. My buddy swears by them and works them to death with very little trouble. If you ever want to sell it down the road they have a very very low resale value. Best of Luck!
KSSS, not calling you out or anything. but all these problems you keep hearing I have never heard so much as one out of anybody.??Like I said I'm not wanting to start a war. I actually like hearing about your case stuff=-) The deere would be the same as the bobcat if not better. Deere has an extended lip from the tie downs to help prevent this. If you did not already know. Bobcat has less rearview sights.
i have discussed this before. the whole back half of the deere skid steer has to be the weakest design out there. i dont know what kind of ideal conditions you guys operate in but honestly, how can you not see the problem? one turn into a jagged chunk of concrete, or a cattle freestall, with your boom up and you just lost half of your engine and engine components. (along with all the expensive sheet metal); back up into a piece of rebar and you just lost your door, fan, radiator, and half your engine and components, not to mention the cheap door latch that would always be breaking any time you caught the door on something (and by cheap i mean expensive). just because there is a solid rear bumper down by the ground means nothing. since when are the objects i run into at ground level? you say i need to look out the back and watch where im going... well half the time im so deep into trees and brush that im forced to use the rear end as a dozer blade to get out. the deere looks like a decent skid steer and all, but i can run a bobcat for 10 years and not hurt the machine, with a deere i would give myself a week and i would have to be replacing at least the sheet metal. ...and i dont even consider myself an abusive operator.
Back of skid steer. . . 10-4 on that. I use my grapple bucket to grab the ends of 40' trees, and back up sometimes several hundred feet skidding the trees out to burn piles. When my neck gets too tire to look around (and I've never gotten around to installing a rear view mirror) I've dead centered trees with my Bobat 773 hard enough to knock the trees down--literally crashing them down onto the ROP/FOP. Hardly so much as a ding to the rear of the Bobcat. But it ain't fun--sort of a sudden stop. . .
yea, people give the 773 a lot of crap but when it comes down to it, its a tough little machine, and a best seller in the skid steer industry. the worst jolt i ever had was backing into a concrete wall 5 mph. that is a serious collision. obviously i never got out to check to see if my machine was ok, why wouldn't it be? we got a mirror in ours so i never look back, its pretty handy.
I know what you mean dave. some times you just get into it. I've never had a problem with being uncomfortable in the deere or the bobcat. Thoe the cab in the bc was a little more stiff. I guess that a good thing about being somewhat young. I have seen both doors bent on both machines to where they would not close without picking up or down on them. And if you hit either the machine at any angle from the back wheather high or low its going to do the same thing. I guess its just in all what you get used to. And its funny you mention about using the deere in the cattle barn because alot of dairy farmers have switched over to deere b'c they could see what they were doing, was more stable in the air with a big load and the foward reach. After that you get a feel for where things are. If you are doing that with the bobcat the same as with the deere and the boom is raised then you are going to knock the crap out of something with the bc. Space is space. You don't gain or lose it with deere.
Deereman I am not knocking Deere skid steers. There have been those on here that have had problems with Deere's E/H. One guy from SD traded his nearly new Deere in for CAT due to E/H problems that they could not resolve. I know first had that there problems at the release of the machine. I am sure not every machine has these problems but apparantly some do. However CAT and Bobcat have also had their issues with E/H and now that CASE is using E/H, they will have their turn in the barrel. I maybe ordering one of the new tracked machines with E/H so you will hear first hand about its issues. I sat in the D series skid steer at ConExpo and the machine is much more comfortable than previous machines which was about the same as sitting in a bathtub. The visibility out of the large track machine I thought was marginal but from what I could tell by looking at and sitting in the machine it seemed nice.
I think KSSS might be referring to the speed sensor, or lack thereof in the drive motors. I know a few Deere customers that complained and one of the local Deere saleman and I go back some ways and regularly fish muskies together. He has mentioned E/H issues several times during the course of our fishing expeditions. Maybe they have them worked out now. For what its worth, the Bobcat E/H was a mess to the point where they were offering extended warranty on it..
ha ha. about space being space... i never calculated anything, but a deere skid loader the same length as a bobcat would probably take more space to turn in, because they have the booms, the longest part of the skid steer, also being the widest part of the back of the skid steer. we tried out a deere (185 size) a while back and it couldnt turn in our freestall barn, and our bobcat easily does, i believe the new model deeres are shorter than the previous tho. as far as damage on impact to the rear of the machine. i will fight to the death saying a bobcat can take a lot more abuse than the deere before you have a problem. if i was going electro hydraulic i would take a bobcat. they have been doing it a lot longer than any other company. AND you get a 3 year warranty on them anyway.
No big deal dave and and ksss. And dd Im not saying they don't have problems but it just seems to be local to you. Usuallly a few hours with a customer helping them out and they are fine. My biggest problem with the deere is the engine. they should have stuck with the 4045.
no problem. I think Tier IV is driving all of the OEMs to the smaller engines. I would have never thought Deere would go away from the 4045 or Case would have gone away from their 4.5L engine..now Deere's running a 3.1L and the new Cases are running 3.2L engines. What's the world coming to??
I hate the 5030 engine now in the deere. Its good for an air compressior but not a skid.If you put the biggest engine you possibly can it will last longer and run easier..Less pollutant.. Emissions suck. burn twice the fuel to just be half as clean??
That seems to the model that the EPA is using. It sucks going from a 4.5 L displacement to a 3.2L. I hope they run well at alt. Sucks saying good bye to 288 foot pounds of torque.
I always had engine envy with the large frame Case machines.
JCB is running 4.4L in their new models... I was impressed.
thats what im talkin about!