Hello - I am looking into possibly buying a skid steer to maintain, landscape, small grading jobs, etc at a home we recently bought. The property is 2.5 acres and located in Southern California. I curretly have a Case 380 skip loader. it is an awesome unit but I am noticing as we develop the property with horse facilities, trees, gardens, groves, etc the size is becoming a bit of a handicap. A skid steer would seem the natural choice for the combination of size and power but I worry about being able to maintain the swaths of bare land we will still have as well as being able to drag the horse arena. What is the best way to simply clear weeds and manicure the grounds with a skid steer? Am I better off with the skip loader in these areas? What is the best way to drag an arena with a skid? Are there implements made that can handle these tasks? I found this thread below but I was still wanting a bit more info. Thanks!
I use my 863 for farm/home use and think it does a great job. Among other things I maintain a long gravel driveway and recently just plowed up a garden. I just use a standard bucket with teeth. I do a lot of back dragging on the driveway. The first few times it looked pretty rough compared with my old tractor and a scraper blade. Now it looks pretty good. The only drawback for me is the sheer weight of the machine (about 8,000 lbs with tracks on) it will tear up a manicured area like a horse arena pretty fast. I have mostly woods here so it is not a problem. The weight actually helps when you want to clear trees as I am now doing though, and it is MUCH stronger that the Kubota I had. Just a few things for you to think about.
I'm looking at purchasing a skid steer for snow removal and tree removal on my acerage as well. Will have to watch this thread.
toomacho - thanks for the reply. have you cleared any land down to the dirt? Was it easier or about the same as with the kubota? Do you find it a more useful unit overall than the kubota you had? On that gravel driveway, you find that back dragging is the best way to manicure it? My current Case weighs in the 8,000 lb range as well. I know that skids are great machines but I guess my question is their capability to serve as an all around farm/home tractor? Is it possible to weld tow points on the back of a skid somewhere to pull the arena drag?
I have cleared out some trails on our property for running and Mountain biking and the Bobcat was by far better that the Kubota L2900. It has more than twice the HP and the extra weight helped when removing stumps or pushing down trees. :cool2 One drawback was that I was getting stuck quite a bit, some due to inexperience on the machine and other times it would just sink down in the fresh dirt. I just installed a used set of metal tracks that solved that problem! On the driveway, I will first make a light cut going forward and scoop and sort of smooth as I go, then dump what I picked up into the ruts while moving. Fills things in nicely, then I backdrag. As far as attaching something to the back, I really don't know. I'll let someone with more experience chime in on that. I immagine you could though. I think the skids are awesome, and just a whole lot more fun to operate that a tractor. But they do have a few drawbacks as well.
thanks toomacho. What were you say are the drawbacks versus your kubota? Purchasing a skid steer will require me to make an additional investment even if I can sell my case so I want to make sure I am not making a switch I will regret. I wwould agree that the operation of the skid steers I have driven so far sure beats the big tractor I have gotten used to. Also the maneuverability is nice as well.
I guess the disadvantages are the damage they do to the ground as opposed to a tractor. To me they are harder to work on and they are more expensive to operate. BUT..they are way more powerful than most all farm tractors.:thumbsup Hey, I bought mine with the intensions of trying it out and if it didn't work I could always resell it. If you get a used one in good shape and you needed to sell it you should have no problem. You might as well go ahead and get some tracks to go on it while you are at it. Good luck and let us know what you decide!
I guess I have tractophobia because when you put me on a tractor bad things happen. Either a skid steer, dozer or track loader works best for me. Right now I am living on a suburban lot, before I was in a swampy area and I intend to move to a sandy area. The trick for me has been proper choice of tires. Here where every surface is finished I go with the widest and most worn out tires I can find. Inflate hard and you can work without tilling up your lawn. Out on swampy soil I would just wait for the dry season to work. On sand the wide tires work great, especially when new. Serviceability is harder than a tractor for sure, I HATE many Bobcat related jobs, especially removing fuel tanks. Even changing oil on some machines is a mission. As for grading you can do a decent job and with a skid steer you are right there close to your bucket so that works for me. With a tractor I feel like I am a mile away from the bucket. Ideally a dozer would be for grading roads, but a dozer is a disaster for home use. A nice thing about skid steers is the accessories. My 843, not a tiny machine, has worked well for home use. The drawback is the tire marks all over pavement and the torn out grass but nothing makes moving a pile of dirt or freshly dumped mulch easier. I even rigged my Fairmont hydraulic pole saw to a tree boom and made a 30 foot reach tree trimmer. Have gotten so good at taming the bobcat I can use it around the yard without ground damage. As for dragging a horse arena I think a skid steer is somewhat slow and has a lot of ground pressure. I have seen it done effectively with a nice ATV so I am sure if the skid steer doesn't fit that need something else can. Around here you need a toothed bucket for any ground work because it's often hard packed and rocky. For me the bobcat also doubles as a portable ladder stand and a handy helper when friends need to move heavy stuff. Instead of pulling an engine with a cherry picker, use the skid steer.
Hey Tallrick: When are you going to get a set of tracks for that thing? Sounds like you tried everything else. I don't think you will be dissapointed:cool2
This from a guy who has had his tracks on or a week
10 days! Not claiming to be an expert on tracks or anything, just saying that they worked very well for me.:IMO
Thanks for all of the input guys. I am headed to the auction this week to check out a few skids. The auction near me is really hit or miss on value. I will let you know how it progresses. I really like the idea of being close to the bucket as well. I cant see 90% of the bucket on my Case. It makes it hard to be accurate.
I have yet to see a good deal on a set of used tracks. As of now I cannot see much use for them but I bet they will come in handy when I move. It is good that you have had success with the tracks you have!
Hey, let us know what you decide! Post pictures! opcorn