So I’m looking for a used skid steer and since I have a tb240 I kind of just wanna stick with tak brand equipment. Machine will be used for the landscaping business, driveways, and the occasional grading project. Besides going off specs does anyone have a compression to the two that favors one over the other?
I also have a TB240 and two other Takeuchi mini excavators. For track loaders I have the Takeuchi TL130 which is I think a bit closer to the TL8. We don't use it a lot, as I find it can easily damage driveways and tear up lawns. Instead I make do with the mini excavator and Toro Dingo. We now have pallet forks for the TB240. But when we do use it, it always gets the job done. Mostly we use it for lifting pallets of wall block and pavers, which is 2,800-3000lbs or so. It will lift this weight low to the ground quite well. I can also lift and remove pallets from trucks and trailers at that weight, but it's a bit sketchy. The front of the tracks need to be level or up hill a bit, and on firm ground. I keep the load next to the truck or trailer and minimize moving the pallet at the higher level. Sometimes I will remove some weight off the pallet. The machine is a beast with the digging bucket and light materials bucket. The machine at 7,500 lbs is easy to trailer. Sometimes I wish I had the 10,000lb machine, but then that's a pain to trailer, and I already worry too much about the damage the smaller machine can do on a customers driveway and lawn. Hope this info helps.
Yes the weight thing is the reason I don’t want tlv12 so I figured the 8 and 10 would be the best bet
If you carry heavy pallets a lot, and never want to feel a bit nose tippy, get the 10. For just grading loading, etc, and some pallet for work, the 8 will be great. And the 8 is a bit heavier than the older TL130 so I bet that was a bit of an up grade.
Especially for a used machine, I don't think you should limit your search to one brand. You want to get the best machine for your money and from what I've seen Tak. owners like their machines and generally keep them until they need a bunch of work done. Then they get rid of them. Also read on here a bunch of Tak. dealers are either closed or dropped the line because Tak. started pushing for unrealistic sales expectations. You want something that is easy to get parts and service for now and in the future. Tak. makes good machines but so do most other brands. Go with the best condition machine you can find and has good support in your area. Would be good to price out tracks/undercarriage items and things like drive motors too. These are things that could need replacement at some point. Would be good to look here or online or talk to dealers about known issues with certain machines. ASV undercarriage on some of their CTL's and Cat CTL's comes to mind. Also weigh the pro's and con's between tracked and wheeled machines. Any heavy machine can tear up the ground. If you do snow removal tires have better traction. I think it's best to start with a pretty broad spectrum of machines and then look at the type of jobs you'll be doing. For the same money you're likely to get more bang for your buck with a wheeled machine. Tracked machines are really nice but they need more maintenance. For an owner/operator with not much downtime this is something to consider.
My closet dealer is kubota and now cat if the rental stores will sell parts. Ideally I’d have a tracked machine with a cab and 75 hp. Also what is snow we don’t get that here but like once every 3-5 years and we do I stay home I hate the snow. I will keep looking mostly budget friendly and not go dumb
A lot of it is driveway and A to B type work mostly brush and such so a 10 would not hurt my feelings
The TL130 has been excellent as far as pushing out brush and dirt and doing spreading and loading duties. Very fast too. Make sure you get a good digging bucket! Either machine would be great to have.
Taks are good machines. If we weren't all Cat and the dealer is a 30 min drive away, I would try one. Whatever you do - Don't buy a used one from the big rental companies no matter how nice it looks or how cheap it is. Those units are used and abused every hour of it's life.
I definitely want a 4:1 a general purpose and a grapple
That’s where my excavator came from so far no real issues with it but I feel a skid steer might be a bit rougher. The tak dealer has a used tl8 which I might go check out. Buddy has a tl6 with 800 hours he wants to sell but I think that might be to small power wise
Might be hard to find a 4 in 1 bucket. You want a smooth and tooth bucket for sure and pallet forks if you move stuff around. You should try some different machines out if you can or rent a couple for a short term. You might be surprised how much you can do with 40-50 HP machine.
4n1 buckets are not in scarce supply here. Last time I was at my Cat dealers attachment yard they had 6 or 8 SSL/CTL 4n1's on the ground.
4:1 buckets are pretty common here even on tractors and backhoes. And ive tried a bobcat I liked it dint like the Deere I tried haven’t tried cats new D3 models I like the look of that 255 but be awhile before those are used enough for me to buy.
My kubota dealer keeps them in stock I definitely thing those things sell like crazy in the south
Don't see a lot of 4 in 1's here. I have one on my 931B but I think they're overrated. You can do some other things with them but it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.
It’s not a deal breaker for me but I just want the option to if I wanted. Most of the time when I need a skid steer it’s just driveways or rough grading. I’d like a grapple for sure though
The nice thing is most machines have a universal quick attach so you don't have to buy specific attachments. You can buy a machine and watch for used attachments to come available. I think grapple buckets are more useful than 4 in 1 buckets if you want to pick up bulky stuff like tree's and brush. You can open the grapple and only pick up that fits under it. You kind of can with a 4 in 1 but I don't particularly like mine for clearing tree's and brush. It could be because the way the hyd. lines are routed on it. Way too easy to have stray branches snag the lines. I've seen other 4 in 1's where the lines are better hidden and protected.
That’s very true damn hose repair place is about 130 bucks a hose in the local area
Make sure there's someone qualified and available to move your equipment when you need it. Of course you have to give advance notice but if the hauler is too busy you don't want to wait weeks to get your machine moved. Often times a machine needs to be moved off a site pretty quickly after completion of the job. You also need the hauler available to pick up and move to the next job in a timely manner. If you do lots of smaller jobs it's better to have your own truck and trailer.
What kind of machines are looking at moving? Insurance is going to be pricey if you're moving large oversize machines.
Large machines can be a lot more complex to move than passenger vehicles. It would take some time to get a good reputation. Do you have a back up plan if a truck or trailer is down needing repairs? Getting a reliable truck(s) and high capacity trailer isn't going to be cheap. Are you planning on starting your own transport company or is the current company looking to expand into other markets? Do you own Gateway or are you an employee?
Go around and talk to all the contractors in your area. See if you can leave flyers or business cards at the local equipment dealers. Advertise in local papers and have flyers posted in service stations and convenience stores that allow it. Some shops let you put up a business card. Does the company want to expand into the equipment moving business? This is probably the most important question. If it's just an idea you had without consulting with the management, you should run it by them first.
To move equipment you may need a variety of trucks and trailers. There are quite a few different ones you may need. For smaller equipment (forklifts, bobcats, mini excavators etc), you can get away with bumper pull trailers, Fifth wheel trailers behind a large pick up truck and a rollback truck. Next, there are flatbed trailers and low flatbed trailers. For very heavy equipment you will need a lowboy trailer, and likely a bigger engine tractor than a normal HWY auto carrier rig. At that level, you really need an experienced driver/heavy equipment operator who can load and unload the machine, and knows how to chain it up. I recently bought a dump truck and had it shipped across the country. I called a heavy equipment Freight broker. The broker has contacts usually I think of owner/operators that have a special types of trailers. Due to the height of the dump truck on the trailer, they needed a low style of trailer. The trailer had portable ramps to get the truck on an off. It took awhile for the trucker to get to the dealer to pick up the truck. The trucker also stopped and picked up and dropped off other equipment as he made his way across the states. Cost was about $6,500.00. I also had a 6 ton mini excavator shipped to me. Contact the brokers, dealers, etc. No real money in working with little contractors I think.
Talk to auction outfits. At the RB auctions here there are haulers that set up a table to advertise their services and their rates. I imagine they have to pay to do it but they have a captive audience of thousands including a lot of the local contractors. Watched a rancher buy an 8250 Terex dozer (D9H size). One of the haulers had a huge trailer and jeep at the auction. First thing after winning the dozer the buyer talked to the hauler. I noticed his dozer was the first piece of large equipment loaded. I think he got a good deal on the dozer too. $16,000 and it ran great with fairly new undercarriage. I'd have guessed less than 25% wear. It was well taken care of. The lift cylinder creeper a bit. I was interested in the dozer because it's pretty rare to see one. The shop that rebuilt my engine was hired to get the dozer running and drive it over the auction block. The guy that bought it asked the driver how the steering worked so he did a short left and then right turn. Oil pressure barely raised on the gauge but apparently that's common on a Detroit 12V-71 at idle. Pretty impressive machine.
Good Advice.
I ended up with a 8 came from United but went through it. For what I do and how much it will be used it’s good enough for me do have a brand new 4:1 for it as well
Hope it works out for you.
So far so good enjoying it so far
Congrats! Hope it serves you well.
Me to got a few driveway projects for it so looking forward to putting it to work