We are planning on buying a CTL. In my area it seems the the big 3 are Cat, Deere and Kubota. But the majority the posts here seemed to be about Cat. And I know the dealer to just as important as the brand. This is what we're looking for, a. Will be used on our properties, not for hire. b. 2 to 300 hrs per year. c. $90 to $110K + attachments ( maybe a disk mulcher or a very heavy duty bushhog type cutter for sure ) d. mostly bucket, post hole auger, grapple, fork work. e. mostly lookin for good service/warranty, will probably be sold around 2000 hrs. f. probably a big 3 brand, but we do use Case/New Holland farm tractors, but very few CNH skidsteer/CTL's in this area. What do y'll recommend?
The utmost criteria for me would be an overhead door (vs. a swing door). My swing door machine caught fire but, luckily, I was able to lower the front arms completely for the door to clear before losing power/hydraulics. I've seen too many (both like new machines and old ones) on the non-op line at auctions, and in ads, to know fires happen enough.
Not sure if you have a dealer in your area, but Takeuchi is another to consider. Kubota and Tak are at the top of my list for CTL's, followed by Case and Deere. I second the notion on the overhead door, half the machines with a swing out door I see have it removed either because its a pain to deal with or it got broken.
For mulching, and maybe even a heavy duty mower, you will need a high flow machine. Also, are you considering used, low hours machines at half your budget? I second the notion on Kubota & Tak. I have a 2015 Kubota SVL90-2 and a 2022 Takeuchi TL12V2, both bought used, at less than 2 years old with low hours, for less than your budget combined with leftover for several attachments.
To answer your original question; Equipment News: Kubota retains its position as the top financed compact track loader according to EDA data from April 2023 to March 2024 with 26% market share. The new EDA data should be released soon. Kubota's top three sold and financed machines over the period were the Kubota SVL97-2 with 1,903 units; Kubota SVL97-2HFC with 1,350 units; and Kubota SVL75-2HFWVC with 1,282 units