I'm in the market for a wheel loader for general land clearing, grading, material hauling on my 15 acre property. Are there any small/medium wheel loaders that are as stable on uneven ground as something like a Bobcat T-750 or Kubota SVL-90? I'm primarily interested in a tool carrier with high flow hydraulics which can use skid steer attachments. I'm hoping to stay around $30,000, so I assume the loader will be at least 10 years old. Any suggestion on what I should be looking for?
A wheel loader (even a small one) is never going to be anywhere near the stability of a track machine because of ground contact area and height. I know that doesn't answer your question but maybe you need to re-examine your needs regarding whether a wheel loader is really the answer.
It could very well be that a wheel loader is not the answer. The only reason I am opposed to a CTL is due to how it tears up the ground. It could be that I need to just accept that.
With its higher ground pressure (smaller contact patch) a wheel loader would tear soft ground up even more IMO. At the very least it would create significant ruts in the tyre tracks. Maybe the ground damage aspect is down to how carefully the CTL is operated.?
That's a good point regarding ground pressure. It's likely time to revise the search to just CTLs.
I use both CTL and CWL, and love em both. The only thing that the CWL is poor at is grading. The "tear up the ground" thing is different for both. On the CTL, if you go straight in and out, take an acre to make a turn, then the surface remains undisturbed. However the low ground pressure will not leave ruts in soft ground. With a CWL you can go wherever you want and turn full lock without bending a blade of grass. In soft ground, with 405s, you can go across once with minimal disturbance. Its the multiple trips that start to make ruts, where I'm sure a CTL would too. For being tall, the CWL is surprisingly stable on side hills because the heavy counterweight is down pretty low. I mow my steep ditch with my 907H, that the lawn service won't touch with their ZTRs. However, it is nearly impossible to cut a smooth grade on relatively "big" bouncy 405s. Additionally, a high flow CWL and $30k are not going to be easy to find in the same unit. The high flow CTL is a better value proposition.
I used a small wheel loader digging up some sod. The bucket was about the same capacity as med. size skid steer. I drove out of the hole and when I turned, the machine fell over on its side. Luckily it was kind of slow motion and I wasn't injured. It was less than an 8" drop. I had my skid steer sideways on a slope a little steeper than 45 deg. and was able to get it pointed down the slope. I was smoothing the hill and caught a root on an outside bucket tooth. A little scary but was firmly strapped in. If you have any kind of slopes or holes you might hit, don't even consider a wheel loader style machine. A wheel loader is made for flat ground.
the feature that makes a wheel loader nice to operate is the one that will tip you over the quickest. The front axle is fixed to the loader frame, but the rear axle pivots or oscillates over a nice range. This is great for keeping traction on less than perfect surfaces and having a good ride, and does not help you when you get the loaded bucket in the air. Dozers are the opposite beasts. A crawler loader does not oscillate across the frame so it does not tip, but it also rides a bit more like poop warmed over, and does not keep the length of the track frame in good contact in changing conditions like a dozer with a blade and oscillation does. The CTLs are far more forgiving of side hills than a wheel loader. As mentioned above by nige and others, just the difference in CG is huge. Toss in rear axle oscillation and you can see that the rear downhill tire is going to abandon you at the worst times.