I've rented cat and bobcat skid steers in the past. I'm getting ready to purchase a used track skid steer for our county landfill to handle tree debris and do minor landscaping. The machine will probably work only a few hours a week. Also it will have a cab and aux hyd. Deere, cat, newholland ,and case service our area.
Cat C series are excellent. The deere d and e series are also very good. Takeuchi/Gehl also make very good CTLs
Takeuchi and the older Gehl/Mustangs (CTL & MTL lines) were repainted and rebranded Tak machines. The new RT series from Gehl and Mustang is total junk based on the one we had at the farm for a year. The tak machines don't have the fanciest cabs or some of the extra gadgets that some other brands include but when it comes to performance they run right with the best of them.
CAT C or D series machines would be my first choice than the JD d and E series also very good.
I'll sell you my 2012 CASE TR320 in a heartbeat.
Welcome to the Forums wesmanh!:drink up My $.02, I have been a Bobcat guy for a long time - running them for 28 + years and I will not buy another one. I am just tired of the poor engineering when it comes to repair and reliability. I don't know what my next choice of CTL will be but will be looking hard at a Cat.
When its time for another I'm staying with Takeuchi. Have a 140, love it.
I think you should be looking at Takeuchi. They have an excellent reputation over all their generations
my suggestion would be to look around at generic rental fleets and see what they are running....and ask them how they are holding up..... around here you will see...Takeuchi....Cat...Gehl .....in the non-branded rental fleets
Most ctl skid steers are good its the back and service that Makes it a great machine
Thanks for all the comments I am leaning towards Takeuchi and Cat. I've had past history running cat dozers and excavators but I've heard a lot of good things about takeuchi!
The TAK is a no frills powerhouse that will beat you to death while operating it where the CAT machine has all of the TAK power but with a gentle ride that allows you to work all day and get out of it clean, dry and without the soreness associated with the TAK. This creature comforts in the CAT comes at a cost that is substantially higher when compared to the TAK units. I have been in business for 35 plus years and have run every machine on the market today and my fleet is strickly CAT based on the aforementioned facts above and a super strong resale value and my dealer. Best of luck on your search and whatever machine you choose. Too me it's CAT based on the great equipment they produce and a great local dealer which should be paramount in your choice. It's the service after the sale that matters the most.
Very well said and couldn't agree more. That's the reason why I won't be buying another Bobcat. My problem is mostly my dealer and partly Bobcat's backwards way of engineering a machine. I can order parts from a dealer in Atlanta, have them shipped to AL and still be cheaper than buying them local..:cool2
I checked into service and Takeuchi is over 2 hours away and cat is only 45 minutes.
I really like Takeuchi's. I used to love Bobcat and started on them. Cat's are really cool and finally got a steel undercarriage but they are high dollar. I have seen a $90,000 Cat skid steer. You can't beat the 6 ton Takeuchi in my opinion. Cat has a very small cab for me. Takeuchi has a very spacious cab and the front window slides up which is great for so many reasons....especially if you flip over in a water hole and want out fast. Swing doors are not a good idea IMO. Takeuchi does have a very rigid ride.
How many hours do you have on that Tak now?