Calling all Skidsteers, Calling all Skidsteers

[Gilman]

I currently have a Arky cant hook and a 4wd truck to move logs with.  After reading the FF for a year now I think my best option for a material handler would be a big off road forklift.  However, the skidsteers are much more universal and would add more value to the operation and other dirt moving type projects.  I don't know a dang thing about the makes and models yet, but am starting my research here and on the internet. 

1)  What make and model do you have?
2)  What is its load capacity?
3)  Do you think your model has plenty of capacity or would you like a little bit more?
4)  What other question(s) should I have asked you?

I thank you greatly in advance,

David

[Brad_S.]

I have a Bobcat 863, (in Bobcats new number system, it would be an S190), rated at 1900 lbs. with a tipping weight at about 3500 lbs. It does pretty much all I ask of it. I had a 743 (S130) but it was under powered for use around the mill. I have a land clean up project under way that I use the machine for as well, and I would not be with out a skid steer again.
I can lift about 600 bdft of cut oak, and I often wish I had a bigger machine for moving stacked lumber, but the nimbleness and quickness of the Bobcat off sets the weight limits in my book.
The Achilles heel of the Bobcat line is the single cylinder on the bucket control. It can be easy to hyper-extend it with some attachments, and the fix is not cheap. Dual cylinder machines are said to be less prone to this break down. If you have bad knees, the foot controls can be tough on them, but I prefer them over the hand control units. An enclosed heated cab is a wonderful thing that allows you to work comfortably in the winter. The least little bit of greasy ground can lead to wheel spin which is pretty annoying, but a set of over the wheel tracks or one of the newer track skidsteers turns it into a mini-bulldozer.
Many complain of the rough ride and the fact that it can dig up a work area, and these are valid points, but for all round general versatility, I don't think you can beat them.

[stumpy]

I have a New Holland L555 deluxe. It's 44 HP Diesel. It's lifting capacity is 1700#. I'm impressed with the capacity as I'm sure I lift more than it's rated. New Holland was the first with the "level lift" design.(I think that's what it was called) It makes the machine very stable and not as tippy as some of the others. I believe their patent ran out cause now most manufacturers have the same. I just sold a Bobcat 743B it had a 40HP diesel and 1300# capacity. The New Holland works circles around that size Bobcat.

[redpowerd]

make sure you get a turbo
i have a sixty some odd horse gehl and that power dive is great at all times you need power. you wont get that witha turbo.

id get into every skid you can and try to work them all, get happy with the controls cause they all vary

mine will pick a ton with ballast,
when i trade up, ill be gettin the same model, cept with turbo, the hydro alone works the motor, then you try and run the bucket. alot of times is a pain to wait for power, or just keep ahead of the "deisel delay"

get yourself into a few models before you buy, get comfortable with how it works. many are different. and some modles let u choose your controlls

how much weight are you picking and how many hours a day?

[redpowerd]

actually id be happy to trade sixty horses for forty horses turboed

[mometal77]

I have seen some of these machines usually parked in fields around my area from whatcom county to skagit county along back roads even to arlington washington.  Would be nice to have only if you had a big piece of open property. 
bob
deming,wa

[Rancher]

I, too have a New Holland  L555 Deluxe. It does all I need most of the time. If I need to lift more then I use the backhoe loader.

[Gilman]

Thanks guys,
That gives me a good idea of the range I'd need.  I don't know how much I need to be able to lift, but being able to lift, "600 bf of green oak", sounds about what I'd need.

I'm sure whatever I end up with, I'll wish at times it had another 200 #'s of capacity.

[oakiemac]

I have the Bobcat 873 with rear wheel weights. It has 73 horse power and a turbo. I can lift about 4000lbs. It is rated at 2300 but I can easily lift double that.
I love this machine for its versitility and manueverability. It is hard to imagine life with out it. I would go for the biggest machine that you can afford. Some of the smaller skid steers will get real tippy when lifting a large log or a whack of lumber.

[mometal77]

Gilman,
you should look at richie bros
http://www.rbauction.com/equipment_search/equipment_search.jsp
auction is on the 23rd in olympia look at some of the pics..
good to browse..
bob

[ohsoloco]

I'm running a New Holland LX885 turbo.  It's rated for around 2200 lbs., and I've already lifted over 3700 with it.  Real nice machine, but the only problem is I can't take it anywhere to make any money.  The only trailer I have is my log trailer (7000 lbs. gross), and the skidsteer alone weighs just over that  :(

[woodbowl]

I am also at a cross roads and trying to decide what I should get. Without a doubt a skid steer is very fast and efficeint when it comes to lifting and transporting logs. Wanting the versitility of both worlds, I am torn between a 4WD tractor with a front end loader, VS a skid steer with tracks. Clearance is the issue. It would also be nice to straddle a stump, plow the garden and hook up to the PTO. HELP.........

[oakiemac]

A 4 wheel drive tractor with front end loader and forks would be nice, but from my experience they won't lift near as much weight and they are a lot less manuverable. But if you are doing other things that might need a tractor like farming or cattle then a dual purpose tractor might be the ticket.
If I had the money, I'd buy both!

[Daren]

I have a Case 1840 with bucket/forks, I used to have a Bobcat with a grapple bucket. The Case is plumbed for the exta hyd. on the bucket. I am looking for a set of grapples for it, that was the as handy as a pocket on a shirt. My mill is manual so I flipped the bigger logs with the grapple and it made clean up around the mill a snap. I looked at tractor with loaders and other options, but the skidsteer works in tight places and my mill is in town-in my yard and driving around trailers, logs, the mill... it works best for me. The only drawback with a skidsteer is crawling in and out instead of just jumping on from the side.

[countrysaw]

the decision for me between a skidsteer and tractor would all be in the terrain for me, i have not had a lot of experience logging with a skidsteer, but have worked in wooded ravines and swamps with them, and neither was a pleasurable experience :-[.  but if all of the work it did was on moderate terrain, they would be the ticket. 
        we just always used our old 4020 with the forks on the loader to load logs on trailers, and if you can find an old intl' 1066 they are great for dragging bunches of logs out of the woods, as long as you have enough log chain to not get into the woods, because they are not very manuverable, but if you need more power just fool with the inj. pump ;D.
zach
P.S. i am a deere guy, but when it comes to all out power get an old international

[Percy]

Get a big one so this dont happen.... ;D

[beenthere]

Percy
At some point here, it was time to 'let go' and dump (or lower) that load.  ;D

[Percy]

Percy
At some point here, it was time to 'let go' and dump (or lower) that load.  ;D

:D :D Wasnt me, I was runnin the camerea, Warren, my son, was operating it in this particular fashion. He was used to the WRC slabs which are fairly light compared to the rainsoaked pine ones he is sorta carryin in the pic... ;D

[Ironwood]

COUNTRYSAW,

  Is the Intl' you are speaking of a huge tractor looking thing with a big front tire machine. Looks like a backhoe on steriods? With no back bucket, heavy armed loader and 4x4? There is an old sawmill shut down on the "National Road", RT 40 near Farmington, PA. Near Fort Necessity and Braddocks Grave (both Nat. Parks). The "tractor" is impressive and hasn't moved in years. Looks like what you are speaking of. Looks like it could handle 8000#ers. Old but impressive. Bet its the same. If that is what you want I could get a photo and find the land owner via their county tax maps? REID

[Brucer]

I've got a 4wd tractor with loader/forks. The lifting capacity is limited (by a relief valve) to 800 lbs. That's OK for the sort of log I normally handle, but it's going to be a problem when I start buying logs. One reason tractors usually have a lower lift capacity is that they tend to be unstable side-to-side when they're loaded up.

A skid-steer is much more stable, but it would tear up my milling site in no time when the ground is soft in the spring. If I were looking at one, I'd go for one of the new "track-only" models. They're a lot "gentler" than tires on soft ground.

Louis, my boss last year, acquired an old Walden, an articulated, hydraulic driven loader. This was a great machine -- just as stable as a skidsteer side-to-side, more stable front-to-back, didn't tear up the ground, and was about mid-way between a skidsteer and a tractor for manueverability. 'Course, there was the time he picked up a 36' D-Fir (just) and brought it to the mill, which was downhill slightly from the log dump. The downhill slope was just enough to overbalance the Walden, so the back wheels came up off the ground as he approached the mill. He was trying to steer but the back end of the machine was just waving around in the air  :D.

[countrysaw]

reid,
        that tractor you are talking about is probobally and articulated 4wd, with a good loader those tractors can move just about anything, my family has one and i have worked for people that have them, and surprisingly for how large they are they have a smaller turning radius than most tractors.  although a pic of that machine would be interesting. 
            the tractors i was talking about, the international 66 and 86 series tractors were turbo tractors, ranging from 121 to 161 horse from the factory it think.  and with a little bit of playing (exh., fuel delivery etc.) you could get them to make massive amounts of power and the engine will still hold together forever.  if you can find a loader for them they are an excellent machine, and if you want to skid logs in bundles, they have the power, jsut be careful the drivelines are strong, jsut not designed for as much horsepower as you can get them to put out.  I remember plowing under CRP ground with our old 1066, and you could plow as much as our articulated deere, if you put weight on the front and did not mind steering with field brakes, as the front end was always up. 8)

zach

[badpenny]

   I am using a '80ish 610 Bobcat with grapple forks, and also have pallet forks and a dirt bucket. This seems to be ok so far, most of my milling is 8-10-12 footers up to 18" diameter. Only picked it up a week ago, so time will tell if I did good or not. My old Int 400 with loader and "armstrong"steering just didn't  "git-er-dun" very well