School me on Skid Steers

[Palmetto]

John Deere skid steers do not have a good reputation in the construction world.


The bid Takeuchi uses the Kubota 95hp motor turned up. Lots of electrical problems, and hard to find parts for. Their dealer network is not good. We had one and sold it on auction.

Agreed!
My brother has the big Teakeuchi, and I would steer clear.

It works great when it's running, but it broke down on us last summer and we had a heck of a time figuring out the problem. It ended up being electrical, and what I found out is these machines are geared more towards rentals. They have allot of built in safety interlocks to keep someone from tearing them up. When those things start acting up, they are very hard to troubleshoot. Not to mention you cant hardly find any information online such as parts diagrams, schematics. Such a PIA, and little support online.

Just like tractors.....I would recommend a major brand, with a good dealer network in your area.

Also:
Tracks & Joystick controls

As far as attachments go, a grapple is about as handy as it gets. We have an Armstrong Ag grapple. While its not built really well (bad welds), the style of grapple allows you grub out small trees/schrubs, root rake, & back drag to level dirt. You can shape up some property pretty quick with one.

[mjhaverkamp]

^^^^^^Best advice on this thread!

I don't think you have to rent them, most good companies will demo one for you, all of my equipment is CAT, hard to go wrong there, they are expensive but there is a reason for that.

[gfulton]

Kubota svl95-2. Full cab track machine

Yes sir.

[JeffJ]

Can someone tell me the differences in tracks vs tires? Especially in the hill country.

[bloodtrailer28]

Can someone tell me the differences in tracks vs tires? Especially in the hill country.

Tracks is really the only way to go imo. ALOT more traction. I mean you will likely never get stuck unless you really push it where tires will spin on wet grass. Alot more stable and not near as rough as ride as tires.
The only con to tracks is they are more expensive and rocks will tear them up.

[Krivoman]

I just asked a buddy who runs these everyday for their family business.

His response
Cat is one of the best machines get 75hp or more. Tracks do less damage to the ground and can get around in wet conditions a lot better. You do not need high flow to run most brush hogs. Tooth bucket and grapple bucket are a must.

[S-3 Ranch]

Tracks is really the only way to go imo. ALOT more traction. I mean you will likely never get stuck unless you really push it where tires will spin on wet grass. Alot more stable and not near as rough as ride as tires.
The only con to tracks is they are more expensive and rocks will tear them up.

This , also your machine will be in some shop getting the tracks replaced, unless you are competent in track problems/ replacement, most of our locals in the Hillcounrty favor wheeled
Because of ease of repair

[bloodtrailer28]

This , also your machine will be in some shop getting the tracks replaced, unless you are competent in track problems/ replacement, most of our locals in the Hillcounrty favor wheeled
Because of ease of repair

We change all of ours and it is a little bit of a pain but not that bad.

[AntlerCollector]

^^^^^^Best advice on this thread!

That’s a negative ghost rider!

Renting several ones is a waste of money. Just go test drive them.

[Sticks&Strings]

We have a 95hp Bobcat. It has been great, but the door is an issue if the boom is up.

We have a grapple, toothed bucket, and a trencher. We had a guy who just came and used our machine but his attachments. He used a harlow rake and it was awesome for road work. He also said he has a dozer blade and it will push way more dirt than you think.

He raked our road, then used a vibrating roller and packed it down and it was nice. Road was full of big rocks and holes before he started.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Mohawkman]

This , also your machine will be in some shop getting the tracks replaced, unless you are competent in track problems/ replacement, most of our locals in the Hillcounrty favor wheeled
Because of ease of repair

My 2004 has the original tires. It has about 1500 hrs. They are the oversized with thicker walls (so you could run the metal tracks if you wanted.) it has been Pasture use mainly cutting mesquites with a tree shear and brush with a rotary cutter. Some dirt work, fence etc. I add more tire dope every year. I am fixing to replace them with some just like them if I can find them.

[AntlerCollector]

Any of y’all who bought them for your land, but don’t use it all the time now, would you be interested in renting it to me? I have about 3 acres I what to clean up at my home in Votaw.

[Gunfish]

If you are going to be doing brush control (underbrush, yaupon, cedar etc) and anything up to ~7-8” in diameter, the “super shredder” is all you need. This attachment is high flow. It runs around 10k, 1/3 the price of a mulcher head style. We run one of these with the Kubota 95. Works great for cleaning a place up. If you want to completely clear everything, the drum mulcher head is more likely the way to go.

For road repair the grader/planer attachment works well.

You should be able to get the 95 and these two attachments plus a bucket and forks for around 100k

Newbie here. Can you tell me who manufactures the Super Shredder?

[M16]

It's getting closer to buying time. Got a price on the Kubota 95 but they didn't have any in stock. Supposed to get some in the next couple of weeks. Stopped by the Cat dealership today and looked at a CAT 299 D2 XHP. The salesman wasn't around so all I got to do was look. Very nice machine and only $30,000 more than the Kubota. I'm trying to convince myself to up the budget even though it not going to be used commercially. Anybody have or know of a lightly used CAT 299 D2 XHP for sale?

[boh347]

https://www.machinerytrader.com/listings/construction-equipment/for-sale/list/category/1072/skid-steers-track/manufacturer/caterpillar/model/299d2-xhp