I am kicking around buying a used skid steer for my business. I want something that can lift 1500-1800 pounds. This would be used for lifting larger trees and loading mulch, etc. Have 2 small tractors that do most of the work right now but people are wanting larger plants again and the tractors are not heavy enough. Will not be used alot 2/300 hours a year I figure. Deere is the closest and has a good service dept. New holland is fairly close but don't know anything about them. Kubota, Bobcat are farther away. Cat is the farthest away but also had a good service dept when we used them when we had a D3 Dozer. Budget of about 15k. Is this doable?
This is just getting a feel. 6 months is the earliest It would happen. More likely 12-18 months. Trying to figure what to look for.

Thanks

 

When we had the landscaping done on our yard some years ago, they had a skid steer that really worked well, especially on damp soil. I asked them how they liked it and they said it was great, until you had to pay for new tracks. I guess they cost a bundle to replace, so that is something you may want to keep an eye on.

 

I am bit biased since I work for a New Holland dealer. A little story here is I used to work for a rental store before working at my dealership. The rental store had Bobcat and Mustang. I thought they were both good units.

Fast forward to the first time I grabbed a New Holland and drove it. After 5 mins. I thought why in the world is anybody buying anything else! So much more stable. Their radial boom design allows the bucket to stay parallel with the vertical plane. So if loading a tall truck or loading manure into a tall spreader, you don't have to drive forward to keep the dump angle.

FYI Deere was having New Holland making their skidloaders in the 90's

I would look at the L160 series with a 1600# lift capacity, faceless couplers on the boom. Shibura engine that I have seen get 8000-9000 hrs before dropping in a re-man engine. That should put you into 2006-2013 for years.

Pat

 

Thanks for the info. Anybody else

 

Dealer service/parts support is important. Take your time and spend some time evaluating each one before you decide. Diesel powered. Bobcat, New Holland, and Deere appear to be the most popular. As mentioned, NH built Deere for a period of time. There are a lot of used skids for sale. In my area there are lots of used Bobcats. I bought a used manlift from United Rentals. You may find something for sale at a rental store and they will have maintenance records. Good luck in your search.

 

Make sure it has not been used for fertilizer, ours is a 2008, looks like a 1908. What do they run down there? For close to new is 60 grand here.

 

Just did a quick search on used ones around here. 15k looks doable for something that has some life left. Like everything it will be hard to find that happy medium between old and used very hard and almost brand new. New is more than I want to spend and don't need a new one. Will probably look at what the local dealer's have this winter.