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What is a good skid steer |
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Spud
Orange Level Joined: 16 Sep 2009 Location: North Dakota Points: 601 |
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Posted: 01 Jun 2012 at 8:53pm |
I am looking for a good skid steer to load pipe and heavy objects, push snow, and move around gooseneck trailers. I don't know a lot about them. I see a lot of Bobcats out there so was leaning that way.
I found an 873 with 2000 hours for $16K. 1998 and enclosed cab. Are these a good unit to get assuming it is in good shape mechanically?
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AC WD45
Orange Level Joined: 28 Sep 2009 Location: Mid Michigan Points: 1995 |
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Bobcat. handles a 6ft 26" deep material bucket like nothing
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German Shepherd dad
1957 Allis Chalmers WD45 #WD234847 1951 Allis Chalmers WD #WD88193 |
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sparky
Orange Level Access Joined: 13 May 2011 Location: So. Indiana Points: 1526 |
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I have a 751 that I bought new in 2000 and it has been a good machine. Took it to a friend once to clean chicken houses and it was only gone from my farm a couple of days and I missed it BAD! They are a very handy machine. A 873 is a horse and I'm partial to Bobcats for they are the oldest established skid steer company and have a great background. Everyone and everyone makes skidsteers now. I have a material bucket and a toothed digging bucket, a set of forks(handy) and a root/brush grapple(super handy) for mine. I think you will be satisfied with this machine. Good Luck.
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It's the color tractor my grandpa had!
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Redwood
Orange Level Joined: 16 Jan 2012 Location: Ontario Points: 631 |
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I owned a John deere when they were made the same as the new holland. Nothing matchs it for visibililty, and the balance is good due to the way the bucket is mounted. You don't have the two towers at the back blocking you view. I was very happy with it.
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Eldon (WA)
Orange Level Joined: 11 Sep 2009 Location: Spokane, WA Points: 7765 |
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I have a JD 7775 which is a rebadged NH and I love it. I bought it with over 3000 hours on it 4 years ago and it has been a dependable machine other than some electronic glitches. The Yanmar diesel starts easy in the cold and is very economical...the wheelbase is longer than a Bobcat, so it isn't as bouncy, but it does turn hard on pavement. The last Bobcat I rented had so many safety features and electronic controls that it could barely turn a 2' post hole auger......
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ALLIS EXPRESS!
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Nathan (SD)
Orange Level Joined: 11 Sep 2009 Location: Day County SD Points: 1260 |
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35 or 40 series Gehl. I have used all others except NH. If you do your own maintenence, the Gehl really shines. We have had good luck with the Deutz oil cooled motors but some other people have had troubles. I like hand controls. I can't bend my ankles worth a darn and the manure and mud build up on and under foot pedals. Every company gives you just about every control configuration imaginable. I do believe that the Mustang is the only one that offers the T- handle though.
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Matt (Jordan,MN)
Orange Level Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Location: Jordan, MN Points: 3787 |
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I worked at a Bobcat dealer for 10 years. I have worked on them all and i liked Bobcat the best. All you need to do to service them is open the rear door or raise the boom put the boom stop in place and flip up the cab. You don't have to lay under them and remove a belly plate to drain the oil. If you have a dead battery again all you need to do is open the rear door and the battery is right there and easy to jump start. If i ever by a skid steer it wil be a Bobcat. The 873 are a very good machine. There was 1 owned by a pallet company that had around 20,000 hour on it. It wasn't the prettiest machine but it still was running. The 873 uses a oil cooled Duetz engine that has a timeing belt and they should be replace every few thousand hours. If the belt does break it does not harm anything major but does bend a few pushrods. Another thing that they like to do is blow out the head gasket. It seams that they only do this with the factory gasket and not the replacement. Here again it does not harm anything but it will smoke alot since your burning engine oil. Matt
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B26240
Orange Level Joined: 21 Nov 2009 Location: mn Points: 3860 |
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Spud -- Bobcat's are made right there in Gwinner N.D.
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MBWisc
Silver Level Joined: 13 Apr 2011 Points: 103 |
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Gehl and NH.
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Coke-in-MN
Orange Level Access Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Location: Afton MN Points: 41485 |
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There is not a better balanced machine that the NH . Looked at a lot of machines and when I bought my first one was a NH785 with
the Perkins engine . Ran that for 5 to 6 years with only one pump needing work. Replaced it with a JD of same style and was a total move backwards as the JD balance was different and in sand was useless. Lift height on the NH was the biggest advantage as had higher reach to load over side of trucks.Balance with a lifting load did not cause front end to tip forward. With the new so called universal mount system most attachments interchange between different mfg now which is a advantage for versatile finding of attachments to work between machines. If your going to be doing more than a couple different things look for a quick attach system so as you do not have to get out of machine to change implements. If you need attachments check sons page i have listed of his custom built things for skidloaders .
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Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something.
"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
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Spud
Orange Level Joined: 16 Sep 2009 Location: North Dakota Points: 601 |
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I have been told that the New Hollands get a lot of "slap" in them as they age because of so many pieces to the lift mechanism. Is there any truth in that? It would be used a lot on dry cement floors so the longer wheelbase of the NH might make it skid harder.
The Bobcats are popular around here. It probably helps that they are built in the state as one poster said.
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StewartMD
Orange Level Joined: 10 Dec 2009 Location: Emmitsburg, MD Points: 314 |
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Spud, We have a NH 555 Deluxe. They do have the longer wheel base, but not sure how it compares to other skidloaders on dry cement. Ours spends most of it's time in the barnyard scraping manure. They are nicer to load trucks because your booms move straight up allowing you to dump towards the center of the truck or manure spreader. For the slop in the pins.....if you keep them greased you won't have much problems....i think alot of times poor maintenance is the reason.
One thing to keep in mind...not sure how much driving around you will be doing....but ground speeds and boom and bucket speeds vary greatly between all brands and models so test driving a few different brands and models is well worth it.
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8030, 8010, 220, 185, 160, D-17, WD, Unstyled WC, CA, G, 20-35, Gleaner E
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Stan IL&TN
Orange Level Joined: 13 Sep 2009 Location: Elvis Land Points: 6730 |
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I was able to borrow a JD 7775 to move some gravel around and inside the barn. I thought it was better than sliced bread. After doing the gravel I was looking for other stuff to pick up or push. I was a little kid in a candy store. Only other time I had more fun was when I drove dad's new 7045.
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1957 WD45 dad's first AC
1968 one-seventy 1956 F40 Ferguson |
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chevy436
Bronze Level Joined: 06 Apr 2012 Location: pennsylvania Points: 5 |
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I have a case 2004 60xt now has 3000hrs on it. has a 4b3.9cummins engine. The machine has been trouble free and I really like it. with pallet forks I can lift 2000lbs on a skid.I tried a john deere 320 demo a few years ago and didnt like it hydrolics were noisy and seemed gutless. have heard of electrical and engine problems. just my 2cents
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DREAM
Orange Level Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Location: Elberton,GA Points: 1828 |
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I have a Gehl CTL 60. Tracked machine, so it's not going to work for you on concrete. I think it is a great machine for dirt work. Yanmar water cooled diesel. Plenty of HP, and tracks give it great ground pressure to move a lot of dirt fast. It's also a two speed machine. If it were me, I would definitely get a two speed, as it will save you some time moving from place to place. Also would go with the full joystick controls in whatever you chose. They are much easier to operate and less fatigue on your feet/ankles than the stick steer with foot controls. Had a Bobcat 773 before this one, and it was a world of difference. Good luck.
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I didn't do it! It was a short, fat, tall, skinny guy that looked like me!
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sparky
Orange Level Access Joined: 13 May 2011 Location: So. Indiana Points: 1526 |
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The bobcat's worked better for us in the chicken houses because the bucket raised higher per the boom height which was beneficial with the feeders and waterers winched up in the low ceiling houses. With that said,ALL skidsteers are a h---l of a lot better than a scoop shovel and wheelbarrow!!
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It's the color tractor my grandpa had!
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D17 owner
Orange Level Joined: 03 Jul 2010 Location: ladysmith Wi Points: 225 |
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I own a gehl 3510 I like that it old thow. We have a gehl 7810 at work that is nice to with a high/low in it. I ran a cat 226 witch I loved that all joy stick I also like case controls. I hate foot controls. I do like a foot throtle. Jd just dont do it for me father inlaw has a 320 with cab. I hate it, it's hard getting in and out of it. The door folds inside witch is a pain I just dont like them. He has a bobcat A300 with is in the shop more then the farm. Well good luck with whatever you buy.
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Coke-in-MN
Orange Level Access Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Location: Afton MN Points: 41485 |
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Trick to any skid loader is to have something to skid on , a little sand or dirt on the surface to break the traction some.
NH is a longer set on wheels but nothing lacking in handling and a lot gained in stability. I tried several machines on demo on one job site , had 5 different machines delivered and jumped from one to the other doing work. The cat machine with tracks was great but price ruled it out. Tracks are great if you work in rough areas as they smooth out the bumps and jars. For putting in drainfields the skid loader worked great but when it came to mound septic systems needed tracks of some type to keep from compaction . When I just used the HD5G as was cheaper than buying tracks for the NH.
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Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something.
"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
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dscott
Silver Level Joined: 05 May 2012 Points: 81 |
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I have ran several different machines and own a bobcat 863 and a new holland lx 865. Rated 1900# for the 863 and 2100# 865 and are good machines but each have the strong points the new holland will lift 4000 # before its gets so lite in the rear you can;t use it. The 863 does 2500# before it goes nose down. The bobcat is 18 inches shorter, and is more nimble. So I guess what I'm sayin is you need to know what you are gonna do with it.................When worked hard all day both use approx. the same amount of fuel.
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dscott
Silver Level Joined: 05 May 2012 Points: 81 |
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Its a good idea to stay away from any of them that have had tracks and polyfilled tires on them. Super hard on the case chains.
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SHAMELESS
Orange Level Joined: 13 Sep 2009 Location: EAST NE Points: 29486 |
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i don't own one...but have driven several...spent alot of time tipping forward ina bobcat...NH....seemed the most stable....neighbor had a JD and he kept having to replace engine mounts in it, he got rid of it and bought a case...that was a night/day difference to the better! i hear from alot of const people they like the gehl's the best, but i think they have quit making them!
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DougG
Orange Level Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Location: Mo Points: 8092 |
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New Holland, the best - John Deere copied them,,
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jjpetrich
Silver Level Joined: 06 Sep 2011 Location: Marshall, MN Points: 137 |
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Bobcat has more of the important engine parts right where the back opens up which makes them eaiser to work on.
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On the farm wd,wd45,180,200,7020,8010,8050,f,L2,2 b engines
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Brian S(NY)
Orange Level Joined: 13 Sep 2009 Location: CherryValley,NY Points: 3372 |
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I rented a Bobcat once and really liked the hand controls. I used a NH with footcontrols on the farm (LS 180?) and it was OK but didnt like the foot controls because it was always packed full of manure. also the NH sucked when loading a spreader with manure because when you raised the bucket half of it would fall over the back of the bucket and land in the operator station.
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God made man.Sam colt made man equal.
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Brian S(NY)
Orange Level Joined: 13 Sep 2009 Location: CherryValley,NY Points: 3372 |
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by the way.. just like compact trators they all seem to hold their value well. The local hardware store guy bought a Gehl 12 yrs ago for 38000./ he just traded it in last week and they allowed him 30000. pretty good investment.
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God made man.Sam colt made man equal.
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Jordan(OH)
Orange Level Joined: 11 Sep 2009 Location: Celina, OH Points: 1545 |
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Another NH vote. It's not very hard to tip the bucket forward while raising if the manure is spilling on you. My Bobcat experience also is they like to tip.
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HagerAC
Orange Level Joined: 14 Sep 2010 Location: SE MN Points: 1184 |
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Our old NH 783 is a beast of a machine. What ever you do, do not, buy a JD 320. As mentioned earlier they are complete junk. We have one where I work and it is the most gutless wonder in the world, and it constantly overheats.
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30+ A-Cs ranging from a 1928 20-35, to a 1984 8070FWA, Gleaner R52
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dscott
Silver Level Joined: 05 May 2012 Points: 81 |
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You wouldn't say that if you had to put a pump drive and cooling fan belt on the 863 or come to thing the darn battery is a real pain to change as well. Case chain renewal is again less then a good time.
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dscott
Silver Level Joined: 05 May 2012 Points: 81 |
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Sounds like operator error to me. My NH doesn't have the bucket postioning feature that the Bobcat has but I have no trouble with material falling in the cab unless I severly overfill the bucket.
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ironac
Silver Level Joined: 06 Jan 2011 Location: Plainfield IA Points: 283 |
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Got a JD 7775 which is basically a NH but anyways love it to death. Also have a White 4-25-L that is used to get into small buildings and such. Works great!
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