Question for skidsteer/diesel eng. gurus

[drmiller100]

hmmmm.

so i'm a landscaper that uses a 75 horse skidsteer most days. we drive it full bore into rocks accidentally, drive it into piles of dirt on purpose, bounce it around, tip it on its nose picking up too much do wheeleys, pick up logs, pallets, rocks, and generally beat teh liviing snot out of it.

and she had 3500 hours when i bought it.

as i envision this, you guys are taking some goofy mower thingy, winding the skid up to max rpm, adn letting the engine go to work?????

do you regularly drop it off 3 foot cliffs???? cold starts at 20 below? drive wide open into trees?????

i thought not.

running it wide open and using the hydraulics full time is what the goofy thing was designed for. your salesman was a total idiot. ask the idiot salesman to show you the hydraulic cooler. it is larger then the radiator.

to be fair, at 4000 hours most steers are trashed, but it is boom, drive system, bucket hinges, hoses, that go. the engines are industrial diesels that would go 20,000 hours easy if you didn't run them out of water or oil.

 

[Big Jim]

We do things with a rental that I would flip out on the kid for doing with our machine.Our 773 with Hi Flow on most days is more than fine to get the job done.We put the tracks on it and it becomes a different machine.we run a modified brushcat mower that handles 3" to 6"trees and brush with no problem,depending on the type of tree(sumac/Russian olive6",oak maple3").
We also use a backhoe and tree shear on this machine.The tree shear can get REAL hairy if you grab something you really shouldn't.Again common sense
is the key.
The thing that I find useful is with the counter weight kit the 773 will lift around a ton and still give you access into back yards for residential work when you need a smaller machine.
I will not dispute that a wheeled machine will out work a skid steer when used for the purpose it was intended .I also will not dispute it cost more to transport , for parts , and operate a wheeled machine.
If we got the room we take our 665 Clark skidder and the bobcat onto the jobs.The Clark moves big stuff a lot easier than the skid steer does .
What it all boils down to is making the most practical choice for what your going to do with the machine.
I myself have only owned and rented bobcats for skid steers.The upkeep is affordable and I have found that parts are highly available when I need them.
On the 773 we have 3600 hrs on it and have replaced the hi flow pump 1 time($650.00) and a couple of electric switches as far as problems.
This machine has been on its side ,stuck in the mud to the cab , and has the frame at the rear of the machine pounded on rocks till it has a bow in her.
Ground clearance is not as good as the track machines but that is where the operator comes into play.
Gotta go to work now .

 

[MowersinFL]

Need To Read This!

I know from experience that a wheeled machine is not what you want in a forestry setting. Also, I have heard from more than one source that CAT will not warranty their tracks if you put one of their machines in a forestry environment. Not personally sure if that is true, but I have heard it from a couple of people. I definitely agree with JohnH that the Rayco machine is one of if not the best in forestry market, though I personally would take a look at either the C87L or C130.

 

[neighborstree]

wheeled machines are "ok" if you plan on mowing in pine bearing or dryland..hit a little mud and youll be calling someone with a track machine to come get you unstuck..the rayco is your best best if your only doing land clearing. you cant run one across someones lawn without distroying the lawn unlike a rubber track machine..think of your options

 

[grabroot&growl]

Yellowdog,

I see you are using the t300, and a brush mower? If you are working in the hillcountry, are you dealing mostly with juniper, or are you also tackling mesquite, and other spiny legume?

I am well east of you and was looking into the brush clearing option - for my own place as well as the small "ranchettes" in this area, but without root plowing and tearing up the soil a great deal, the options are limited.

With the hydro-Ax and mulching heads on the Bobcats, the legume mesquite will grow back rapidly, so I need to find a way to get the "ball" out of the ground with minimal soil disturbance. I was looking at the buckets that are sold for grubbing out the stump. Have you or anyone else had any experience with these? I am in the blackland area of texas, not dealing with the rock and ledges you have in the hill country.

 

[Frank Boyer]

Figure out what market that you want to be in. A skid steer is for residential/limited access/smaller jobs with brush/small trees. A D-4/5/6 with a mulcher/root rake is for large sub-division sized jobs. How steep is the area that you want to work in? Are you doing landscaping/construction where the skid steer is needed? Tracks will allow you to work on steeper terrain and in wetter conditions than rubber tires. Being able to work an extra month or two a year can pay a lot of bills. Limited access work takes more specialized equipment , but can be very profitable.

 

[extreme mowing]

skid steer with mulching head

I have a forestry mowing business. I use an ASV 4810 with a gyro-trac planer style head. I try to stay at 8" diameter and below but with fresh teeth I have taken 17" diameter pine. Tracks are the way to go.

 

[neighborstree]

if you guys are into land clearing like you seem you are, why even own a mulcher head. why not just a grapple rake and a nice little 50 or 60 grand tub grinder...drag the rake through the mess. rake up the brush, stumps and what not and just grind it in a efficient manor..makes sence to me.. i gues lol..
i have a positrack loader with a 74 inch root grapple . not only will it easly rip out a 10 inch stump, but will push over a 60 foot 20 inch diamiter tree with ease..atleast thats my approch to land clearing. for instance, i just cleared a half acre lot. 300 trees or so. pushed every tree over, stump uprooted and all, cut the stump off,. chipped the intire tree. 2 40 yard dumpsters for the stumps. 7 days later got my check for 25'000. by the way, my loaders are forsale or trade for a knuckleboom truck i have 3 identical loaders. take ur pick. all ahve hi flow and low flo hydraulics,. high flow is raterd @ 33 gpm at 3400 psi i bealeve and im not shure about the low flow

 

[QwikDraw]

25,000 for 1/2 an acres yeah, sure. and if you meant 2,500 then you can make that in 2 days with a mulch head.

The ASV is the way to go. 100HP and 304 pounds of tourqe, put a forestry package on it and it's bullet proof. It will keep that head turning better than any other, "non-custom" skid steer.

Why hasn't any one mentioned the Bradco Magnum mulcher, 45 off set teeth, teeth are two sided (but expensive) and quickest recovery time.

 

[neighborstree]

i love my asv. and yea i did mean 25'000. land clearing around here is not cheap. i mean a mulcher head would not even benifit me on thease king of jobs, its mostly all semi large populars,

 

[deerfarmer]

I chose an ASV RC-100 to run a mulching head for two primary reasons:

(1) Horsepower to provide High Flow; you need all the power you can get to run a mulching head. The RC-100 is 99.5 hp. The ASV engine is a Perkins, the Cat engine is made by Perkins and says Cat. The primary difference in Hp is the Turbo on the ASV engine. Cat owns 25 % of ASV. ASV makes Cat undercarriage and Cat makes some components for ASV.

(2) Width; The ASV machine is more narrow than most (or maybe all ) other compact track loaders. Since I am using it among trees I need to be a able to go between the trees that I want to leave. It is more narrow because it was designed as a track machine, the tracks are not just added outside a skid steer frame.

The only other machine that I thought would be as good was Rayco. I would have seriously considered Rayco but there was not a dealer in the state at the time that I bought the ASV and I did not want to have to drive hundreds of miles for service.

 

[MowersinFL]

Next time you are looking check out Tubb Equipment in Hattiesburg, MS. They should be able to help out with a Rayco demo.

 

[Cat]

I have a bobcat and really like it so far. The bobcat i had before i got this new one was unreal the work i done with that, and with hardly any break downs.:newbie:

 

[Yellowdog]

Yellowdog,

I see you are using the t300, and a brush mower? If you are working in the hillcountry, are you dealing mostly with juniper, or are you also tackling mesquite, and other spiny legume?

.

I run an s300k . I mostly clear juniper and grind brush piles. I save the bigger trees for my shear and bc2000 chipper. The CAT mulcher does a great job on smaller trees, piles, and stumps leaving fine shreds.

 

[Yellowdog]

if you guys are into land clearing like you seem you are, why even own a mulcher head. why not just a grapple rake and a nice little 50 or 60 grand tub grinder...drag the rake through the mess. rake up the brush, stumps and re about the low flow

I doubt you can get much of a grinder for under 100k very used. My Bc2000 chipper is nearly 75k 5 years ago.

Down here, unless it's a house pad, we leave the stumps for erosion control. With the new phase ii regulations, the less you uproot, the better. Shearing is a Best management practice.

 

[Yellowdog]

Yes they cost more, but I think that you will be able to be more productive with it and get more hours out of it. But the tire issue with skidd steers will cost you probably $2,000 per 300 hours if your running foam fills. Lots of options...

I think you may be off on the tire issue. We routinely get 1000+ hours out of hulk solid tires in rocky terrain.

Wheel loaders have their place but ease of transport, maneuverability, cost of components, etc., make skidsteers a wise choice for many applications. It's no wonder they out sell every other type of machine. If you are moving large amounts of material from point a to point b, I concede that a wheel loader, given enough room to maneuver, would be a better choice for dirt moving. For digging, grading, and moving trees, though, a large skidsteer can't be beat. (at least for the size trees we have in central TX).