Just wondering if there any of you out there who regularly use their bobcat(skidsteer) on the job site. Or maybe not so regularly. I am trying to justify buying a used one. Back filling, moving materials, driveway prep etc. We do new construction and renos from beginning to end.
Maybe you had one and got rid of it. Any comments that might steer me either way would help
thanks Angus
Replies
I have used one extensively....
first question before anything else is the area you work in have lots of hills, slopes etc. Skid steers are great when mainly used in level areas. There are great for a great many things with a few "attachments". Plan on at least a "smooth edge" bucket and a "tooth" bucket. Next comes in line a "back hoe" attachment then a post hole auger with a couple of sizes of augers. Then you need something to haul "everything" and more when you get it. A small dump truck to haul the trailer is also part of the setup, unless you always want to pay someone else to haul away the extra garbage you are always left with.
As another option other than skid steers in areas of more "inclines" is as small track hoe. It is a very useful piece of equipment maybe more so than a bobcat, just make sure you don't go too large or to small, and get a "thumb" and at again a tooth bucket and a smooth bucket, a couple of different widths of buckets is almost a necessity. A blade on the front end for final grade is also important. The need for a trailer and dump truck is the same in both cases.
this is just a "drop in the bucket" when it comes to a final decsion on your part, explore further, either are a great investment, and you will be surprised at the work that "pops" up for you.
A sub of mine hauls his in a dump trailer with a F 350. No need for a dump truck.
I used to sell the things maintinace on used skid steers is a major deal.. Most contractors who sell reasonably new used ones have gotten all the "sweet time" out of them and delayed required maintinace as long as possible..
There are exceptions but do not count on the hour meter to give you information.. It's not illegal to replace them. They typically only cost about $45.00 to swap out so the chance of that low hour reading being correct on that 5 year old skid steer is virtually non-existant..
Condition is everything.. maintinace can quickly eat you alive on any piece of ground engaging equipment.
I sold them, I know what to look for and I still wouldn't buy one..
i agree.... unless you are a shade-tree mechanic and you love working on old iron... don't buy earth-moving equipment...hire the workMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
couldn't live without mine! use it for everything.
have you run any numbers to see if financially it makes sense? Think about how many days you'd realistically use it in a month and add some an then figure what you could rent one for locally. Rentals here deliver to the site for a reasonable fee and they maintain it and when it quits working (n/a for abuse of course) they fix it. for my myself, it's cheaper to rent.
thanks for the replies. I have done some math and it seems that we are hiring them more often now and have a number of jobs coming up that will definitely use one. For the last few months we have subbed the work out and that does work well. The big thing for me is I have property around our house that needs a lot of bobcat work and I am paying more per month in rentals and subbing than the payments just here. So when you combine the two it seems like we can pay for it through work and also save the rentals for working at our places.
Lots to consider I am definitely not a mechanic so it would have to pay for it's own fixing. I do have a mechanic / hydraulic guy who is a really good buddy he has said he could do the work if ( I guess when ) it arose in trade for using it a little at his place.
Thanks again for the thoughts. Its good to hear both sides.
Lots to consider I am definitely not a mechanic so it would have to pay for it's own fixing.
That statement says a lot! I was going to encourage you to buy one, if you needed to use something like that often. But if you can't maintain it yourself and do most of the mechanic work, I would forget about it.
We own all of the equipment we use simply because we need all of it frequently and it is just too hard to keep calling somebody else who may not get on the job for a few days or more.
FWIW......I just bought a rubber tracked Cat skidsteer. I now wonder how we ever got along without it. Of all the skidsteers I looked at, it is by far the easiest to service and repair and operate. I think some of these are manufactured to make it a challenge to do normal chores on them.
Edited 4/29/2009 7:56 am ET by BoJangles