What is a good skid steer

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 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.

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......

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

Gehl and NH.

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.

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.

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.

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.

      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.

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!

Bobcat has more of the important engine parts right where the back opens up which makes them eaiser to work on.

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.

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.

Brian S(NY) wrote: 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.