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Whats best?

2K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Andrew2 
#1 ·
Hello everyone! I need some opinions. My friend wants to get a skidsteer and start his own business like grading, clearing out land and stuff. So were looking for an all around machine that "will do it all" and not break the budget. Any ideas or suggestions on what to buy, where to buy, what to grab and what to run away from? We're located in northern South Carolina. Thanks!
 
#8 ·
I would say tracks would be more of an all around machine.

I've run a wheeled unit that we put tracks on, it does give the machine better float ability on soft sand, mud, etc but we did fight keeping them in place as they seemed to stretch (I'm sure it was more seating themselves than stretching) as we used them.

The one I ran was a John Deere with the raise/tilt in the handles, I got in a Cat with a joystick and I was a fish out of water, I'm sure the joystick is the norm now.

As with every product, I'm sure there are models that excel and others that fail miserably.

A Do All machine would be hard to pinpoint, one job it will be to big and the next job it will be a bull in a china shop!

Good luck and continue with your research.

CCMoe
 
#9 ·
I have used a Cat with tires and tracks. if you get in enough mud the tires will spin in the tracks. Really I would look into leasing over buying until business has been established. Get a newer machine instead of possibly someone's junk. That's all a new business needs is unexpected down time and repair expense. I would go with a full track machine. Here 26000 doesn't buy much.
 
#10 ·
Leasing would be a good idea. Where I worked they always leased to buy because it have us a chance to try the machine first and buy it if we liked it. We returned two machines in the time I worked there (12 years)...a Bobcat mini excavator with no cab (too cold for the winter on the coast in MA) and a Cat skid steer that no one liked. It was fast and comfortable but the hydraulics were to powerful and it would try to pick up pallets that were far too heavy for it. That made it dangerous when unloading a truck. You could pick up a pallet on the truck and back up ' but as soon as you tried to turn or go forward it would go right oon its nose instantly. It was like the pallet was in free fall.
 
#11 ·
I've never heard of the lease option before... but it sounds like a very smart idea. From the shopping around I've done looks like you can find something good from 40 to 50k. Not quite the 25k my friend was hoping for...

Now out of Cat, Bobcat, Kubota, Takeuchi, etc skid steers, which would you say is the best deal deal for the buck for a small business. Any brands real hard to service since all equipment breaks sooner or later?

Thanks for all your input!
 
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