YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
Thought it might be fun and slightly informative to have a general thread about skid steers (or ctl's for the nerds
) I've ran a decent variety, but am always curious about what others experience is. My experience is basically just seat experience, not as much working on them or sourcing parts.
I've most ran Cat, Lot of 259, 279, 289 and 299s. Plus 2 different 257's (has the asv style tracks. Type of work was either moving and or grading rock/or dirt, moving brush or large logs, and even some demo.
Out of all the ones I've ran or been on site with, I've seen very little break downs or issues. I like that you can use set the hand throttle to 100% and the pedal becomes a decelerator. The rear viability is pretty bad, especially in the bigger ones, but almost all of them have back up cameras which I haven't seen on another brand. Most any of the newish ones also have a heated seat, open or closed cab, which is nice.
Side viability is decent, unless the bucket is raised about 3'. With dirt or rock, you can easily keep it lower, but with brush, keeping it low creates a ton of dust and sometimes a limb will find its way under the track.
The 2X9 cats ride decent as the do have some suspension. The 289 and 299 have the feature that floats the bucket at speed, which makes them ride even better. The 2X7 machines ride like a fucking dream, much better than you would expect.
Another down side is the swing out door. The boom has to be fully lowered or fully raised for it to open. Can make random tasks like unloading an axle off a trailer with no help a huge pain in the ass.
Cat seems to have the most nannys to make happy just to get it started. You have to be in the seat, flip the bars down, turn the key on for a second, then turn it over. Once it's running, you only need to turn off the parking brake, but starting is annoying, especially when you are trying to warm it up for a bit while doing something else.
Overall, I think they are hard to beat, especially when you factor in their parts network.
The next most common machine I've ran is bobcat. A friend has a 2012 t770 that was used for brush clearing and mulching. It's pretty best up, but has not been very reliable. He had lots of issues, ranging from joystick problems, final drives and now it keeps eating lift pumps.
I worked for a company who had 4 new bobcat t750s on rent for large tree clean up. These were so unreliable that they had an extra one to swap out when one would go down. Mostly just electronic and sensor type issues, with a few of the bobcat brand grapples cracking. They also liked to eat front windows. Even if you just hit a bump wrong. I broke 3 in a few months, where 10 times the hours on cars and zero broken windows.
a friend of mine had similar issues with a new bobcat mini. They put the side windows on the OUTSIDE of the metal grate, vs inside like everyone else, so those are much more venerable also.
I would absolutely avoid new Bobcats personally. They sold out to Doosan ~10 years ago, and seem to be plagued with issues since.
I've only been in one deere and it was a larger wheeled machine. We were just using it to move spoils from a large drill. The few things I noticed that was much different than the cat was that it was really loud inside for being basically new and the arms sat higher and caused a huge blind spot when carrying the bucket at the typical ~1' off the ground. The foot well also seemed cramped compared to others. The last thing I noticed was that the area where the bucket release hydraulics were was a very poor design. Rocks would get trapped in there and cause things to get smashed. This can happen in the cat, but for the most part, if you just tip the bucket down, the space opens up and the rock falls out. I tried this on the deere and it just wedged it more, then I couldn't roll the bucket back, meaning I couldn't set it flat, meaning I couldn't get out to remove the rock
Spent a little time in a tl8 and tl12 takahuchi. Small owner operators seem to love these guys as they claim to be super reliable.
Coming from other equipment, the controls are TERRIBLE. Very cheap and loose feeling. Then the put the arms rests too high and you end up holding them more like a shift knob.
The tl8 was miserable on dry pavement. You could NOT turn with out it hopping really bad, I have never experienced that any other tracked machine. The tl12 did not seem to do that. Maybe it's massive 12k+ lb wieght helped
Speaking of size, holy shit is that a big machine. The cab feels twice the size of most machines. They were also smart enough to keep it under 83" track width, unlike the large from bobcat t870 that requires a deck over trailer to haul.
Both tak's ride very rough due to zero movement in the tracks.
One benefit is that they use a front door similar to an excavator. Slides up over your head. This means that you can open it no matter where the bucket is. Also means you can leave it open if you are getting in and out a lot.
I've moved and sat in a few kubota's. They share the same rigid tracks and door style as the takahuchi. I also am a believer in kubota reliability. We run thier mini's at work with realy good reliability.
The machine that made me start this thread.
My boss rented this for snow removal this year.
Obviously, the boom and cab design is completely different. I believe volvo is the only other manufacturer with a similar style. Right off the bat, I'm a huge fan. Getting in and out is so much easier than any machine. I've had a few slips and many close calls climbing over muddy, wet, icy, buckets or attachments. The bucket disconnect is hydraulic standard (most other brands are manual standard) and is fully enclosed to eliminate the issue I mentioned with rocks on the deere.
Once your inside increased foot room and viability are very noticeable. I think this will be very useful getting snow out of tight places.
I only moved it about 100 yds total, but it did seem a little jerky at full rpm. Which must be a common thing because the salesman told me "just turn it down half way"
As far as the single boom, I'm not sure how to feel about it. Your knee jerk reaction is to think it can't be as strong. Especially if you get a lot of wieght off one side. Which is common when moving logs. But in reality, I don't think this would be a good forestry machine with all those exposed windows anyway.
I also keep thinking about how all excavators, telehandlers and many other things have a single boom that works just fine.
Speaking of telehandlers, this is the teliskid version! I've seen them before and was always curious about them. So kinda excited to see if it's actually useful or not.
Also, just for all the people who think wierd multiuse equipment is actually useful. They had one of these retarded machines there
) I've ran a decent variety, but am always curious about what others experience is. My experience is basically just seat experience, not as much working on them or sourcing parts.I've most ran Cat, Lot of 259, 279, 289 and 299s. Plus 2 different 257's (has the asv style tracks. Type of work was either moving and or grading rock/or dirt, moving brush or large logs, and even some demo.
Out of all the ones I've ran or been on site with, I've seen very little break downs or issues. I like that you can use set the hand throttle to 100% and the pedal becomes a decelerator. The rear viability is pretty bad, especially in the bigger ones, but almost all of them have back up cameras which I haven't seen on another brand. Most any of the newish ones also have a heated seat, open or closed cab, which is nice.
Side viability is decent, unless the bucket is raised about 3'. With dirt or rock, you can easily keep it lower, but with brush, keeping it low creates a ton of dust and sometimes a limb will find its way under the track.
The 2X9 cats ride decent as the do have some suspension. The 289 and 299 have the feature that floats the bucket at speed, which makes them ride even better. The 2X7 machines ride like a fucking dream, much better than you would expect.
Another down side is the swing out door. The boom has to be fully lowered or fully raised for it to open. Can make random tasks like unloading an axle off a trailer with no help a huge pain in the ass.
Cat seems to have the most nannys to make happy just to get it started. You have to be in the seat, flip the bars down, turn the key on for a second, then turn it over. Once it's running, you only need to turn off the parking brake, but starting is annoying, especially when you are trying to warm it up for a bit while doing something else.
Overall, I think they are hard to beat, especially when you factor in their parts network.
The next most common machine I've ran is bobcat. A friend has a 2012 t770 that was used for brush clearing and mulching. It's pretty best up, but has not been very reliable. He had lots of issues, ranging from joystick problems, final drives and now it keeps eating lift pumps.
I worked for a company who had 4 new bobcat t750s on rent for large tree clean up. These were so unreliable that they had an extra one to swap out when one would go down. Mostly just electronic and sensor type issues, with a few of the bobcat brand grapples cracking. They also liked to eat front windows. Even if you just hit a bump wrong. I broke 3 in a few months, where 10 times the hours on cars and zero broken windows.
a friend of mine had similar issues with a new bobcat mini. They put the side windows on the OUTSIDE of the metal grate, vs inside like everyone else, so those are much more venerable also.I would absolutely avoid new Bobcats personally. They sold out to Doosan ~10 years ago, and seem to be plagued with issues since.
I've only been in one deere and it was a larger wheeled machine. We were just using it to move spoils from a large drill. The few things I noticed that was much different than the cat was that it was really loud inside for being basically new and the arms sat higher and caused a huge blind spot when carrying the bucket at the typical ~1' off the ground. The foot well also seemed cramped compared to others. The last thing I noticed was that the area where the bucket release hydraulics were was a very poor design. Rocks would get trapped in there and cause things to get smashed. This can happen in the cat, but for the most part, if you just tip the bucket down, the space opens up and the rock falls out. I tried this on the deere and it just wedged it more, then I couldn't roll the bucket back, meaning I couldn't set it flat, meaning I couldn't get out to remove the rock
Spent a little time in a tl8 and tl12 takahuchi. Small owner operators seem to love these guys as they claim to be super reliable.
Coming from other equipment, the controls are TERRIBLE. Very cheap and loose feeling. Then the put the arms rests too high and you end up holding them more like a shift knob.
The tl8 was miserable on dry pavement. You could NOT turn with out it hopping really bad, I have never experienced that any other tracked machine. The tl12 did not seem to do that. Maybe it's massive 12k+ lb wieght helped
Speaking of size, holy shit is that a big machine. The cab feels twice the size of most machines. They were also smart enough to keep it under 83" track width, unlike the large from bobcat t870 that requires a deck over trailer to haul.
Both tak's ride very rough due to zero movement in the tracks.
One benefit is that they use a front door similar to an excavator. Slides up over your head. This means that you can open it no matter where the bucket is. Also means you can leave it open if you are getting in and out a lot.
I've moved and sat in a few kubota's. They share the same rigid tracks and door style as the takahuchi. I also am a believer in kubota reliability. We run thier mini's at work with realy good reliability.
The machine that made me start this thread.
My boss rented this for snow removal this year.
Obviously, the boom and cab design is completely different. I believe volvo is the only other manufacturer with a similar style. Right off the bat, I'm a huge fan. Getting in and out is so much easier than any machine. I've had a few slips and many close calls climbing over muddy, wet, icy, buckets or attachments. The bucket disconnect is hydraulic standard (most other brands are manual standard) and is fully enclosed to eliminate the issue I mentioned with rocks on the deere.
Once your inside increased foot room and viability are very noticeable. I think this will be very useful getting snow out of tight places.
I only moved it about 100 yds total, but it did seem a little jerky at full rpm. Which must be a common thing because the salesman told me "just turn it down half way"
As far as the single boom, I'm not sure how to feel about it. Your knee jerk reaction is to think it can't be as strong. Especially if you get a lot of wieght off one side. Which is common when moving logs. But in reality, I don't think this would be a good forestry machine with all those exposed windows anyway.
I also keep thinking about how all excavators, telehandlers and many other things have a single boom that works just fine.
Speaking of telehandlers, this is the teliskid version! I've seen them before and was always curious about them. So kinda excited to see if it's actually useful or not.
Also, just for all the people who think wierd multiuse equipment is actually useful. They had one of these retarded machines there
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