Any tips about buying a skid steer?

[Ron Selzer]

Brian, definitely in your price range but probably too big. There were smaller versions made in the 1960's and 1970's before skid steers, different manufactures
google White 4-78 in Maumee, OH, USA
Allis Chalmers, International, Massy Ferguson, Ford, Case, all had them .

[andrew whicker]

https://www.liftstoday.com/listing/f...rain-forklifts

Check this guy out

[Ronald Blue]

One of these might work for your needs. They have the needed capacity and don't have a huge foot print like a tractor would.

https://www.machinerytrader.com/list...INCETON&sort=6

[Kris Cook]

Brian - I am in the construction business and mostly bigger equipment but reading your original post and your replies I am finding it hard to understand why you want to buy a machine as opposed to renting.

For occasional moving/lifting you can rent a machine and have it delivered many times over for what you are considering spending.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Late to the party, but figured I’d weigh in as I have been in similar situations in the past and have operated almost all the machines mentioned in this thread at one point or another.

There is not a magic bullet (for $20k) that will tick all of your boxes fully and completely. Outside of a dedicated forklift, lifting capacity it generally directly related to overall size / length / weight / ballast capability & price on the other machines you’re considering. This all applies to forklifts as well, they can just achieve so much more in a tighter package, though they are strictly for lifting and have limited outdoor mobility beyond tightly compacted gravel even on pneumatic tires.

Farm tractors with loaders have to get fairly large (~60 hp +) typically to be able to reliably lift 2k # and even then you will likely want some rear mounted counterweight or weighted / liquid filled tires for extra ballast. The turning radius on such a machine is abysmal in tight spaces and they are really a compromise when it comes to lifting heavy loads with forks, fork visibility, front axle turning and braking when loaded that much.

When lifting 2k lbs or more, you have to be pretty careful with a wheeled skid steer and at least select a model that not only has the specs on the loader but also enough counterweight / low CofG to keep it from tipping easily. Tracked machines have a bit better CofG for lifting most times, but similar restrictions apply. A side exit/entry door would be essentially if lifting alone. There have been many times where I was stuck in the cab with a load that needed some help/tweaking/extra visibility/whatever outside the cab and that is that if you’re in the cab with a load lifted and it can put you in some tight spots. Visibility inside the cab of a skid steer cab generally can be pretty poor as well compared to some machines, but take the good with the bad. Not the best strictly lifting choice, but probably your only realistic option in this budget that is a compromise. I have used a wheeled skid steer with over the tires tracks that did not get stuck in even terrible deep mud, but would absolutely destroy a lawn in a couple of turns if not careful.

My favorite type of outdoor forklift is a *small* telehandler (telescoping forklift) with 4 wheel steering, etc, but space to operate and maintenance costs will likely rule this out for your situation. It solves a lot of problems associated with forklifting operations on the smaller / more jack of all trades machines, but comes with it’s own set of limitations and headaches.

All of these machines will have costs and potentially expensive repairs, maintenance and operating costs. Farm tractor probably the lowest if acquired in excellent condition, but even there can be some expensive repairs over time.

We don’t know your property and exact details, but I totally get wanting to own something and have it around to help with misc lifting / moving / etc and not have to even think about renting. A larger skid steer with plenty of weight to it and side entry/exit is probably the most flexible option in this case if it has to be only 1 machine, but it’s hard to say without seeing the property and knowing all the use cases needed.

[Jim Becker]

Brian - I am in the construction business and mostly bigger equipment but reading your original post and your replies I am finding it hard to understand why you want to buy a machine as opposed to renting.

For occasional moving/lifting you can rent a machine and have it delivered many times over for what you are considering spending.

I agree that this is worth considering, but when I looked into renting with delivery/pickup, it's about $1000 a shot here in SE PA for a one day rental. So it would really come down to how often. I get the feeling that the OP want's a bit more frequent use than would be cost effective for a rental, but I could be wrong about that.

[Brian Elfert]

Brian - I am in the construction business and mostly bigger equipment but reading your original post and your replies I am finding it hard to understand why you want to buy a machine as opposed to renting.

For occasional moving/lifting you can rent a machine and have it delivered many times over for what you are considering spending.

If I owned something I would probably use it on average at least once a week. I'm not going to rent a machine once a week when it costs $400 to $500 every time. The only vehicle I have to tow a skid steer is my motorhome. I don't keep the motorhome insured when not using it. It is also a pain to get the motorhome off and on my property when I do use. I wouldn't ever take my motorhome out in the winter with salt. I took the motorhome on a winter trip once and had to replace all of the brake chambers after that due to corrosion from salt. (It was way too cold to rinse off the salt when I got home.)

I don't have the free cash flow to spend $400 or more per month to rent a skid steer. I have plenty of savings to buy a skid steer and maintain it. I am also leery of renting expensive equipment after an incident with a towable lift last year nearly cost me between $40,000 and $150,000 depending if I was charged for loss of use or not. I made a mistake and the towable lift came off the hitch ball and the safety chains wore through in about 100 yards. The unit hit the curb and stopped. I was lucky the unit wasn't destroyed. It cost me $300 for new safety chains and a bit of labor to replace them. Damage waivers don't cover rental items while in transit and my auto insurance provides no coverage also. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get insurance coverage for expensive rental items. That lift cost $40,000 and the manufacturer is booked out one to two years. The rental agency owner would have be within his rights to charge me the $40,000 if it was destroyed plus loss of use for every day it was out of service.

I sure as heck wouldn't want to have a rental skid steer fall off a trailer and be responsible to replace a $75,000 skid steer. I can insure something that is mine, but not a rental.

[Bill George]

I agree with Brian for me its a 30 mile round trip each way to pick up and return a rental. Plus a learning curve which may not be something a construction person needs to do. By having your own machine you can learn it and then learn to maintain it at the same time. I did fine with my old John Deere 650 diesel with a loader and it was slow but I got it done. Even built a 3 point hitch backhoe for use down at the lake. I ended up selling it and the trailer for more than I paid.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I was sorely tempted to try to buy this as it was only about an hour from me, but I knew I was downsizing and moving away so I didn't bid.

https://www.auctionsinternational.co...d-crane-102013

[Brian Elfert]

Although I live on three acres I don't live in the middle of nowhere. I live in a northern suburb in the Minneapolis metro area. Where I live is a suburban style development although the lots are huge like two acres plus. The development started in the late 1970s so there are plenty of trees grown up after 40 plus years.

I don't really want to have some old piece of junk equipment on my property. An all terrain forklift would in most cases be too big to maneuver in the space I have. I also don't want something that is a project. I have enough projects to do without adding another one. I am starting to get the feeling my wants are bigger than my budget. Avant, Bobcat, and Cast all make the type of small articulated loader I really want, but they haven't been manufactured or imported long enough to really have many older less expensive used ones yet. Avant is imported from Finland and Cast is imported from Italy. Not sure if the Bobcat small loaders are made in the USA or not.

You can sometimes get deals at auctions, but you have no opportunity to look at or test the unit before buying. There are a lot of former Sunbelt Rental Bobcats being sold at Iron Planet.

[Greg Parrish]

Although I live on three acres I don't live in the middle of nowhere. I live in a northern suburb in the Minneapolis metro area. Where I live is a suburban style development although the lots are huge like two acres plus. The development started in the late 1970s so there are plenty of trees grown up after 40 plus years.

I don't really want to have some old piece of junk equipment on my property. An all terrain forklift would in most cases be too big to maneuver in the space I have. I also don't want something that is a project. I have enough projects to do without adding another one. I am starting to get the feeling my wants are bigger than my budget. Avant, Bobcat, and Cast all make the type of small articulated loader I really want, but they haven't been manufactured or imported long enough to really have many older less expensive used ones yet. Avant is imported from Finland and Cast is imported from Italy. Not sure if the Bobcat small loaders are made in the USA or not.

You can sometimes get deals at auctions, but you have no opportunity to look at or test the unit before buying. There are a lot of former Sunbelt Rental Bobcats being sold at Iron Planet.

Brian, for what it's worth, we bought our JD backhoe from a local JD dealer and it was a prior Herc Rental. Might be worth checking with the local farm/construction dealers to see if they area also bringing in rental equipment to resell. In our case, it was gone through and brought ready to work as a part of the process. So far its been a great unit that came with some reassurances and short term warranty (90 days or something).

[Jonathan Pace]

I agree with Tom that a smaller loader is safer to use.

[Tom M King]

I don't know about safer, but with almost any type of equipment, the bigger it is, the easier to operate it is.

[Bill Dufour]

I think the compact articulated Italian grape tractors are cute. No idea if thy can have forks or not.
BilL D

https://www.avanttecno.com/us/machin...SAAEgIqZvD_BwE

[andrew whicker]

I was watching a show about a Michelin rated chef and he was on a grape farm (wine). The tractor there had a swivel seat like a back hoe except it was a bucket on the front and forks on the back!

I thought it was super cool.