Advice on skidsteer seasonal rental

[Sir1]

So Im on a few different forums. Long time lurker. 1st time poster. I almost bought a bobcat earlier this year...but I am back to leasing. What brand do you guys recommend and why? Personally I am leaning towards Bobcat, Cat or JCB. No drive time. Bobcat is what I am used to. Their dealership has good support here and they rent lots of attachments. CAT is good but usually pricier to my understanding. JCB is new kids on the block. Just opened up a dealership. Few people around here have run their skidsteer. I am curious about their single hydraulic cylinder set up. Maybe they can cut a better deal to get their name out there? Case is close too. They have the inline 4. Heard its a good motor. But I have the most hours on the old bobcats... What attachments do you recommend? Especially geared towards lawn installations? Bucket, forks, "soil conditioner" aka harley rake? Ive never used a land plane, or scarifier, or landscape rake. All of these are bobcat names so I can post a picture or look on their page for exact attachment. The landscape rake look awesome to me. Pretty much remove rocks from halfway descent soil and dump the debris? Soil here is very poor and rocky. This seems like an expensive ($8600) attachment but a very useful one pending results. No one around here uses them tho... What size bobcat would you reccomend for primarily dirt work (lawn installs)? By weight or by model #? Tires or tracks? Leaning towards tracks What model would you recommend for forestry mulching. Bobcat dealer said something in the 700 or 800 series. Those are 11k lbs machines and seems like they would be too big for lawn installs. Too heavy? Standard flow or high flow? Monthly rent? (could try a diff machine with each dealer) Seasonal rent? Multi year lease?

 

[Sir1]

Tried editing that several times so its not one big jumble. How do I make a new paragraph? Lol

 

[mmsllc]

Tried editing that several times so its not one big jumble. How do I make a new paragraph? Lol

I would suggest a BOBCAT, as they are the only ones that I have experience with. Keeping in mind with every question that you asked, I would recommend a 753 if you are not lifting a lot of weight or lifting weight often. If you are going to be lifting heavy weights, then a 863 or 873 is you best bet. As far as tracked or wheeled machines go, that is going to depend on your budget & how often you work in sloppy ground. If you really want a tracked machine, be sure to search for a 864. They can lift quite a bit & they have tracks. With that being said, tracked machines seem to be higher in maintenance &repair bills compared to wheeled machines. To me, the wheeled machine are about the most economical to own & operate. As for the standard or high flow option, you will spend more to buy one, but it should run a Harley rake better than a standard flow machine would. The only other thing to consider at that point would be to buy high flow attachments in order to make the best out of having a high flow machine. All of that ends up bigger money to buy all of this stuff. I am sure that you could easily make a good majority of this money soon, but the best question is "do you need a tracked or high flow machine? OR do you just want them for bragging rights?? Whatever the answer, shop carefully because buying the wrong machine is far worse than a smaller one would be. On the last note, the 47 horsepower KUBOTA diesel engines that come in these 700-series BOBCATS are pretty good engines. The DUETZ turbo diesel engines that come in the 800-series BOBCATS are even better, in my mind. So, I hope these answers help you narrow down your search. Keep in mind that buying a 753 to start out is a great choice. Later on you can look for a larger machine when you are ready to expand your business. I sell machines, let me know if you are interested.

 

[Bobcatdan]

I would suggest a BOBCAT, as they are the only ones that I have experience with. Keeping in mind with every question that you asked, I would recommend a 753 if you are not lifting a lot of weight or lifting weight often. If you are going to be lifting heavy weights, then a 863 or 873 is you best bet. As far as tracked or wheeled machines go, that is going to depend on your budget & how often you work in sloppy ground. If you really want a tracked machine, be sure to search for a 864. They can lift quite a bit & they have tracks. With that being said, tracked machines seem to be higher in maintenance &repair bills compared to wheeled machines. To me, the wheeled machine are about the most economical to own & operate. As for the standard or high flow option, you will spend more to buy one, but it should run a Harley rake better than a standard flow machine would. The only other thing to consider at that point would be to buy high flow attachments in order to make the best out of having a high flow machine. All of that ends up bigger money to buy all of this stuff. I am sure that you could easily make a good majority of this money soon, but the best question is "do you need a tracked or high flow machine? OR do you just want them for bragging rights?? Whatever the answer, shop carefully because buying the wrong machine is far worse than a smaller one would be. On the last note, the 47 horsepower KUBOTA diesel engines that come in these 700-series BOBCATS are pretty good engines. The DUETZ turbo diesel engines that come in the 800-series BOBCATS are even better, in my mind. So, I hope these answers help you narrow down your search. Keep in mind that buying a 753 to start out is a great choice. Later on you can look for a larger machine when you are ready to expand your business. I sell machines, let me know if you are interested.

Well my two cents, stay far, far, far, far away from JCB. Machines are junk, incredible stupid designs, poor part availability, simple garbage from my experience. Our dealer has been OK, but when we had a JCB company rep out for issuse, complete *******. Didn't return our calls and refuse to solve our issues. Now moving on from my JCB rant, go out and try the others and see which one you like and which dealer seems best. As for a machine being easy on lawn, what about an all wheel steer A770? A full forestry package is going to be recommend by all dealers if you want a forestry head.

 

[lesgawlik]

Well my two cents, stay far, far, far, far away from JCB. Machines are junk, incredible stupid designs, poor part availability, simple garbage from my experience. Our dealer has been OK, but when we had a JCB company rep out for issuse, complete *******. Didn't return our calls and refuse to solve our issues. Now moving on from my JCB rant, go out and try the others and see which one you like and which dealer seems best. As for a machine being easy on lawn, what about an all wheel steer A770? A full forestry package is going to be recommend by all dealers if you want a forestry head.

I have a land plane. Where are you?

 

[7LBSSMALLIE]

I have a land plane. Where are you?

most of us here are mech's or owner operators, I would suggest stop in local bobcat dealer, speak with sales rep.( not the sleazy car salesman you would expect) blue collar workining dudes wearining jeans and boots. who have extensive training to match cust needs . to job at hand. . Christ they make em go to bootcamp. where learn to run not only machines but all attachments. they also have a cust base that gives solid feedback. as in yea this worked great in my application. or not so much. the greastet threat to future sales is the old boy network. so and so bought this and it sucked. therefore they strive to match the right equipment to the right job. and demo equipment is fun? try out the forestry cutter package. or a cutter head on an excavator. yea it a blast and an untouched market.

 

[reed2022]

I would determine what what kind/heavy of load (like full pallets of blocks or sod) needed to be handled. Then I would go to local dealer and match up the weight needed to be handled with the capacity of the machine, I would definitely go with track machine because it is more grass friendly less damage when travel in established yards. As far as Bobcat or Cat they are both excellent machines, the difference between these machines would be the dealer service record. Once size of machine determined I would rent one from Cat and Bobcat for a month as this would you see which machine suits you personal preference. As for being more familiar with Bobcat I don't think that matters now as much as it did 20 years ago. The machines now is similar in most fashion of operation. This is just my humble opinion.