brambleberry
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2020
- Messages
- 25
I have been spoiled by being able to borrow my neighbors Case 440CT over the last 10 years and now he's going to be selling it. I've only had old farm tractors for my work on the land and am always frustrated by how awkward and slow it is to move material, grade dirt etc compared to the skidsteers. So I'm starting to look around for what's available in my price range ($5-10k). As much as I love that Case, it has been down for repairs more than its been up for work, mostly from all the electronic over hydraulic gadgetry. I consider myself somewhat capable of typical farm repairs using common tools, and want a machine that I can do most of the work on. People have told me that the older skidsteers like gehl, mustang and new holland fit that bill but parts availability can be an issue. So my question to you all is what makes and models are ones to look for (or look to avoid)? I know many of you will tell me to not even bother with an older skidsteer and that's fine, I'm all ears at this point. I'd really like the option of aux hydraulics, don't need high flow but that would be nice, and definitely want to be able to get steel overtire tracks for it. I've heard the best things about New Hollands and Case 1835C. Heard bad things about JDs, that parts are hard to find and they are a pita to access things for repairs. I'm not picky about size but don't think I want a tiny horse stall type. I need to be able to have it lift at least 1000 lbs. Diesel seems to be ideal but many of the older ones seem to have gas, often wisconsin engines. I hear good and bad about wisconsins, that they are easy to work on but parts are hard to find. Also seems that the Tbar controls are not a great idea and side levers and or foot controls are best. Thanks in advance for any advice.
