Bobcat, New Holland, JD Whats the best used value?!?

[danreg99]

Hey guys, Im looking at purchasing a used bobcat for around 10k and am finding some decent ones with about 1200-1600 hrs on them. I found a 98 lx665 turbo new holland for around 10k with 600 hrs. I will be using it for snow removal and some yard leveling (2 acres). Is this a decent skid steer? There is also a 98 751 bobcat locally with 2200hrs for $12,300 Any other recommendations for this price range. I am very new to skid steers so I appreciate any and all information.

 

[Tazza]

I'd shy away from the bobcat 751, the early ones ran a pug engine not the newer Kubotas that most use now. They run great, don't get me wrong, but parts are horribly expensive....
As for the best? that's very hard to answer. They all have their good and bad points. Bobcat has great parts after service. You can still get basically every part for machines 30+ years old (for a price of course). The NH seems nice, i don't know if they still make their own engines too, parts are expensive. There are quite a few members with NH machines and really like their performance.
Like i said, they all have their good and bad points, these two just have expensive engine parts, if you're lucky, you will never need parts for it anyway, but its good to know you won't need to sell your first born IF something was to go badly.

 

[danreg99]

I'd shy away from the bobcat 751, the early ones ran a pug engine not the newer Kubotas that most use now. They run great, don't get me wrong, but parts are horribly expensive....
As for the best? that's very hard to answer. They all have their good and bad points. Bobcat has great parts after service. You can still get basically every part for machines 30+ years old (for a price of course). The NH seems nice, i don't know if they still make their own engines too, parts are expensive. There are quite a few members with NH machines and really like their performance.
Like i said, they all have their good and bad points, these two just have expensive engine parts, if you're lucky, you will never need parts for it anyway, but its good to know you won't need to sell your first born IF something was to go badly.

Thanks for the input. Is there a certain year that I want to stay away from with NH and Bobcat?

 

[SkidRoe]

Thanks for the input. Is there a certain year that I want to stay away from with NH and Bobcat?

I don't think that there are any years that are bad, just models that you may want to avoid. All things being equal, any Bobcat with a Kubota engine would be my first choice. The big discriminators here are going to be the number of hours on the machine and the level care that the previous owner provided.
A lot of the larger Bobcats (8xx series) use Deutz diesels, which I am not overly crazy about. Like Tazza said, the 751 uses a Pugoet diesel (for some odd reason), which can be very expensive to fix.
I would also avoid older gas-engined machines. Once again, Bobcat used an odd assortment of engines in these machines, most of which (IMHO) were undersized/overtaxed for the application.
Also, most newer machines make greater use of electronics in their safety and diagnostic systems, which are a serious headache when they act up.
As for New Holland, in my limited experience (neighbour has an LS190), these machines are well built and well engineered, but may suffer from parts availability issues (may only be available from the dealer), due to engines, etc. being of their own design.
Hope this helps,
SR

 

[gtstang462002]

I don't think that there are any years that are bad, just models that you may want to avoid. All things being equal, any Bobcat with a Kubota engine would be my first choice. The big discriminators here are going to be the number of hours on the machine and the level care that the previous owner provided.
A lot of the larger Bobcats (8xx series) use Deutz diesels, which I am not overly crazy about. Like Tazza said, the 751 uses a Pugoet diesel (for some odd reason), which can be very expensive to fix.
I would also avoid older gas-engined machines. Once again, Bobcat used an odd assortment of engines in these machines, most of which (IMHO) were undersized/overtaxed for the application.
Also, most newer machines make greater use of electronics in their safety and diagnostic systems, which are a serious headache when they act up.
As for New Holland, in my limited experience (neighbour has an LS190), these machines are well built and well engineered, but may suffer from parts availability issues (may only be available from the dealer), due to engines, etc. being of their own design.
Hope this helps,
SR

One of my all time favorite machines was the New Holland LX885. When I come home from deployment in a year I will probably be picking one up used to add to my equipment fleet. I currently own a Bobcat T300, my biggest complaint with that one is the cost of track components.