I've been looking to buy a skid steer for personal use on my property for nearly a year. I've never owned one, never even operated one but in doing the research on the various types of equipment I settled on a Track Skid Steer for it's versatility, functionality and resale value (just in case) among other factors. I looked into them all, got quotes from the various dealers and had to come to terms with the fact that I couldn't afford a new one. But buying used meant that I REALLY needed to know what I was getting into. Then I came into some unexpected money, pulled out those quotes and purchased a new Cat 239D. They beat the Case, John Deer, Kabota, Takeuchi and Bobcat quotes for equivalent machines much to my surprise. Now I feel like I just adopted an exotic animal that I have no idea how to handle. I paid the extra $70.00 for a manual I can sit on my couch and read so that I could at least make sure I'm servicing it properly. After 30hrs I'm just now beginning to get the hang of operating it but I have a long, long way to go before I'll be "proficient". At this point all I know is it will do whatever I tell it to do whether I meant to tell it to do that or not! I guess the 239d is too new for any user feedback because I can't find much. I do see a lot of them for sale, most are a year or two older than mine and are selling for what I paid for mine (or more) so if nothing else, I know I didn't over pay. I'm interested in any info such as "do's & don'ts" with regard to servicing and operating. As time goes on I'll be back to post anything I think might be helpful to others. So far it seems like a beautiful beast of a machine but then again, it's a brand new Cat and I have no point of reference so...
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PrivadoMason
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- Oct 9, 2017
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First congrats on the CAT, second, do or do nots is common sense when it comes to operating and the rest comes from experience. By no means am I an expert operator. (intermediate at best!). You made a great decision on the tracks just dont run it too much on pavement etc. (Kills tracks from what I have heard.) You've got a machine for a long time as long as you take care of it, it wont let you down. The manual is very helpful for any type of beginner especially on these new machines they all have some extra bells and whistles, so read up. I did and I've used them for a few years! Good luck with it Bob!
The small CTLs are great machines. The 239D is a radial lift whereas the 249D is a vertical lift. Remember the more moving parts on a machine, the more that can go wrong. The 2.2L engine has been around in one form or another since around 2000, so it's time tested. The new 2.2 has a DPF, but because it's under 74HP, does not have a regen. I can't remember offhand if it takes DEF fluid or not. If you can, it would be a good idea to consider an Extended Protection Plan from CAT. If you don't plan to put many hours on it, you could go with a 5 year 500 or 1000 hour contract that covers everything but maintenance and wear items. The best advice I can offer is keep it off hard surfaces as much as possible-tears the heck out of tracks and make gradual turns, not zero turns-once again will save tons on tracks and undercarriage.
