First skid steer advice (CAT 247B?)

[tmurch11]

Hello,

I'm hoping to pick the brains of you more experienced skidsteer guys. I'm looking for a skidsteer, preferably a CTL or MTL, for home use. My background with skidsteers is pretty limited. I used my grandpa's old Melroe 600 a bit growing up, and I've been using S205 and T590 rental machines from the local hardware store. Between the two, I greatly prefer tracks to minimize damage to the road surface, and I'm a fan of pilot controls over hand/foot. I'm not sure what year emissions control features came into play at the 60-75hp range, but I'd prefer to find something pre-emissions.

I'm looking for a machine to do snow removal, lift logs onto a sawmill, and be able to handle odd chores like spreading new gravel. I live on five rocky and heavily timbered acres in NE Minnesota, so most of the machines time would be spent on the gravel driveway/road/mill pad. I have room to park a machine in the garage but the door height is a bit over 6'6". The rental T590 actually fit in just fine. I think I'd need a machine capable of lifting around 1,800# at the heaviest, but more often around 700-1000#. There aren't really trees heavier than white pine up here.

I've seen a few CAT 247Bs and 247B2/3s for sale in the area. Would this be a good option for a lighter use, home-owner machine? My concern is the lifting capacity is pretty much at my heaviest requirements. Can these machines be pushed to lift that much occasionally? Does the radial lift of a 247B make loading logs challenging?

I'm also looking at T190s and T590s. They would lift more, but the CTL undercarriage seems a bit rougher and leaves more impact.

Thanks for your help!

 

[foton]

Hello,

I'm hoping to pick the brains of you more experienced skidsteer guys. I'm looking for a skidsteer, preferably a CTL or MTL, for home use. My background with skidsteers is pretty limited. I used my grandpa's old Melroe 600 a bit growing up, and I've been using S205 and T590 rental machines from the local hardware store. Between the two, I greatly prefer tracks to minimize damage to the road surface, and I'm a fan of pilot controls over hand/foot. I'm not sure what year emissions control features came into play at the 60-75hp range, but I'd prefer to find something pre-emissions.

I'm looking for a machine to do snow removal, lift logs onto a sawmill, and be able to handle odd chores like spreading new gravel. I live on five rocky and heavily timbered acres in NE Minnesota, so most of the machines time would be spent on the gravel driveway/road/mill pad. I have room to park a machine in the garage but the door height is a bit over 6'6". The rental T590 actually fit in just fine. I think I'd need a machine capable of lifting around 1,800# at the heaviest, but more often around 700-1000#. There aren't really trees heavier than white pine up here.

I've seen a few CAT 247Bs and 247B2/3s for sale in the area. Would this be a good option for a lighter use, home-owner machine? My concern is the lifting capacity is pretty much at my heaviest requirements. Can these machines be pushed to lift that much occasionally? Does the radial lift of a 247B make loading logs challenging?

I'm also looking at T190s and T590s. They would lift more, but the CTL undercarriage seems a bit rougher and leaves more impact.

Thanks for your help!

as far as between verticle lift and radial lift, verticle will allow you to lift higher and still stay the same distance to what you are loading onto,instead of increasing the distance with a radial lift, but I think if you are loading on the average trailer it would not be much difference. now if you are loading on a straight truck with log racks that would be a different story. and if you stay around 55 to 75 hp ,you will be in the 1 ton range of lift, just stay away from any unit that has to have DEF, thats over 75 hp usally. I have read that people prefer tires in snow over tracks, you need to do your own research on that and make your choice.

 

[Gearclash]

Hello,

I'm hoping to pick the brains of you more experienced skidsteer guys. I'm looking for a skidsteer, preferably a CTL or MTL, for home use. My background with skidsteers is pretty limited. I used my grandpa's old Melroe 600 a bit growing up, and I've been using S205 and T590 rental machines from the local hardware store. Between the two, I greatly prefer tracks to minimize damage to the road surface, and I'm a fan of pilot controls over hand/foot. I'm not sure what year emissions control features came into play at the 60-75hp range, but I'd prefer to find something pre-emissions.

I'm looking for a machine to do snow removal, lift logs onto a sawmill, and be able to handle odd chores like spreading new gravel. I live on five rocky and heavily timbered acres in NE Minnesota, so most of the machines time would be spent on the gravel driveway/road/mill pad. I have room to park a machine in the garage but the door height is a bit over 6'6". The rental T590 actually fit in just fine. I think I'd need a machine capable of lifting around 1,800# at the heaviest, but more often around 700-1000#. There aren't really trees heavier than white pine up here.

I've seen a few CAT 247Bs and 247B2/3s for sale in the area. Would this be a good option for a lighter use, home-owner machine? My concern is the lifting capacity is pretty much at my heaviest requirements. Can these machines be pushed to lift that much occasionally? Does the radial lift of a 247B make loading logs challenging?

I'm also looking at T190s and T590s. They would lift more, but the CTL undercarriage seems a bit rougher and leaves more impact.

Thanks for your help!

If it wasn't for your low shed height for storage I would say go look at a compact wheel loader. Much better choice than a skidsteer in many but not all ways.

I an not a fan of vertical lift systems. More moving parts to maintain and replace when the time comes, and they make operating at tip over loads very dangerous. A radial arm machine is more prone to tip at mid lift, which give you half a chance to crash dive the arms and save yourself. Verticals are more prone to tip at full lift. At that point you are committed and are going to be staring at the dirt from your seat when the ground catches you.

Tires are not all that damaging to terrain if you use them carefully. Lot less maintenance ($$$$) than tracks.

Load weight ratings on any half modern skid steer are approximately half of tipping load. An 1800 lb rated machine *should* be able to move upwards of 3000 lb, but probably not safely at all through the full lift range.

 

[tmurch11]

as far as between verticle lift and radial lift, verticle will allow you to lift higher and still stay the same distance to what you are loading onto,instead of increasing the distance with a radial lift, but I think if you are loading on the average trailer it would not be much difference. now if you are loading on a straight truck with log racks that would be a different story. and if you stay around 55 to 75 hp ,you will be in the 1 ton range of lift, just stay away from any unit that has to have DEF, thats over 75 hp usally. I have read that people prefer tires in snow over tracks, you need to do your own research on that and make your choice.

I probably haven't operated either style enough to have a preference, so that's good feedback. I can't imagine loading anything other than a waist height log deck or regular trailer.

Definitely avoiding DEF!

 

[tmurch11]

If it wasn't for your low shed height for storage I would say go look at a compact wheel loader. Much better choice than a skidsteer in many but not all ways.

I an not a fan of vertical lift systems. More moving parts to maintain and replace when the time comes, and they make operating at tip over loads very dangerous. A radial arm machine is more prone to tip at mid lift, which give you half a chance to crash dive the arms and save yourself. Verticals are more prone to tip at full lift. At that point you are committed and are going to be staring at the dirt from your seat when the ground catches you.

Tires are not all that damaging to terrain if you use them carefully. Lot less maintenance ($$$$) than tracks.

Load weight ratings on any half modern skid steer are approximately half of tipping load. An 1800 lb rated machine *should* be able to move upwards of 3000 lb, but probably not safely at all through the full lift range.

I'm learning more about listed lifting capacities... it's not as cut and dried as I thought. I'd say the bulk of my lifting would be in the 1,00- 1,500# range with occasional needs a bit over 2,000#.

Tires would certainly be simpler! My main concern is damaging the driveway and mill pad surfaces with all the back and forth traffic. I've heard that tracks, specifically MTL setups, are quite expensive. Does that play out in a homeowner situation where use is a few dozen hours a year at most? What's a reasonable expectation of track life?

 

[Gearclash]

My main concern is damaging the driveway and mill pad surfaces with all the back and forth traffic.

It is turning that does damage with skid steering machines. Tires will tear. So will tracks, especially on loose surfaces. The key is to use gentle radius turns. This is not a hard habit to get into. On surfaces where damage is a concern, treat the skid steer as though it had a steering axle. put some radius to the turn, use multi-point turns etc. I will also point out that a skid steer that is near tip over load will not tear so bad.

Regarding lifting rating -- be aware that there is a point ahead of the attachment pivot that the rating is figured at. The farther out the load is from that point, the quicker the machine will tip. I see this when I try to pick up pallets of net wrap. A 16 roll pallet that is 4 rolls wide by 4 rolls high is easier to handle than a pallet of 15 rolls that is 5 wide by 3 high.