First time buyer

[shane12345]

Hey guys

I am in the market for a skidsteer. I have a number of projects around my house that involve leveling some land, amongst other things. First use is going to be my backyard area, where I fell a number of small trees and now it needed to be leveled and fill brought in to raise it some. I travelled to purchase a case 1816 from a family friend that was just repowered, to do a number of smaller task, however he sold it prior to my arrival....now I am looking at some larger machines.

I am looking to spend in the 10 grand CAD area, and am finding there is not a large selection. I attached the small amount of machines I have located within a reasonable distance , and looking for Pros and cons on each and what to watch for when purchasing. I attached pictures of any description the seller provided, minus the john deere 575, as I could only attach 10 photos. The description on the John deere 575 only says that it is a 1993, with about 2000 hours, just had fluids changed and paint job.

The usage is for just personal use around my property, with the possibility of small jobs for others when I am on days off from my regular job.

These are all sort of spread out, so would be helpful to know what ones to knock off the visit list right off the bat as well.

Thanks,

Shane

 

[shane12345]

Bump..

 

[mrbb]

10 grand is going to be hard to find a good condition skid steer in today's over priced world were in

things I suggest looking at when viewing things is, how well things seemed to have been cared for, grease fitting, are they greased or do they seem like they haven;t been greased in a while ?

NEW paint, many times is done to pretty up a machine and or HIDE damages

My suggestion is, if you have any friends with a lot of seat time in skid steers is to bring them along when looking at machines



next is, keep in mind what brands have dealerships near you, service and getting parts will be a perk if you have local support over always having to order things online or travel far!

so maybe stick to brand near you!

look at as many hoses as you can for rubbing thu wear they make contact with each other as well as look for any that are leaking, , look under machine for fluid dripping or signs it was!



from my experience, many folks change fluids before selling, to make it look like they cared for it more than maybe they did

OR just replace a filter and write a new date on it and CLAIM fluids were changed!

when i Buy new used equipment, first thing I do is REPLACE all fluids and filters, so I KNOW They were done and done right



found far too many sellers that lied claiming they did so,, when they really didn;t,

to not do so anymore!

lots of scammers out there



if buying any Bob cat machines, have a local dealer run there Vin for you, they track stolen machines and will NOT sell you parts if its reported stolen some where!

as for models, < honestly it comes down to condition and how they were used or abused IMO< more than saying look for "X" make/model!

just make sure what ever models you look at are capable of what you want to do with it!

wider longer wheel based models handle side hills and slopes better IMO

some food for thought for you , best of luck!

 

[shane12345]

10 grand is going to be hard to find a good condition skid steer in today's over priced world were in

things I suggest looking at when viewing things is, how well things seemed to have been cared for, grease fitting, are they greased or do they seem like they haven;t been greased in a while ?

NEW paint, many times is done to pretty up a machine and or HIDE damages

My suggestion is, if you have any friends with a lot of seat time in skid steers is to bring them along when looking at machines



next is, keep in mind what brands have dealerships near you, service and getting parts will be a perk if you have local support over always having to order things online or travel far!

so maybe stick to brand near you!

look at as many hoses as you can for rubbing thu wear they make contact with each other as well as look for any that are leaking, , look under machine for fluid dripping or signs it was!



from my experience, many folks change fluids before selling, to make it look like they cared for it more than maybe they did

OR just replace a filter and write a new date on it and CLAIM fluids were changed!

when i Buy new used equipment, first thing I do is REPLACE all fluids and filters, so I KNOW They were done and done right



found far too many sellers that lied claiming they did so,, when they really didn;t,

to not do so anymore!

lots of scammers out there



if buying any Bob cat machines, have a local dealer run there Vin for you, they track stolen machines and will NOT sell you parts if its reported stolen some where!

as for models, < honestly it comes down to condition and how they were used or abused IMO< more than saying look for "X" make/model!

just make sure what ever models you look at are capable of what you want to do with it!

wider longer wheel based models handle side hills and slopes better IMO

some food for thought for you , best of luck!

Thanks for the reply. I am hoping to be able to check out the john deere 575 today. It has been repainted. I spoke with the owner over email, and he had said he had it for a year, bought from supposedly the original farmer owner. He told me there are no leaks, and he repainted it to attract more attention to it to sell.

 

[mrbb]

make sure that has the standard modern set for quick attach, as some of them older one's had a odd outdated set up, that modern attachments won't work on it, making for a harder to find attachments for and well, it will be harder to sell,a s few want the older set up's

 

[Fabricator]

MRBB does a good job of covering the physical bases. I'd totally agree that having a local dealer available for parts (and questions!) is invaluable. They're also likely to know the machine in question and could possibly give insight into its value.

A quick attach (over pins or other) also has a big value in that then you can rent attachments as needed - auger to put in a fence or plant trees, trencher for utility lines, soil conditioner for a new lawn, etc. Along with the quick attach, having auxiliary hydraulics also widens your possibilities. You mention side jobs so even if you don't need to put in utility lines, having the ability to run a trencher to put in someone else's utility lines is a bonus. Rent the trencher, mark up your rental cost, add in your hours and overhead, and there you go. If you find yourself doing a lot of that, then start looking at buying a trencher if you can keep earning money with it.

Also, look up the specs on each model on the company's website. I know Bobcat has historical specs for all models. Write down the basics - horsepower, weight, operating capacity, dimensions, and so forth - so that you can begin to compare apples to apples. Two loaders you're comparing might be a few thousand different in price, but that extra money could be getting you extra capacity, extra features, or be in better shape. Start to assess those things.