Just bought a M610 (my 1st skidsteer) Having fun so far

[bwade]

Talking to a friend a few weeks ago and mentioned that I always thought a Bobcat would be a handy critter to have. Turns out his brother had a M610 for sale and it's now sitting in my barn. Starts and runs fine but has what I believe to be some minor issues. Changed a couple of bad hoses and rebuilt a tilt cylinder so far. Made a new latch on the bob-tack to keep bucket locked in place. Have been moving a little rock and dirt, mostly to learn how to drive it. Got a service manual for Christmas and adjusted the clutches a little but may need discs. Not sure how to tell without actually taking off side plates and checking it all out. Used to driving higher speed/torque machines like ATV's so not sure how much to expect from this thing. Doesn't seem to have a lot of torque when trying to turn. Thoughts ?

 

[Wayne440]

The 610 is about 30 horsepower and weighs close to 2 tons. And when you turn, it is (usually) skidding all 4 tires, which will absorb much of that horsepower. The surface you are on will make a difference, some are easier to "skid" on than others. My advice- expect it to be much better for moving material than a rake and shovel- but it is going to labor considerably more than a 70 horsepower hydrostatic machine. It is an older, reasonably simple to work on machine- you will soon wonder how you got along without it.

 

[bwade]

The 610 is about 30 horsepower and weighs close to 2 tons. And when you turn, it is (usually) skidding all 4 tires, which will absorb much of that horsepower. The surface you are on will make a difference, some are easier to "skid" on than others. My advice- expect it to be much better for moving material than a rake and shovel- but it is going to labor considerably more than a 70 horsepower hydrostatic machine. It is an older, reasonably simple to work on machine- you will soon wonder how you got along without it.

They have always fascinated me but don't need one bad enough to spend thousands. Couldn't pass this one up. I've already done enough with it that I'm coming up with more projects to add to it's work schedule. Adjusting the clutches slightly made a big difference but reading through the service manual and looking at parts diagrams one can quickly see that they could be over adjusted and cause more harm than good. Will work with it some more before busting open the rib cages to have a look.

 

[flyerdan]

They have always fascinated me but don't need one bad enough to spend thousands. Couldn't pass this one up. I've already done enough with it that I'm coming up with more projects to add to it's work schedule. Adjusting the clutches slightly made a big difference but reading through the service manual and looking at parts diagrams one can quickly see that they could be over adjusted and cause more harm than good. Will work with it some more before busting open the rib cages to have a look.

If you haven't found it already, there is a very active facebook group, Melroe Bobcat Owners of America , that deals quite extensively with the old clutch machines.
You might scroll through there for info, and if you have specific questions, several people have the same machine so probably have been there/done that.