Such a thing as too much machine.

[MARKMAC]

Hey folks, I registered here because I'm new to skid steers and have some questions.

I'm mid 40s aged and live on a acre with horses and the usual mini farm stuff. I've been using a very small 1979 Ford 1100 tractor (13hp) with a loader and blade for typical chores.

As fate would have it an axle shaft separated on my little tractor and the front right wheel went rolling down the road (see pic). I searched the whole internet and bought the last used axle on the internet to fix my obsolete tractor.

Following the repair, I told my wife I'm selling the little old Ford before a catastrophic failure renders it a lawn decoration. My wife agreed, and then promptly suggested "inheriting" her dad's Cat 262D skid steer. He passed away a few months back and she wants me to have his skid steer. It's about a 2014 model, he was the only owner, low hours, but hasn't been used in probably 4 years (he was infirm for a long time). Likely it needs a good amount of maintenance.

I was originally targeting a small utility tractor in the 30 hp range, and a weight of 3000-4000 lbs.

Father-in-law's Cat 262D is 8000 lbs. It's more than twice the machine than I need.

Furthermore, I only use my tractor 15-20 hours a year. This Cat is meant for a commercial 40 hour a week duty cycle.

Flipping my father in law's skid steer is NOT an option. If I take it, then I have to keep it, AND maintain it, etc.

Frankly, I'm more comfortable using a utility tractor (visibility), but the lift capacity air conditioning and radio in the Cat is really nice.

What would you do?

 

[mrbb]

well just my 2 cents,
I think if you can get this skid steer, I doubt you will regret it, and like most things like this, once you have it, you will find way more uses for it(and odds are so will your friends, family and neighbors, asking you to do things for them with it)
as for up keep,
honestly when you DON"T use something much, up keep is not that bad, all; the more so if your willing to learn to do the basic;'s yourself, like fluid changes, and filters
add a battery maintainer to the machine and battery life will be extended and save you many smaller issues , as more modern machine have more concerns about having good batteries when parked!
as for size and weight of machine
again odds are you will find its not that large a deal,a s long as you use your brain, and avoid driving in any place where weight can be an issue(over septic systems, or thin concrete/pavement , where weight can damage it possibly!

the advantages of a skid steer(what all it can do and the easy of adding attachments(or renting them when needed) IMO will far out weight the negative side of things

and if your getting this, for free(not sure if you are or not)

IF by any low odds you end up NOT wanting it, you can always GIFT it back to a family member I am sure and then BUY the tractor you want,
or just add a tractor to your fleet, not many folks regret adding things, hell most of us look forward to adding them, even with the down side problems doing so does(more up keep, finding places to keep things and so on)
when you live rural, over the yrs , having machines that can do work, tend to pay for themselves and be looked at investments more than hassles!
and like all things, again, you can always sell them, many times for more than you paid if you take care of them, all the more so in today's crazy ever climbing price tags on things!

so, food for thought for you

 

[MARKMAC]

Thank you for the reminder on the septic tank!!! It never occurred to me.

I do all my own repairs and maintenance. Most of my equipment doesn't get enough hours to need more than a once a year fluid/grease/filter job.

Truth be told, I do kinda like the idea of being able to engage the ground more. My current tractor will move a pile of dirt, but it doesn't have the weight or hydraulic force to bite into the ground. The skid steer will be able to build up my worn down irrigation berms with ease.

So you don't think 4 years of lot rot is is too scary? I dread bringing it home and then finding out I'm on the hook for a $5K repair. He took good care of his equipment until he was no longer physically able. But he still hung on to that equipment even when he knew he could never use it again. It was an established part of his character, greasy hands, work boots, reeking of diesel. I'll go the same way too if I have a say.

 

[mrbb]

Thank you for the reminder on the septic tank!!! It never occurred to me.

I do all my own repairs and maintenance. Most of my equipment doesn't get enough hours to need more than a once a year fluid/grease/filter job.

Truth be told, I do kinda like the idea of being able to engage the ground more. My current tractor will move a pile of dirt, but it doesn't have the weight or hydraulic force to bite into the ground. The skid steer will be able to build up my worn down irrigation berms with ease.

So you don't think 4 years of lot rot is is too scary? I dread bringing it home and then finding out I'm on the hook for a $5K repair. He took good care of his equipment until he was no longer physically able. But he still hung on to that equipment even when he knew he could never use it again. It was an established part of his character, greasy hands, work boots, reeking of diesel. I'll go the same way too if I have a say.

a machine sitting for 4 yrs is not that bad a deals, under normal circumstances,
BUT like all things there are exceptions to things, as in if it was parked in extreme
heat and direct sunlight, which I honestly doubt it was,a s if he cared for it, he would have most likely parked it some place good for the machine

I have owned and been about machines that sat for decades and were FINE to use, , YES they could have used some TLC< but they still started and ran and got used when needed and parked again(had a old 1950's Cat d 4 dozer loader that sat for 30+ yrs, used it to move a few ton of fill, into a pond dam that busted from heavy rains, about 20+ hrs worth of use, and parked it, then restarted it 10 yrs later when I sold it as an example,
NO hoses were bad/leaked, many sure looked rough though, HAHA!
my 1940's IH tractor sat for over 30 yrs, and then got regular use for food plots, again no major issues, just fresh fluids and new battery, and ran up a several hundred trouble free hours, till one tire got a hole torn in it, they were starting to dry rot at this point, but were most likely from the 60's, so time for new ones
old and parked doesn't mean BAD or a lost cause big money pit
a lot has to do with care during the use it has seen and again where parked!

Modern hoses are good for a long time, unless again parked in and exposed expresses , which few are

fluids, ? again, unless water got in them, sitting for 4 yrs not a big deal

paint, rust?
it happens, but most HD machinery like skid steers have rather robust metal to handle rust for a long time before its a big issue

then biggest concern here IMO< would be from possible mouse damage, and that can happen from being parked over night or a week or a month or yrs, it can happen any time

But normal parking of a machine for longer periods of time would not be that big a deal IMO, all the more so at just 4 yrs

If you have major fear of things, a pretty easy way to resolve the fear would be , hire a mobile heavy equipment repair guy to come and evaluate the machine, if you DON"T feel your up to doing so yourself
getting a good once over on it will tell you if you have reason to worry or not IMO
but IMO< 4 yrs parked is not a big deal at all, nor something that would make me not want it
hell, just trying to find a GOOD condition, well cared for low hour one owner machine period is HARD enough to find these days, , all the more so knowing the story behind the machine isn't BS< even harder!
SO, IMO<
this sounds more like a win to me than a worry!

 

[haymaker]

Sound advice from mrbb in my opinion.
On my small farm the first thing I bought was a Bobcat. Best purchase I ever made.
Tractors and a few skidsteers have come and gone in 33 years on the farm, but the Bobcat remains.
You will have people asking you to do things for them though. Not necessarily a bad thing if you know how to say no sometimes.

 

[MARKMAC]

Sage advise. I've learned the "Say No" part the hard way. Neighbors routinely ask me to dig holes (graves) for dead animals. My little tractor isn't heavy enough or powerful enough to dig.

I was dragging a neighbor's small tractor back to their house after their wheel fell off, when my own tractor's wheel fell off. Just like that, two tangled tractors missing wheels in the street. The neighbor felt bad, but when I looked at the fracture surface I could see the shaft had been fatigue cracking for decades and there was only a little bit of the original cross-section remaining when the crack turned into a fracture and the shaft separated. So it would've busted the next time I used it regardless.

I included a picture because I find it fascinating. I used to to failure analysis on gas turbine engine components. The smooth area is all pre-existing low cycle fatigue (LCF) crack. Likely spanning many years, a tiny crack grew microscopically as the tire made each rotation. The rough oval part off-center is stress "overload" fracture because the tiny area was all that was left carrying the load.

Back on topic, I'm leaning towards adopting the skid steer. My father-in-law was like a samurai with that thing, so I know it's very capable of precision work despite it's size.

 

[mrbb]

more advice, if you get this skid steer DON"T Buy a trailer, having one will cause even more folks to ASK you to come to there place to do free work
NOT having a trailer, helps stop that some what! HAHA!

 

[Dameon]

When I needed to invest in a "new" tractor, I knew I wanted a skid steer or track loader. The versatility is unmatched. Like the Swiss army knife of the machinery world. I started with a 743 SS. Great little machine. Got a ton of use out of it, but it lacked high flow which I wanted for mowing chores. I eventually sold it and bought an 883. More power, heavier machine. Although I preferred the ride on the tired machines, I was constantly getting stuck or rutting my yard, so I broke down and bought a T300 track loader. Another huge power increase, much heavier, but with a LOT less ground PSI. It is a wider machine (especially with 18" tracks), but it is a great machine. Too much machine? Most of the time, yes. But there are some jobs that it justified it's bulk...

The Cat 262D is a great machine. Very popular and a good "mid-size". I think you'll like it.

 

[Gearclash]

Try it out. If you like it, use it. If not, keep looking. When it comes to skid steer size I am kind of on the fence. I like my smaller skid steers, but frankly if I need something larger than my 35hp Cases I will be looking at a wheel loader (articulated) type machine. I don't care for large skid steers and I despise loader tractors. And I have a pretty nice (and large) loader tractor.

 

[foton]

if you are getting a newer machine try to stay under 75 horsepower so you have less emmission junk. like DEF.