Front end loader
Skid Steer - $15k budget - what to buy
- Thread starter snowpromod
- Start date
NWOhioChevyGuy
Well-known member
Front End Loader = FEL
PackagingSea
Member
Well now in 2025, $15k isn’t going to grab you much unless you’re okay with older models or something that needs a bit of work. You can still find solid machines from the 2000s, maybe an older Bobcat or Case with some hours on it, but if it’s been maintained, it’ll still move dirt.
Once you’ve got your hands on one, you can build it out as needed. FYREBX has attachments made for skid steers if you ever need to get into fire mitigation or rough terrain brush work
Once you’ve got your hands on one, you can build it out as needed. FYREBX has attachments made for skid steers if you ever need to get into fire mitigation or rough terrain brush work
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jrsavoie
Well-known member
Do you have a good source for the marine connectors?
Older, pre-emission models are the best.
In late 2021, I picked up a 2001 Case 75XT from a dealer. Same dealer that sold it new, to one owner who traded it back in. 981hrs on it. Paid $18,500. Cummins 4B engine, and joystick controls (mechanical) are nice. I've ran Bobcats and Deere's in the past with foot controls, and it's so much nicer, easier, and relaxing to run hand controls only. My leg muscles were jello at the end of the day with foot controls...and I was a frequent ATV/dirtbike rider, so my legs weren't weak.
The Case XT's have very small cabs though, which is a negative.
finn
Well-known member
Update 7 1/2 years later:
I ended up buying a CTL to supplement the CUT. The front snow blower on a CUT is fantastic for snow removal, and over the season is about as fast as a plow on a truck, considering that in our area, you have to plow a large area to store snow early in the year so you can make it through the winter and still have some room at the end of the season. (320+ inches this year), The blower lets you avoid clearing this snow storage area, plus you can clear right up to buildings without damaging them.
The tractor accessory implements like rakes, box blades, rotary cutters, and flail mowers are relatively inexpensive compared to skid accessories.
However, I found that the tractor was useless in soft, wet ground. I ended up buying a CTL for that work, and am happy, less the difficulty of entry and egress as I age, and the fact that the door won’t open with the arms raised. The JCB side door would be ideal, although those machines are rare in my area.
We no longer winter in the UP, so I’m considering downsizing and selling one of the machines. I really hate doing fork work with the tractor because of poor forward visibility, and somewhat jerky loader operation, compared to the more sophisticated hydraulics of the CTL, and appreciate the larger bucket and higher lift capabilities of the CTL, a Case TT310. On the other hand, the flail mower is probably my most used attachment on the tractor, and as I mentioned, skid steer / CTL attachments are pricey.
As far as tearing up the yard, I think the tracked machine does less damage than my old wheeled Deere skid steer, despite the fact that it’s much heavier. There is a learning curve, though, to minimize damage. The tractor overall is more yard friendly but, as mentioned , was hopeless in soft situations. I did use the equipment to fix the drainage issues, so that’s no longer of immediate concern.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Any brand of "weather pack" connector is good. Probably not perfectly waterproof (like submerged).
Personally, I use uninsulated connectors (TE Solistrand) and dual wall/marine heat shrink. Good uninsulated connectors are copper coated with solder.
finn
Well-known member
And don’t rely on the generic imported connectors found on Amazon. They’re sold under multiple brands, and of very light duty materials compared to more expensive but better constructed name brands.
bulletpruf
Well-known member
Bumping an old thread. Some good info here.
Dagny
Well-known member
2 years ago I bought a kubota svl 65 track loader it will push a mountain of snow. I am really surprised so many comments hate the tracks.
Plowed now for years with a Farmall H with a trip bucket so maybe there are other factors.
Plowed now for years with a Farmall H with a trip bucket so maybe there are other factors.
How are the Gehl's wheeled loaders? 2018, 923 hours.
2018 Gehl r150
$18,000finn
Well-known member
This thread is almost ten years old now, so those machines recommended when it was started are now 20 years old or more.
I would dismiss those earlier recommendations.
I traded off my ten year old, at the time, Deere 240 ten years ago, prior to the massive price jump concurrent with COVID. I paid $ 10 k ten years prior when it had 750 hours, sold it after about 10 years, at around 1250 hours, for the same amount and felt good. Two years later similar machines were going for double what I let mine go for, so timing was everything.
My new machine was a tracked Case TR310, with a conditioned cab.
The old wheeled machine was terrible on packed snow and ice, and deep sand. Peers said dedicated snow tires, preferably studded, make a big difference.
I’ve never tried the tracked machine on snow and ice, but people around here prefer wheeled machines for the reasons given. We’re snowbirds now, so no need to move snow, except perhaps when the spring thaw is underway, and it does fine then, since the ground is starting to to thaw.
The tracked machine is exceptional in deep sand though. The joystick is a marked improvement over the non pilot foot controls, but that’s progress that is expected with the passage of time.
One thing to consider is appropriate size for your use, including storage. My old machine fit through a regular garage door, and was short, so it worked well for me. It really needed a ballast kit to make best use of the hydraulics. I could tow it on a 7 k car trailer, though with little margin.
The new machine weighs 8800 lb bare and needs a tall door to enter the building. Fortunately I have tall doors now at the shop where I keep it. I had to buy a new to me trailer, though.
Be careful of opinions, solicited or not, given on the internet. Just like tool or car brands, there’s a vocal group that will tell you that every brand that's out there, except the one they own, is junk. They make a lot of noise, but are usually incorrect, and talking through their hat. That’s to be expexted, given that it is the internet, though, and I’m not saying I am immune..
I would dismiss those earlier recommendations.
I traded off my ten year old, at the time, Deere 240 ten years ago, prior to the massive price jump concurrent with COVID. I paid $ 10 k ten years prior when it had 750 hours, sold it after about 10 years, at around 1250 hours, for the same amount and felt good. Two years later similar machines were going for double what I let mine go for, so timing was everything.
My new machine was a tracked Case TR310, with a conditioned cab.
The old wheeled machine was terrible on packed snow and ice, and deep sand. Peers said dedicated snow tires, preferably studded, make a big difference.
I’ve never tried the tracked machine on snow and ice, but people around here prefer wheeled machines for the reasons given. We’re snowbirds now, so no need to move snow, except perhaps when the spring thaw is underway, and it does fine then, since the ground is starting to to thaw.
The tracked machine is exceptional in deep sand though. The joystick is a marked improvement over the non pilot foot controls, but that’s progress that is expected with the passage of time.
One thing to consider is appropriate size for your use, including storage. My old machine fit through a regular garage door, and was short, so it worked well for me. It really needed a ballast kit to make best use of the hydraulics. I could tow it on a 7 k car trailer, though with little margin.
The new machine weighs 8800 lb bare and needs a tall door to enter the building. Fortunately I have tall doors now at the shop where I keep it. I had to buy a new to me trailer, though.
Be careful of opinions, solicited or not, given on the internet. Just like tool or car brands, there’s a vocal group that will tell you that every brand that's out there, except the one they own, is junk. They make a lot of noise, but are usually incorrect, and talking through their hat. That’s to be expexted, given that it is the internet, though, and I’m not saying I am immune..
finn
Well-known member
Front End Loader.
finn
Well-known member
I bought a CUT with a 66” snow blower to replace the Skid steer and plow trucks.
The blower is far superior to the plow trucks, as I was constantly running out of room to stack snow. It would take me an inordinate amount of time and space to clear enough snow in early winter to still have the room to put it by the end of the year. A bucket on a tractor would be overwhelmed quickly. In the end, the front mounted snowblower takes a lot less time over the season than a fel, or a plow trucks, in my house yard and at the shop.
Plus, i do’t end up with driveway gravel all across the lawn, or what passes for a lawn.
I did find the skid steer useful for moving the banks left by the county at the road, in the spring when the blacktop emerged.
The tractor was as useless in the sand and mud as the wheeled skid steer. That’s where my tracked loader came into the picture.
Different machines with different capabilities. Not one is perfect.
My biggest issues with the CTL are difficulty entering and exiting as I age, and I can’t readily open the door with the boom partially up. Some models have doors that slide up to the roof, but they’re rattle traps, and that door robs headroom.
manwithtools
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Depends on the machine. My Kubota with a flip up door does not rattle and unless your 6'6" or more there is plenty of head room.
purplezr2
Well-known member
Looks like I made this comment several years ago, after 4 years of owning a CTL I have yet to blow a hose. I stand by what I said.
jrsavoie
Well-known member
Where do you get your heat shrink
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
eBay
jrsavoie
Well-known member
Any particular seller?
I bought a bunch, several/ many years ago.
I had trouble finding what I was looking the last time I was looking
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Last batch was from Heat Shrink Buddy.
jrsavoie
Well-known member
Thank you