Utility Tractor vs. Skid Steer

[Crowmangler]

If you get a skid steer, definitely get one with tracks.

 

[DESERT ED]

As a frustrated tractor owner I say get a skid steer. 30 horse Kubota for reference.

 

[Nine Banger]

I just finished this debate in my head. Had a Kubota 37hp tractor with loader last 3.5 years. Bought a 74hp New Holland SS 6 weeks ago with plans to keep both. Sold the tractor last week. Here's why i decided to sell.

Skid Steer has QD plate to run 3pt landscape rake or blade. All you have to do is spin it around and drive foward. Same as operation in reverse with tractor. Allows me to keep both implements i use all the time on tractor. Can still use my grapple on SS. Bought a fixed heavy duty root rake blade for skid steer. No way tractor is running that thing. Got a 72" rotary tiller for SS at half the cost of tractor. (didnt have one for tractor either) Bought a 72" brush cutter that will whack 4" trees with no problem. All these implements allow me to scrape driveway, remove leaves from food plots or atv trail. Clear briars and saplings up to 4" . Dig most any roots , the tractor wont do it. Tooth bucket on SS will do 4-5 times what the tractor would. I can till my plots now. Also, I use the Skid Steer to maintain my backyard MX track as well. Does it all. It is hard on grass though. It will dig it up with treads. You wont be doing any finish mowing with SS.

Hi, do you have any photos of the rake and tiller set up?

I've pondered those attachments for SS/CTL but worried about pushing those implements and bending them or smashing the work as I go and making a mess.

I also ponder dumping the track loader and getting a skid steer because the tracks tear up the grass.

I don't have anything to offer the OP for cramming all the tasks into one machine, I have done the exact opposite and wish I had a tractor for every implement ready to go too.

I also tend to question trying to do things with smaller machines, I think bigger is better until you can't fit it in the work area. I wish I had all the hours back I spent on a 33hp tractor now that I have a 100hp tractor.

If you can only have 2 machines, I think a real loader with skids or tracks and a real excavator are 1000 times better than a TLB and I attribute their popularity mostly to marketing and 0% financing.

Tractors sit in the barn when you have all the other toys and excel at nothing but planting and dragging.

I use my loader as a fork lift a lot too.

 

[IDShane]

I have worked in the Heavy equipment industry for close to 20 years and have also worked for a ag dealer. I pretty much steer guys towards tractors for home owner / land owner duties. I owned a pretty good sized property back in Wisconsin and always would try to talk myself into a skidsteer but they really do not replace the 3-point and PTO. I have had tractors, skid steers, a dozer and a full size excavator in my time on that property and if I only had to do it with 1 machine it would be a 50hp + tractor. That's my 2 cents.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

As a frustrated tractor owner I say get a skid steer. 30 horse Kubota for reference.

That’s why,30 hp is worthless,50 is were you can start getting something done.

 

[jorswift]

So I found an older JD2240 with FEL and 4x4 or front wheel assist. I believe it to be a 50+hp tractor. My father-in-law has a bobcat 763, which told me I can borrow/use anytime I need/want. So may off load the JD4300 for the older JD and just borrow the SS when needed.

 

[Roan444]

So I found an older JD2240 with FEL and 4x4 or front wheel assist. I believe it to be a 50+hp tractor. My father-in-law has a bobcat 763, which told me I can borrow/use anytime I need/want. So may off load the JD4300 for the older JD and just borrow the SS when needed.

That sounds like an ideal solution.

I had the opposite decision to make a couple of years ago.... Own a Bobcat S205 and considered trading it for a 40-50hp loader tractor for the pto and 3 point for all the same chores you mentioned in your first post.

Decided against that for all the same reasons many have already mentioned, maneuverability, lift capacity and so on.

Also budget minded, I patiently watched FB Marketplace and found an affordable Ford 3000 that covers all the chores that require the pto and 3pt.

Can't imagine life on my place w/o the skidsteer at this point.

 

[KHNC]

Hi, do you have any photos of the rake and tiller set up?

I've pondered those attachments for SS/CTL but worried about pushing those implements and bending them or smashing the work as I go and making a mess.

I also ponder dumping the track loader and getting a skid steer because the tracks tear up the grass.

I don't have anything to offer the OP for cramming all the tasks into one machine, I have done the exact opposite and wish I had a tractor for every implement ready to go too.

I also tend to question trying to do things with smaller machines, I think bigger is better until you can't fit it in the work area. I wish I had all the hours back I spent on a 33hp tractor now that I have a 100hp tractor.

If you can only have 2 machines, I think a real loader with skids or tracks and a real excavator are 1000 times better than a TLB and I attribute their popularity mostly to marketing and 0% financing.

Tractors sit in the barn when you have all the other toys and excel at nothing but planting and dragging.

I use my loader as a fork lift a lot too.

I havent taken any pics of the rake or tiller yet. Ill take some over the weekend and post them next week. No way you will bend heavy duty rake by pushing, but i would say it could happen with the landscape rake. Have not used the LR on the Skid STeer yet. As for tearing up grass, the wheels are worse than tracks for that. I would love to have a track machine, but it was way to expensive for me. I had to stay under 25k. Found a 2015 with 1120 hours for 20k. Spent a 1000 on new tires. Got oversize 14x17's on it. Helps it float and not get stuck. Its 9000lb machine with a bucket attached. I have rebuilt my MX track with it, so far thats been my biggest project besides brush cutting.

 

[Nine Banger]

I havent taken any pics of the rake or tiller yet. Ill take some over the weekend and post them next week. No way you will bend heavy duty rake by pushing, but i would say it could happen with the landscape rake. Have not used the LR on the Skid STeer yet. As for tearing up grass, the wheels are worse than tracks for that. I would love to have a track machine, but it was way to expensive for me. I had to stay under 25k. Found a 2015 with 1120 hours for 20k. Spent a 1000 on new tires. Got oversize 14x17's on it. Helps it float and not get stuck. Its 9000lb machine with a bucket attached. I have rebuilt my MX track with it, so far thats been my biggest project besides brush cutting.

OK, good to know, I wondered about the tires helping or hurting, mostly about spending a bunch of money switching and then getting stuck all the time...

Thanks for being willing to take those pics, can't wait to see it.

 

[Billy Goat]

You do have to be careful, but you need the tractor to work the foodplot, so the assumption would be you have already cleared a trail for the tractor to fit through or the food plot wouldn't be there. But if you get a bigger tractor, chainsaws and pole saws can open up a trail mighty quick.... Or....

I got a guy with a 200 HP skid steer with metal tracks and a mulcher attachment. He will run that thing from sun up to sun down (in the summer) for $1,200/day. You want to talk about stuff getting done, I mean this thing is a beast

View attachment 645424

That's not a skid steer, that's a dedicated track mulcher.

And the price is insane. They are 3 times that here for a day.



Personally for me if I'm only going to have one, it's going to be a tractor.
Fortunately I get to have both.

Op needs to decide exactly what he wants to be able to do. I think a brush Cutter on a SS kinda sucks except for small areas, but if you aren't talking about but a few acres it's fine assuming the cooling system is up to it.

 

[Donjuan]

It might also depend on your weather and soil type. If you have a lot of mud a skidloader is useless without tracks. However mud and snow can freeze in the tracks and render them useless. If you do a lot of mowing I wouldn't want to sit in a skidloader for that.

I was in your shoes and have a 60 horse tractor and don't regret it

 

[Nine Banger]

I have a tree cutter for our high flow machine and its great. I can do a field with grass if I have to, but I usually do that with a tractor. Where the front mounted setup shines is making trails in tight quarters and cutting brush around edges, basically anywhere you would use reverse if you were using a tractor.

The reason I wanted to post this is to emphasize that mulching is overrated. I think most property owners would be better off with one of these brush/tree cutters and then spraying the sprouts with herbicide a few weeks later and letting the stumps rot. The only reason you really need to go thru all the expense of mulching is if you want to plant crops or turf grass right away.

 

[Tenstrike]

One thing I have not seen mentioned is loader height, I was frustrated more than once by the limited loaded height with my 763, with my tractor I can load or unload off a higher trailer with little problem. Also my 763 could lift about 1800 lbs. if you go with a tractor in the 70+ horse range you will have a heavier lift capacity than an older 50ish horsepower skid steer.

 

[onlybrowning]

Man, I’d love to have both. Since I don’t, I have a cab tractor. It’s good at most things, but only great at some. Those front mount skid steer attachments are slick.


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