Hello everyone. I'm looking at replacing my current tractor (LS XR4145) with a new Kubota, likely an M4 or M7060. I need something more reliable but I really need to step up in HP. 45hp and 38 to the PTO doesn't cut it (literally) when my pasture is tall and wet in spring, hence the M4 or 7060. However a friend and my son both suggested I consider a skid steer instead. I have 30 acres, mow about 18 of that two to three times a year (less when my hay guy actually shows up) and have a half mile long gravel drive that I maintain. If I had to put a percentage on my usage it would be 50% driveway maintenance, 25% mowing/brush hogging and 25% grapple work (with some occasional dirt/gravel work). I use the grapple for moving all kinds of stuff and for tree removal/clearing and keeping the trails clean in my 10 acres of heavy woods. I love working with a skid loader, I'm just not sure it's the best all around tool for my place. I know skid loaders are great for clearing land, but has anyone here used a skid loader to mow a pasture and occasionally do some brush hog work? Most importantly, used one with a land leveler/grader to maintain a driveway? Appreciate your input.
Skid Loader vs Tractor
- Thread starter EastTX
- Start date
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
A skid steer will be slow on the driveway, and Slow & BUMPY in the brush hog area if it's not smooth ... A tracked one might be slightly better, but you will be shook to death by the time you get done mowing that much ... For grapple work, the Skid Steer wins ...
NCL4701
Well-known member
Equipment
L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
Personally, I would not want to routinely mow any significant acreage with a skid steer, tracked or wheel. Yeah, they’re good at clearing with a heavy bush hog. Mowing an already cleared area, they tear up the ground, are slow, and translate every bump and hole to your tail bone. I’d go with the tractor option. YMMV.
Sounds like you have experience running both skid steer and tractor. You know your uses and needs better than your friends and family. If you think about it, you probably know better what you need than anyone else (even some random dude on the internet). No one understands your needs better than you.
I got a setup for my place that was, if not ideal, dang close to ideal. I solicited a lot of opinions and if I’d gone with them, I would have gotten an undersized, under featured tractor with insufficient attachments. Or a CTL one of my friends was lobbying hard for, in hindsight I think because he wanted to borrow it.
Sounds like you have experience running both skid steer and tractor. You know your uses and needs better than your friends and family. If you think about it, you probably know better what you need than anyone else (even some random dude on the internet). No one understands your needs better than you.
I got a setup for my place that was, if not ideal, dang close to ideal. I solicited a lot of opinions and if I’d gone with them, I would have gotten an undersized, under featured tractor with insufficient attachments. Or a CTL one of my friends was lobbying hard for, in hindsight I think because he wanted to borrow it.
For the driveway , clearing land and grapple work the track loader.
For mowing the tractor would work best.
I dont know what kind of grass you have there where a 45Hp
tractor cant cut it. Maybe there is a problem with your cutter.
For mowing the tractor would work best.
I dont know what kind of grass you have there where a 45Hp
tractor cant cut it. Maybe there is a problem with your cutter.
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I'm not a skid steer expert, but from what I understand, the advantage is on lift capacity and flow rate for front mount implements.
Those don't seem like a big deal for the size of tractor you are considering. Tractors have the capability of running a wide bat wing mower and basically any other implement like a grader/scraper. I'd go that route.
Fwiw, my relatively little L2501HST does what I need to do. The models you are considering should be great.
Those don't seem like a big deal for the size of tractor you are considering. Tractors have the capability of running a wide bat wing mower and basically any other implement like a grader/scraper. I'd go that route.
Fwiw, my relatively little L2501HST does what I need to do. The models you are considering should be great.
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
Get a big ol' M series.
Then pave your driveway for less than the cost of a track loader and forget about it.
But.... Who doesn't want a track loader? You could do your grapple and loader work 10x faster. 360 spin and fast. Huge hydraulic capability....
Unless you are mostly working on pavement, a track loader is what you want. Not a skid steer.
Very different animals. Since the OP had operated both he/ she would know that.
The lift and breakout capacity in the loader and hydro needs of other implements is hands down better in skid steer. Not to mention the 360 spin, speed at loader work, and working footprint.
Mowing large acreage is utility tractor work.
Unless you are working on pavement most of the time, track loader is the way to go on a skidder.
Then pave your driveway for less than the cost of a track loader and forget about it.
But.... Who doesn't want a track loader? You could do your grapple and loader work 10x faster. 360 spin and fast. Huge hydraulic capability....
Unless you are mostly working on pavement, a track loader is what you want. Not a skid steer.
Very different animals. Since the OP had operated both he/ she would know that.
The lift and breakout capacity in the loader and hydro needs of other implements is hands down better in skid steer. Not to mention the 360 spin, speed at loader work, and working footprint.
Mowing large acreage is utility tractor work.
Unless you are working on pavement most of the time, track loader is the way to go on a skidder.
It might not be 50% of the hours on the tractor but it's the most common reason for me to get on it. The drive is half a mile long and half a good bit is on a hill. Heavy rains in the spring can keep me busy.
Thanks for the input everyone. It's what I thought as well but wanted to see if maybe there was something I was missing. Now to decide between the 7060 or M4...
I have a friend with 100 acres and a few cattle. Has two tractors and a skid steer. Never uses the skid steer in a field unless dirt bucket or grapple is on, never mows with it. Skid steer is used in winter when tractor might not get through the crap/mud to feed hay!
Skid steer will obliterate that gravel driveway.
I have a little BX and hired a guy with a huge CAT skid steer to come in and clean up an acre after I went through and cut down and limbed a few juniper, beetle kill pine and a few other pines and a cedar that were damaged in a storm last winter. Picked up the trunks with the grapple like they were toothpicks and piled them up next to my wood shed and then went through the acre with a masticator and ground up all the old stumps, old rotting logs and debris on the ground and did it all in six hours. Was pretty amazing at how much power those machines have. But man, those tracks will tear up anything they roll over (especially when making turns) and would not want to use that machine regularly on a gravel driveway. I've also seen a guy pop a track on a skid steer and didn't seem like much fun trying to get it back on.
I recently rented a Vermeer stump grinder that was on skids and even that thing tore up a little brick pathway (that I was meaning to tear out anyway). Pathway was right next to the 47" stump I was grinding so no way to avoid it.
Skid steers are great for what they are, have tons of power, but never really seen any farmers or ranchers around me using them for the tasks you're wanting it for. Most of the time I see them used for land clearing and fire abatement where you want an area with trees cleared out/decimated. Plus they're freakin' expensive to maintain.
I have a little BX and hired a guy with a huge CAT skid steer to come in and clean up an acre after I went through and cut down and limbed a few juniper, beetle kill pine and a few other pines and a cedar that were damaged in a storm last winter. Picked up the trunks with the grapple like they were toothpicks and piled them up next to my wood shed and then went through the acre with a masticator and ground up all the old stumps, old rotting logs and debris on the ground and did it all in six hours. Was pretty amazing at how much power those machines have. But man, those tracks will tear up anything they roll over (especially when making turns) and would not want to use that machine regularly on a gravel driveway. I've also seen a guy pop a track on a skid steer and didn't seem like much fun trying to get it back on.
I recently rented a Vermeer stump grinder that was on skids and even that thing tore up a little brick pathway (that I was meaning to tear out anyway). Pathway was right next to the 47" stump I was grinding so no way to avoid it.
Skid steers are great for what they are, have tons of power, but never really seen any farmers or ranchers around me using them for the tasks you're wanting it for. Most of the time I see them used for land clearing and fire abatement where you want an area with trees cleared out/decimated. Plus they're freakin' expensive to maintain.
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Yeah, I've decided to go with a new tractor and maybe find an excuse to get a skid steer next year for another tax break
Being a hobbiest-landscaper (so not really qualified, but as qualified as most doing the job anyway and often moreso) the number one thing I see is improperly sharpened blades, and I can't seem to stress that enough.
Balanced, properly sharpened blades do an amazing job, and almost nobody but professional landscapers sharpen them often enough (nor properly for that matter). The average homeowner should have them sharpened about once a season, for what you're doing it's likely several times a season depending on what and how you're cutting and what type of blades you're using.
If you look at your grass a day after cutting and the edge has a fine, sharp brown line the blades are likely sufficiently sharp. If the edge of the grass look "badly beaten" or like your hand with fingers on it, the blades are beating or tearing the grass instead of cutting it, which takes much, much more power than people expect.
Balanced, properly sharpened blades do an amazing job, and almost nobody but professional landscapers sharpen them often enough (nor properly for that matter). The average homeowner should have them sharpened about once a season, for what you're doing it's likely several times a season depending on what and how you're cutting and what type of blades you're using.
If you look at your grass a day after cutting and the edge has a fine, sharp brown line the blades are likely sufficiently sharp. If the edge of the grass look "badly beaten" or like your hand with fingers on it, the blades are beating or tearing the grass instead of cutting it, which takes much, much more power than people expect.