Skidder or Tractor? If you could only have one.

[TORQUIN]

For me, a tractor is more versatile. I can use 3 pt attachments on the rear while still having the 4n1 bucket on the front. While a skid steer has much more lifting power and larger hydraulic flow, I don't need those things as often as I need the things a tractor can do. For example, carrying a load of dirt in the bucket and grading it after you dump it. You can do this with a tractor without having to stop and change attachments. It all comes down to your needs.
I do have a skid steer adapter on the front to allow me quick changes of bucket/forks, grapple, etc., and that is wonderful.

My buddy bought a tractor and a skid steer at about the same time a few years ago. He sold the skid steer last year because he didn't need it as much as the tractor.

Chris

 

[Fields_mj]

Only made it to through the first 3 pages. As some others have said, it depends on the chores you need it for. Hay work or tillage, tractor all the way. Lifting heavy loads, moving a lot of material quickly and/or placing it precisely, maneuvering in tight spots, or operating on soft ground then the winner would be a skid steer. For me personally, a tractor does fine. I'm skidding logs, running a bush hog, plowing snow, and doing some general purpose loader work. If I put 25 hours on it a year, then I used it a lot that year so I'd rather have $10K-$20k sitting and waiting to get used than $20k-$60K.

An older friend of mine owns about 120 acres locally. Its mostly wooded with 2 small fields that he normally lets a local farmer use for hay. 30 years ago he was still running cattle on it, but about 20 years ago he built several firing ranges on it and made a business out of that. He had bought used 25hp Satoh back in the early 80s and used it for everything including building his house. When he started adding more firing ranges, he got a steel of a deal on a nice skid steer. I'm not sure he's even started the Satoh in the past decade. It's much better for digging into hill sides, moving large quantities of stone, ect. I've also done some volunteer disaster relieve work after tornadoes have gone through. A tractor with a grapple is useful, but a tracked loader with a grapple will run circles around it, and will do so on soft ground where you'd seat a tractor on its frame, and on hill sides that would roll a tractor. Most construction work is also better suited for a skid steer. The each have their place.

 

[RidgeTopWVA]

I have a firewood business and I havea Fransgard skidder that I keep on my JD 4400 they make some big ones for the bigger tractors about the only time I take mine off is when I use the brush hog , it is a good counter weight when lifting logs with my 4 in 1 bucket.

 

[dalehalifax]

G'mornin.
I get asked when I will buy a skidder, usually by skidder folk. I say never and that I don't need one cuz of my tractor w/FEL and they look confused. Or wounded?
While I realize that seeing the cutting edge would be a huge advantage, I feel that a tractor is far better for rural living.
Your opinions??

Skidder

Skid Steer

Which one are we talking about?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

My skidsteer would never have been able to pull this load through a deep mud hole coming out of the woods like I have to do at times,

OR through deep sand like I had to do today, no problem at all with my tractor though.

SR

 

[ning]

In my tractor buying journey I started thinking a skidsteer was the ideal machine for a number of reasons outlined in this thread.

All it took was driving one down a small incline on my land to disabuse me of that opinion - I didn't even have a load in the bucket and wasn't going fast and it wanted to roll.

I can definitely see their uses, and no doubt the tracked units are more stable, but those tracks bump up operating cost quite a bit and given that half of my property is hilly and rocky it seemed that in my case, a tractor was by far the better choice.

For the op, the only answer I can give is: "it depends".

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I do one kind of work with my tractors and another with my skid steer, they both have their place and are as a whole polar opposite.The places I put this skid steer I would never put my tractors.

 

[just_Dave]

each machine has its strengths and weakness and those very in the application they are used in. moving dirt around a house with 6 feet clearance skidsteer would run circles around a TLB all day long. On a farm towing a trailer full of dirt that you just loaded up TLB is great at towing ok at loading but would say its better then a skid steer.
But like every tool thier are sub versions tires or rubber tracks on a skid steer are epic different machines yet basicall called the same thing but ability is different.
my old track skidsteer could lift 2 ecology blocks not something a FEL is going to do until it's a much bigger machine.

so one machine... depends on the application and needs to do.

 

[just_Dave]

In my tractor buying journey I started thinking a skidsteer was the ideal machine for a number of reasons outlined in this thread.

All it took was driving one down a small incline on my land to disabuse me of that opinion - I didn't even have a load in the bucket and wasn't going fast and it wanted to roll.

I can definitely see their uses, and no doubt the tracked units are more stable, but those tracks bump up operating cost quite a bit and given that half of my property is hilly and rocky it seemed that in my case, a tractor was by far the better choice.

For the op, the only answer I can give is: "it depends".

tire version are more stable then you feel and in some cases lifting a set of wheels up is a feature.


Track machine will go places a tractor could never go soft mud and side hills and they are way different than a tire version

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Your skidsteer's hydraulics can lift 3600 lbs, but it will tip on level ground. If your on uneven ground or try to turn it will tip with less.

Your skidsteer at rated load should be able to go everywhere your tractor at rated load can. This is what makes comparing skidsteer vs tractor loads so odd.

Had a few times the wheels on one side would tip up due to the teeter totter affect of a skidsteer. I would have to lower the boom quick until the pipes hit the ground to keep from going over, With a tractor I never had that issue.

I never brought up the tipping and inability of my skid steer to go where most everything I own can, except the low cars.

Not talking about crossing irrigation ditches, but very shallow drainage ditches. Normally I cross those diagonally, either because of approach and departure angles, but mostly to avoid risking spinning tires.

Admittedly, I haven't even tried doing it with the skid steer. Decades of four wheeling tells me it'll fail miserably. Granted, it has much shorter wheelbase than the Challenger, but about the same ground clearance - or lack thereof. And at least the Challenger has suspension. I'd try with the Challenger before doing it with the skid steer, if for no other reason that the car is guaranteed not to end up on its side.

I also feel much better about side hilling a tractor than the skid steer. Of course, that could be lack of experience (and feeling trapped), or it could be that tractors are a lot more like Jeeps.

 

[4570Man]

Your skidsteer's hydraulics can lift 3600 lbs, but it will tip on level ground. If your on uneven ground or try to turn it will tip with less. .

If you’re comparing a wheeled machine thats largely correct but a larger track machine will make easy work of lifting and carrying 3600 pounds without tipping. My SVL 90 will drive on steeper slopes than you really want to or else the load falls off the forks without tipping. I poured a 6 yard pad the other day with my concrete bucket that holds 3/4 yard with zero tipping. That 90 won’t straight up lift a lot more than my dad’s 75 will. Honestly I probably need to have the relief pressure checked but it’s way more stable than the 75 is at max load.

 

[4570Man]

I never brought up the tipping and inability of my skid steer to go where most everything I own can, except the low cars.

I also feel much better about side hilling a tractor than the skid steer. Of course, that could be lack of experience (and feeling trapped), or it could be that tractors are a lot more like Jeeps.

A tracked machine fixes both of those problems. A tracked skid steer will beat the heck out of a tractor on a hill especially if they’re carrying a load on the front. A tractor with a load on the front is inherently unstable because of the pivoting axel. A solid frame skid steer is vastly more stable with a load.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

A tracked machine fixes both of those problems. A tracked skid steer will beat the heck out of a tractor on a hill especially if they’re carrying a load on the front. A tractor with a load on the front is inherently unstable because of the pivoting axel. A solid frame skid steer is vastly more stable with a load.

I considered getting one with tracks, but since mine's basically only driven on hardpacked snow or ice with the snowblower, my thinking was that the higher contact pressure would be helpful.

Without having tried a tracked version I don't know how they'd compare, but my wheeled one with chains on the front seems almost ideal as it pivots around the front axle when turning. But it's definitely much easier to get stuck with.

Also, and aside from the extra cost, I've seen enough tracks come off at inopportune moments.

 

[4570Man]

Also, and aside from the extra cost, I've seen enough tracks come off at inopportune moments.

A track coming off will definitely make your day worse but I’ve had way more problems with tires coming off the bead than tracks coming off. Remounting a skid steer tire isn’t fun either. Foam filler will fix that that issue but it’s costly and requires downtime.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

A track coming off will definitely make your day worse but I’ve had way more problems with tires coming off the bead than tracks coming off.

Same here. But that's largely because I've never owned anything with tracks.

Reseating beads I've done hundreds of times. No biggie.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

Skid steer will do everything a tractor will do. It just costs three or four times as much to do it.
Really though, there are things the skid steer is better suited for. But the ones that always say "you should get a skid steer" are either very well off and can afford the extra cost or they can't afford to pay attention and just want you to think they have all the answers.

Many, many good points made in that post.

 

[veedub]

I have an old Case 1845c I wouldn’t give it up for anything. Well for anything other than a more modern skid steer or a tracked machine. For FEL work especially in tight areas it will run circles around a tractor. Get a load of 15 yards of gravel delivered and need to spread it on the driveway it’s a way better tool. But if you’re doing loader work on a nice lawn it’s the wrong tool.

I tend to do the rough grading of the driveway with the skid steer because it’s faster and does a better job, but I do the finish grade with the tractor and a rear blade.

But this has been said over and over in this post skid steer is better at some tasks tractor is better in others. The ground clearance is its biggest issue in my book. Comes into play in deep mud.

Where mine really shines and what I use it for than anything else is snow removal. I have 3 driveways 2 are steep and longish. One is really wide and flat. In my book you can’t beat the skid steer. I just have an old jeep plow I built a mount to a skid steer quick attach plate for. I used to run over tire metal tracks but now I just run chains. You just can’t beat the maneuverability for plowing. Heck if we get a real dump and the plow is getting over loaded I can literally turn 90degrees in the middle of the driveway and push of to the side, then just back up and keep going. With the way my driveways are set up and all the stuff and vehicles I have to work around and the places I want the snow piles to be, nothing beats the skid steer for this task.

I used to have an old 2wd tractor with a loader. An Italian articulated tractor (Pasquali). And the skid steer. Once I had the skid steer I had no use for the 2wd FEL and got rid of that. But I do like having a tractor for the versatility of 3pt hitch attachments and rear blade work.

It depends what your main tasks are. But for speedy loader work on hard ground that you can tear up a bit, you can’t compare a skid steer to a tractor with FEL. For mowing and other tasks tractor is a better tool.

 

[ttener]

That’s a tough question… I think I would trade my entire investment in the tractor with 6-7 attachments for a skid with a grapple and a bucket. Tracks for sure but I would be cursing that machine for the rest of my life watching it destroy my lawn whenever I used it around the house.

One of each would be ideal! I’ll run that by corporate today just for the exercise, but we all know what her answer is gonna be, lol.

 

[jrsavoie]

I'm on the skidsteer side.
I've been wanting a skidsteer for leveling dirt for 50 years.

 

[dannyojudd]

G'mornin.
I get asked when I will buy a skidder, usually by skidder folk. I say never and that I don't need one cuz of my tractor w/FEL and they look confused. Or wounded?
While I realize that seeing the cutting edge would be a huge advantage, I feel that a tractor is far better for rural living.
Your opinions??

Consider drive/tram time when properties are a mile or so apart. Skidders are a more specialized tool and the tractor is the crescent wrench. Skidders are smaller and specialized. Example - neighbors used tracked skidder with rotary mower/bush hog clearing very steep hillside working from bottom to top.