Had an interesting experience a couple weeks ago where we had my tractor working side by side with a Bobcat clearing stumps. Good size CUT (Kubota
L4610 with loader and backhoe) had similar weight and HP to the Bobcat. Made for a great comparison of the two units.
The loaders were about the same size, but the one on the Bobcat was a 4 in 1, plus the geometry gave the 'cat more leverage... advantage - 'cat.
Actual lift capacity was about equal, but the short wheelbase of the skidsteer - a great advantage for maneuvering - worked against it with heavy lifting. We had stumps + rootballs weighing about 2,000 lbs. With one of them, the 'cat picked it up with the 4 in 1 to move it, slowly went over a tiny rut and did a full nose plant. My FEL easily picked up that and similar stumps with no instability. Advantage - Kubota.
The 'cat could aggressively attack a stump, pushing and wedging against it with maneuvering, momentum and hydraulics in a way I would never think of going after it with the tractor. Advantage - Bobcat.
The 'cat also got stuck so many times I lost count. Had to be very careful not to drop into any rut more than maybe a foot or it was time to dig back out again. Good FEL work gets you out, but definitely a skidsteer on wheels is not your friend if it's slippy or full of holes. Advantage - Kubota
Tractor had traction to easily snake 4-6-8 logs at a time. Larger tires gave more raw pulling power. Advantage - Kubota.
Bobcat changes implements in the blink of an eye. Speaking of eyes, if you could figure out how to hook one up, a broadcast spreader like I use behind the tractor would give a skidsteer operator an eyeful, a mouthful, a whole face full of whatever was being broadcast. So each unit has its own form of versatility. Advantage - we figured it's a draw on this.
But if you did figure out how to hook up a brush cutter to a Bobcat, it could be your posterior getting beat up mowing a field with it, but it won't be mine. The Bobcat is a young man's machine. You may get a lot done in a short while, but you will get bounced, thrown, jolted and bashed as you operate it. Advantage for an old fogey - tractor.
Transportability - Advantage - 'cat.
Safety - Depends on the user, but having the entry/egress right through the business end and all the hydraulics on a skidsteer is darn unforgiving of any careless operating habits IMHO. Some people may disagree, but I call it Advantage - tractor.
In the end, there's no hands-down best pick. You have to decide what mix of work you will be doing to figure out which is the best choice. If you are mostly moving dirt in different locations and you don't mow or have other field work, get the skidsteer. If you do mowing, towing, field work or want to go easy on your old bones, get the tractor.
Or, get both. I can tell you the two make one heck of a tag team! We ate through those stumps like you wouldn't believe!
