Tractor, skid steer, or excavator?

Mallett

Mallett

Location
Sonoma county
I started a tree service two years ago and I’m finally at the point where I can afford some larger equipment.
I’m in between getting a tractor, skid steer, mini skid steer, articulating loader or excavator… what would you say is the best bang for the buck if you could only have one? My budget is around $30k and I would be looking for something used.
We mainly do removals, so being able to move and lift bigger logs + help expedite the work flow is the main goal. Being able to move chips and would be a bonus too, so probably leaning away from an excavator.

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what kind of terrain do you work on the most? Manicured yards? Rural agricultural areas? If you do more steep or forestry type areas or agricultural type terrain I would go skid steer or tractor. But if you do more manicured yards and neighborhood type work I would go with an articulated loader. Go as big as you can afford and then go another step up. You’ll never regret more lifting capacity if you do removals.
 
I agree with @RyanCafferky . My only regret was not going big enough when I initially purchased equipment. The increase in your productivity drastically outweighs cost.
I bought a yanmar 425 with multiple attachments for around $40k brand new. 10 year financing and warranty put my monthly at around $450. I can't rent a machine for a day for that price.
I'm a mix of heavy rural to manicured yards. The tractor has been great in both, but isn't super specialized for moving wood and debris. I love it because it can do it all. We snowblow yards before work starts, run a small forestry mulcher, move chips and debris around the property, plant trees, move pallets, do dirt work, load a chipper and move tree debris. It lifts more than it weighs. Bang for the buck it's a great machine.
That said, we are very soon getting an articulating loader because it will be that much more efficient.
I'm looking at a mini ex in the future, but that's a more specialized piece of equipment and while it has it's place, it would be slow and for your first all around machine.
Mini skids are great if you're constantly in tight yards where nothing else fits. Motorized ball carts work well in that scenario for a fraction of the cost. Mini skids are very stout and a good long term investment, albeit slower than other loaders and a bit more limited.
What's your service area look like? What dealer support is near you? Also, don't be afraid of buying new. Less down time in repairs is priceless when new. Also more accountability for your customers and firmer prices since you have better equipment.
Sorry for the drawn out response. Long day.
 
I'll have to grab the model and pics. It's a PTO driven 8" drum style hammer flail mower. 56" width. It'll turn 4" buckthorn to mulch quickly. Shoot, it will wrap t posts up in itself (that was a long day).
Not very expensive but endless utility. When we do tree work on the wildland urban interface I can mulch instead of of raking to give a nice finish. Invasive management in tight areas, trail grooming, mowing fields. Really quite versatile.
 
And don’t limit your thinking to only one machine. It should be more like “this one for now and another style later when you can afford it.”
I have the giant articulated loader which is fast and nimble on good ground and a couple kubota mini excavators with rigid grapples for everything else. A good excavator with a grapple parked between the chipper and the crane landing zone can’t be beat for speed and efficiency.
 
Excavators are great for handling material, not great for forwarding material, loaders are the opposite, tractors are neither.

I upgraded excavators last spring and sold my old excavator last month. That excavator was bought new in 2013, and was my oldest piece of equipment. Excavators are wildly handy.

I do more than trees, but tree removal is my primary business. How you handle debris after it hits the ground would color my recommendation.
 
Like Ryan said but also how far are you moving material? What else can the machine do? If machine feeding, short distance, wide space, get an excavator but aren’t very gentle.
Tractors are cool, and 1000’s of attachments. Yet because they are so ‘Swiss army knife’ they have their limitations. Mostly maneuverability.

There are so many considerations and it’s quite possible one machine won’t be enough. An articulated loader and a excavator would be one hell of a combo
 
RyanCafferky said:
what kind of terrain do you work on the most? Manicured yards? Rural agricultural areas? If you do more steep or forestry type areas or agricultural type terrain I would go skid steer or tractor. But if you do more manicured yards and neighborhood type work I would go with an articulated loader. Go as big as you can afford and then go another step up. You’ll never regret more lifting capacity if you do removals.
Click to expand...

Mostly backyards, and often on grass. I’ve been using my chipper winch to moves logs when I need to- I always give the customer a heads up that I might dig up their lawn, and I think I lose some clients to crane companies for that reason. Being able to move logs without damaging grass too much would be huge


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Mallett said:
Mostly backyards, and often on grass. I’ve been using my chipper winch to moves logs when I need to- I always give the customer a heads up that I might dig up their lawn, and I think I lose some clients to crane companies for that reason. Being able to move logs without damaging grass too much would be huge


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Click to expand...
I doubt you would regret buying an articulated loader like the giant or avant
 
Brando CalPankian BCMA said:
I agree with @RyanCafferky . My only regret was not going big enough when I initially purchased equipment. The increase in your productivity drastically outweighs cost.
I bought a yanmar 425 with multiple attachments for around $40k brand new. 10 year financing and warranty put my monthly at around $450. I can't rent a machine for a day for that price.
I'm a mix of heavy rural to manicured yards. The tractor has been great in both, but isn't super specialized for moving wood and debris. I love it because it can do it all. We snowblow yards before work starts, run a small forestry mulcher, move chips and debris around the property, plant trees, move pallets, do dirt work, load a chipper and move tree debris. It lifts more than it weighs. Bang for the buck it's a great machine.
That said, we are very soon getting an articulating loader because it will be that much more efficient.
I'm looking at a mini ex in the future, but that's a more specialized piece of equipment and while it has it's place, it would be slow and for your first all around machine.
Mini skids are great if you're constantly in tight yards where nothing else fits. Motorized ball carts work well in that scenario for a fraction of the cost. Mini skids are very stout and a good long term investment, albeit slower than other loaders and a bit more limited.
What's your service area look like? What dealer support is near you? Also, don't be afraid of buying new. Less down time in repairs is priceless when new. Also more accountability for your customers and firmer prices since you have better equipment.
Sorry for the drawn out response. Long day.
Click to expand...

I work in the seacoast area of NH. It’s pretty rural, mostly backyard work. I think tractor seems like the most cost effective option for now… they’re cheaper and probably have more lifting power I would think. That with forks & a skidder winch on the back could get a lot of work done.
I don’t think I would be taking whatever I get to most jobs, but rather returning to those jobs to pick up and move the logs to a trailer once the brush is chipped. It would really nice to have something to move stuff to the chipper, but I usually use my chipper winch and redirects. In other words, moving logs is my main goal


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chiselbit said:
And don’t limit your thinking to only one machine. It should be more like “this one for now and another style later when you can afford it.”
I have the giant articulated loader which is fast and nimble on good ground and a couple kubota mini excavators with rigid grapples for everything else. A good excavator with a grapple parked between the chipper and the crane landing zone can’t be beat for speed and efficiency.
Click to expand...

What size giant do you have, and how is the lift capacity? Does it have a grapple? Wondering how it compares to a tractor of the same price range. Seems like the main pro would be avoiding lawn damage & more nimble, and the cons would be lower lift capacity & less diverse applications


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Lumberjack said:
Excavators are great for handling material, not great for forwarding material, loaders are the opposite, tractors are neither.

I upgraded excavators last spring and sold my old excavator last month. That excavator was bought new in 2013, and was my oldest piece of equipment. Excavators are wildly handy.

I do more than trees, but tree removal is my primary business. How you handle debris after it hits the ground would color my recommendation.
Click to expand...

Usually when material hits the ground, brush under 12” is winched or dragged to the chipper. Logs bigger than 12” are cut to manageable pieces where they land and hand carried to the truck, or if I’m lucky and the customer doesn’t care about lawn damage I’ll winch logs to an area where someone can pick them up for free.


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Articulated loaders and skid steers often have way more lifting capacity per horsepower and pound than tractors due to the geometry of how they are put together. My 25 horsepower Avant which weighs 3000 pounds can load similar sized logs as my 60 horsepower Kubota tractor which weighs more than twice as much. Think of where the load is carried on a tractor (way out front) lots of leverage the hydraulics are working against versus a swing loader or skid steer where the load is much closer to the machine. This also makes a huge difference on job sites because of maneuverability. The long length and width of my tractor makes for more difficulty turning around and operating in tight areas.

Where the tractor really shines is on sites where I’m going across slopes or on rough terrain. Because of its width it is much more stable than the swing loader. Also the PTO winch on the back is an incredible asset on certain projects. Especially as it has a receiver hitch on it so I can get my chipper to awkward spots.
 
Mallett said:
I work in the seacoast area of NH. It’s pretty rural, mostly backyard work. I think tractor seems like the most cost effective option for now… they’re cheaper and probably have more lifting power I would think. That with forks & a skidder winch on the back could get a lot of work done.
I don’t think I would be taking whatever I get to most jobs, but rather returning to those jobs to pick up and move the logs to a trailer once the brush is chipped. It would really nice to have something to move stuff to the chipper, but I usually use my chipper winch and redirects. In other words, moving logs is my main goal


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Click to expand...
Hey from farther up the coast! The sticker shock may be tough, but the productivity of an art loader or mini is wildly better than a tractor for res treework. If mostly lawns an art loader will make you oodles of money with way less wear and tear on your body, and feeds chippers way better than a tractor (which I ran with two previous employers). Like night and day better and hold their value (or increase like the past few yrs!!)
 
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