Looking at Mini Skid Steer - Opinions?

Yeah not sure where that 2000 hour mark came from. I have a 2006 sk650 with 4700 hours on it. No end in sight. I can't imagine anyone could be beating the piss out of a machine more than I do to this thing. I love it more than anything. I've rolled it like 5 times over the past few years. The first 4 times I just winched it back over, it started right back up and back to work we go. The last time was recently and it hydrolocked up. Literally popped the injectors off, turned it over, pissed a little extra oil on the yard, put them back on and drove it off. I honestly am so impressed with this machine. I'm hoping to get it to 10k. It's not the smoothest ride, but it is a fucking tank.
 
$1500 a year goes pretty easy. That's probably a low number unless you're perfect. It's stuff that's just going to break, plus the normal maintenance. The tracks can be anywhere from 3-600. Once you stretch them out all the way, they start to fall off all the time. It's very simple to put them back on and takes a short time (once you're good at it), except when you are somehow on a sidehill/swamp combination right at the end of the day with a bunch of other shit left to do..... Just buy new ones. I just get new ones every spring.
The bearings for the front idler are like 80 bucks each, but if you go for the whole new wheel with bearings already in place (takes like 10 minutes to replace in someones front yard if you get the whole assembly) then you're talking like 300 bucks I think. When you're dragging and ripping and carrying the machine's literal (not rated) capacity at all times (*you will absolutely be doing that*) the bearings go pretty often. I'd say at least once or twice a year. I keep an extra prepacked wheel in the truck just in case. It's all well and good to say you'll grease them and they'll last forever, but the fitting will snap off as soon as you get into some gravel/crushed stone and you will no longer be able to grease them.

It rattles like no tomorrow so stuff is always loosening up and falling apart. You have to keep an eye on it. It's like a big saw. After awhile it starts to rattle apart. If you check things and keep things tight, you'll be better off. But sometimes things just get away. Fix stuff as it breaks. Or things you wouldn't imagine were possible will happen. I ran it out of fuel and somehow the fuel-shut-off solenoid broke at the same moment. After fucking around with it for hours and getting very upset I realized the literal only thing it could be would be that. And how could it be possible that it broke the moment I ran out of fuel???? Cut the nipple thing off that stops the fuel from going through and it started right up. Unbelievable. Then I would just idle it down, put the e-brake on, and go forward to get it to stall out. (fuel shut off solenoid stops the fuel from going to the injectors when you shut the key off to kill the machine) Naturally, I didn't rush to get the new solenoid because I could just shut it off that way. Next week, snapped the e-brake cable and the e-brake was stuck on. Was a real bitch to get that fixed and it messed up my day.

^^So, if I hadn't run it out of gas in the first place, none of that would have happened. Such an idiot I am! Use things right so you don't have to lose time.


You're going to rip hoses off of your grapple. Doesn't matter what machine you get. I've only done it twice in two years. That's 50-80 bucks each plus down time. I always keep an extra in the truck. Takes 10 minutes to swap it if you have it. Beware of anything electric over hydraulic going to a grapple. You're going to get some wires caught on something or kink them somehow, and that's going to make your grapple malfunction. I used an avant with electric for the grapple rotate and it was intermittent within two weeks. You needed to manually turn the grapple which a strong human can barely do. Was really annoying. Go with the BMG. It's cheap and durable as hell and nothing can break on it except the hoses. Just have to use some finness to get it to do what you want.

I've done the motor mounts. That absolutely sucked, but it gave me something miserable to do in the winter time. Got to know the machine a lot better in the process too.

I'm looking to buy two more. One as a spare and one for a second crew/if we have a big job and two would be more efficient. Anybody got a line on a 2006 sk650 in any condition??? Gotten to know them really well. Very fond. Best way to spend 8-15k in the whole industry in my opinion.
 
I wonder if the later SK650s were updated for the radiator mounts. Mine is less than two years old and already shaking itself apart, again. At $1200 plus a bunch of time to replace it and having to drain the hydraulic oil/coolant, it's not something I would like to have failing regularly.
 
The guy who owned mine before me welded some kind of additional bracketry to the radiator to secure it better. I've never had any issues with it rattling (though everything else does). Can't say much for the new ones except my natural instinct is to avoid them completely. I am very stubborn! Just want to buy a bunch of older ones for cheap and keep fixing them/beating on them....
 
I got a new factory ditch witch radiator. The bottom mounts were the same but the top mount pointed back towards the knee plate instead of the old one pointing towards the engine. The top mount broken in half the other day at a job. I was able to weld it up in place but I figured out one of the other lower mounts is broken as well. I'll pull it all apart when I get a chance. Mine is solid mounted. I think it would do much better if it was rubber mounted like most equipment radiators.
 
My bad I thought you meant you had bought a new mini skid from Ditchwitch..... Yeah I'll send a pic of mine when I get a chance. I've never had a problem with it. Motor mounts are solid mounted as well. Was going to put a thin piece of rubber in between just for the logic of it, but then my brother yelled at me because he said it must be for a reason....
 
I would only suggest used if you have bad credit or the rest of your business operating costs are maxed out.

If you take that 15k and put it down, you can own 2/3rds of a new machine with a BMG, your payment would be about $500 a month. That is only $25 a day. You'll get a warranty, have the piece of mind that your machine will be reliable and making you money right out the gate. Plus, it is a tax write off!

I have met some hard working groundies, but never met one who would work for $25 bucks a day, lift 800lb logs into a trailer all day long with ease, auger 24" box tree holes in 3 minutes, move 30 yards of chips, single handedly pull over spars, wiggle my dump trailer around a site, etc.

Whereas a used machine? It could be a gem if you find it, but if it has been road hard and put away wet, it could cost you hundreds to thousands of dollars a day just in lost productivity dealing with it. Tracked machines do not move easy. If you break down in an awkward place, good luck. I looked for a good used machine for 2 months...no dice. Walked into the ditchwitch dealer, test drove, filled out an application, and was making money with a new machine in less than 24 hours.

The fear of payments made me work dangerously hard for way too long - buying my sk800 was the smartest business decision and risk I've taken.

It boosted my business credit, lowered my tax liability, increased productivity and profit (which I invest into growing the business), made work fun and much more enjoyable, and helps me retain employees.

The only negative is that I fear her getting stolen. I find myself waking up in the middle of the night to check on her even though I've tripled locked it...I'm kind of obsessed. I might put a tracker on it. Lol

I do regular maintenance...I'm into it only $250ish for filter kits, oil, etc this year. I have had bolts rattle out, but we check all bolts every 2 weeks. My tracks still have a lot of life with 350 hours on it. Also $75 for a broken hydraulic hose.

For me, sk800 came down to 36" and 800 lbs of capacity.

The smart thing would be to calculate your cost per day to own the machine - maintenance, fuel, inland marine insurance, payment...add 15% to 20% for profit then add it to your bill.

If you want to make $1000 a day for example, add $100 for the machine. Start charging $1100. You'll be shocked how much more quickly you cut down on labor and that extra $100 starts stacking. Then you can start taking on bigger trees and charging $2200...its a multiplier effect.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
I have had my finger on the trigger for both new and used avants and giants. They're real slick machines. But you're not getting a new one for less than 45k. Unless you're in the right location, there will be almost no dealer support. I rented an Avant 528 for two months. It's like a caddy compared to the DW. The telescope is awesome, the speed is awesome, but durability was not impressive. I admittedly have not run a giant. Once again. not a lot of dealers around. Found some reasonable deals on used ones that I almost made a move on. Id rather buy a great used chipper for 45k....

Warranties are great, but I can't imagine warranty is going to cover you rolling your machine, which is really the only way it's going to break down in a significant way. If you hydrolock a motor by flipping it and try to start it you can throw bearings/rods inside the motor. That's a 5 digit mistake. Not going to be covered by warranty. They're well built if you use them right. Just make sure you're careful who you let use it. I guess it's just like anything else in tree work......

I've concluded that I would rather have 3 or 4 used DWs that can take a beating than one slick wheel loader. There's a lot of woods where I am. You can't really take a wheel loader into the woods. The mini is like a duck in water in the woods. You will just tank through shit wouldn't think you could. You can weave through trees while skidding logs. Plus you can take it (straight) up steep inclines. If it flips, you step off the back, roll it back over and go back to work. Absolute worst case if the machine gets ruined, you're out 15k. That's a terrible thought, but it's not that terrible considering how profitable the machines are. I got mine for 8400 with the BMG on it and a bucket. Not sure if the guy knew what he had, but I paid for that machine in two weeks. Every additional day I get out of it is extra profit.... If it breaks tomorrow it would still have been well worth it. If it broke a year ago it would have been worth it.

Also worth noting, the mini is more desirable than a loader for chipper feeding. You can absolutely feed brush into a chipper with a wheel loader efficiently. No doubt. BUT you need a lot more space near the chipper to do so. The mini doesn't need to move around as much. For awhile I was forwarding brush/wood to the driveway with the avant and having another guy on the mini feeding the chipper.

I've been back and forth on this argument with myself, but I just can't justify the wheel loader purchase. They're great on lawns, but the mini really isn't bad. Just have to be careful. Lay out a few mats, save yourself 30 grand.

Also, IMO, if you could only have one or the other, mini skid hands down. I'd only get a wheel loader if I already had a mini.
 
^^That last statement is strictly because a mini can go through the woods, and it's 36" so it can go through a gate. Too important in my area. wheel loader can't do either.
 
I forward logs to the road and pick them up with a log loader. A wheel loader has more use than a mini for loading logs onto a truck/trailer because of the lift height and telescope. That could be the difference for someone. Just not necessary for me. All depends on what you need it for
 
Serf Life said:
No one considering wheeled-units at all?
Click to expand...
Articulating leaders or wheeled minis? I love my wheeled mini, tractive power is my only drawback from a tracked machine and it's really not anything that I need since getting the BMG clamshells. if I go bigger in the future it will likely be a articulating loader, but for now my wheeled mini works great and can be loaded into my chip box. I can even load into the bed of a half ton pickup with a short bed.

The reason for wheels over tracks is the lack of padding on the ground for turns. I'll lay plywood if I'm driving in the same tracks all day long, otherwise I don't have to put any plywood down. If I need to turn in place, I can pop a wheelie and turn with no turf damage.
 
Jehinten said:
Articulating leaders or wheeled minis? I love my wheeled mini, tractive power is my only drawback from a tracked machine and it's really not anything that I need since getting the BMG clamshells. if I go bigger in the future it will likely be a articulating loader, but for now my wheeled mini works great and can be loaded into my chip box. I can even load into the bed of a half ton pickup with a short bed.

The reason for wheels over tracks is the lack of padding on the ground for turns. I'll lay plywood if I'm driving in the same tracks all day long, otherwise I don't have to put any plywood down. If I need to turn in place, I can pop a wheelie and turn with no turf damage.
Click to expand...
What make wheeled mini do you have?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Kask Stihl NORTHEASTERN Arborists Wesspur TreeStuff.com Teufelberger Westminster X-Rigging Teufelberger
Back
Top Bottom