Which to choose? Mini Skid Steer

$4k seems reasonable for a starter unit. I haven't heard negative about this brand. I recall @southsoundtree or someone may have one. Painted red, buried in a thread here. It was in the background of a picture a while back. Or maybe is was @islandedge
 
monkeylove said:
Has anyone (probably the Ozzies more than here) ever used a Kanga Loader? I saw a G520 for sale but never heard of them.
00T0T_eGw19JrLGfb_600x450.jpg
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My old boss was a dealer for these back in the late 90s/early 2000's. He told me that the original inventors of the "powered wheelbarrow" were from Australia and I think they invented the first DINGO but then they had a falling out and one sold the idea to Toro and the other went and created Kanga Loaders. Not sure of my recollection. Chain drive and gas powered. They had a mini kanga too. Also I think the kanga had a self leveling bucket which is cool. Dont see that on any modern machines these days. I remember polishing and waxing them before a trade show I helped him on lol.
 
I added the weight kits to the rear and it basically doubled my capacity. In return my chassis needed reinforced/ doubled since it broke where the front drive motors are from all the extra weight!
 
islandedge said:
I added the weight kits to the rear and it basically doubled my capacity. In return my chassis needed reinforced/ doubled since it broke where the front drive motors are from all the extra weight!
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That's a *lot* of bang for the buck. Looks fun too!
 
Well last week, something began to go sour with the engine on my 25G. It looks so sad sitting outside my garage. It still runs but there is definitely something wrong. So I went out and rented an SK752 for a week. I've only used it on a few jobs, but have been thoroughly impressed by its speed, controllability, strength and overall design. Cool thing is the rental yard has a 2016 with under 300 hrs for sale which I think is at a fairly reasonable price, < $24K.
I read a little about the 752's on this thread but am looking for any additional comments about minor or major hassles, headaches and positives guys have had with these machines.
If I buy it it's going to be a little bit of an operational change for me due to its size, but I think we can manage and it might make life easier when it comes to logs anyhow. I do intend on fixing the wheeled machine for the really tight places, loading a forgotten implement and general work around the house.
Any comments regarding the 752 are appreciated. Thanks
 
flyingsquirrel25 said:
Well last week, something began to go sour with the engine on my 25G. It looks so sad sitting outside my garage. It still runs but there is definitely something wrong. So I went out and rented an SK752 for a week. I've only used it on a few jobs, but have been thoroughly impressed by its speed, controllability, strength and overall design. Cool thing is the rental yard has a 2016 with under 300 hrs for sale which I think is at a fairly reasonable price, < $24K.
I read a little about the 752's on this thread but am looking for any additional comments about minor or major hassles, headaches and positives guys have had with these machines.
If I buy it it's going to be a little bit of an operational change for me due to its size, but I think we can manage and it might make life easier when it comes to logs anyhow. I do intend on fixing the wheeled machine for the really tight places, loading a forgotten implement and general work around the house.
Any comments regarding the 752 are appreciated. Thanks
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What's the remaining Warranty with the 752?

Everyone I've talked to that has a MT85 is in love with them.
I haven't ran either, but ballpark pricing around here, you could have a new MT85 if the dealer can get it.

There is a high demand for the MT85s right now.
 
flyingsquirrel25 said:
Well last week, something began to go sour with the engine on my 25G. It looks so sad sitting outside my garage. It still runs but there is definitely something wrong. So I went out and rented an SK752 for a week. I've only used it on a few jobs, but have been thoroughly impressed by its speed, controllability, strength and overall design. Cool thing is the rental yard has a 2016 with under 300 hrs for sale which I think is at a fairly reasonable price, < $24K.
I read a little about the 752's on this thread but am looking for any additional comments about minor or major hassles, headaches and positives guys have had with these machines.
If I buy it it's going to be a little bit of an operational change for me due to its size, but I think we can manage and it might make life easier when it comes to logs anyhow. I do intend on fixing the wheeled machine for the really tight places, loading a forgotten implement and general work around the house.
Any comments regarding the 752 are appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm a sk650 owner. The sk752 is going to be a great machine. Check on the tier 4 specification - there may be a forced idling period to reduce emissions, which is a no-can-do for tree operations. It will lack power for 36" tree planting augering or unassisted stump grinding, but will be fine for tipping and lifting. You may wish to swap tracks to narrow down to 36" access. The ground pressure is a little high on my narrow tracks. The hinge pin is lower than a giant or avant, and the tracks vs. wheels thing you already know about. Most of the current generation of minis are great machines, so I wouldn't say that the sk752 stands out. If it is like my sk650, the access to the engine compartment is inferior to the new vermeer. A comparable hours sk650 may be much cheaper and will be a better unit than the sk752, imho.

@hsell but proprietary attachments... you ever run into that problem?

If I were you, I'd at least test an avant 420 and also find out where your local ditch witch/kubota dealer is.

I'm gravitating to a dump bed roll off bumper pull trailer. One of my reasons is that the roll off helps with low hinge pin height. Your smaller unit may not have encountered the issue of grappling larger diameter logs over the side of a trailer - you just lose clearance. The sk752 will put you in 30" stumps, taking away 10+" from your lift height. I have a standard flatbed trailer and I occassionally have clearance issues. I've loaded a standard dump bed bumper pull trailer with 16" logs, which was suitable, but not easy.
 
Id like to know what the difference is in prices I've seen from 2011 (used mini loaders like an sk500 or dingo regularly going for $7500) and now (any tracked loader even with 1000 hours regularly listing for $10,000)

I'm pretty set on buying one and after looking at all available ads it's pretty much:
$12,000 Ditch witch sk500 (honda motor) with 300 original hours, bucket attachment.
$9000 Toro Dingo 427 (kohler gas motor) with about 800 hours, bucket attachment
$1,900 used Branch Manager Grapple

Are these prices normal?
 
hseII said:
What's the remaining Warranty with the 752?
Everyone I've talked to that has a MT85 is in love with them.
I haven't ran either, but ballpark pricing around here, you could have a new MT85 if the dealer can get it.
There is a high demand for the MT85s right now.
Click to expand...

The bobcat/boxer dealer won't call me back so I'm not gonna fight them to give them my money!
I'll check on the warranty, thanks for the suggestion.

colb said:
I'm a sk650 owner. The sk752 is going to be a great machine. Check on the tier 4 specification - there may be a forced idling period to reduce emissions, which is a no-can-do for tree operations. It will lack power for 36" tree planting augering or unassisted stump grinding, but will be fine for tipping and lifting. You may wish to swap tracks to narrow down to 36" access. The ground pressure is a little high on my narrow tracks. The hinge pin is lower than a giant or avant, and the tracks vs. wheels thing you already know about. Most of the current generation of minis are great machines, so I wouldn't say that the sk752 stands out. If it is like my sk650, the access to the engine compartment is inferior to the new vermeer. A comparable hours sk650 may be much cheaper and will be a better unit than the sk752, imho.

@hsell but proprietary attachments... you ever run into that problem?

If I were you, I'd at least test an avant 420 and also find out where your local ditch witch/kubota dealer is.

I'm gravitating to a dump bed roll off bumper pull trailer. One of my reasons is that the roll off helps with low hinge pin height. Your smaller unit may not have encountered the issue of grappling larger diameter logs over the side of a trailer - you just lose clearance. The sk752 will put you in 30" stumps, taking away 10+" from your lift height. I have a standard flatbed trailer and I occassionally have clearance issues. I've loaded a standard dump bed bumper pull trailer with 16" logs, which was suitable, but not easy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to look over the specs, I'm not sure but I don't think it falls under tier 4 (no DEF) but I will definitely check. As it stands now grinding and augering aren't something I intend on using the unit for, with the contractors that I have for those operations.
The kubota dealer is 15 mikes to my west and the ditch witch is about the same to our south so we are good on the service side. Moving up from the 25G the pin height is spectacular, I loaded rankings over the side boards on the dump trailer today (can't with the Thomas). As for wood, I load mostly off the ramps or the back of the trailer (again because of the limitations of the 25G and my dump site). Also, I dislike going over the side with big chunks because I have seen too many slip the jaws of the grapple.
Thanks again for your insight.
 
flyingsquirrel25 said:
The bobcat/boxer dealer won't call me back so I'm not gonna fight them to give them my money!
I'll check on the warranty, thanks for the suggestion.



Thanks for the reply. I'll have to look over the specs, I'm not sure but I don't think it falls under tier 4 (no DEF) but I will definitely check. As it stands now grinding and augering aren't something I intend on using the unit for, with the contractors that I have for those operations.
The kubota dealer is 15 mikes to my west and the ditch witch is about the same to our south so we are good on the service side. Moving up from the 25G the pin height is spectacular, I loaded rankings over the side boards on the dump trailer today (can't with the Thomas). As for wood, I load mostly off the ramps or the back of the trailer (again because of the limitations of the 25G and my dump site). Also, I dislike going over the side with big chunks because I have seen too many slip the jaws of the grapple.
Thanks again for your insight.
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I just bought a Kubota from a dealer 1.5 hrs away for $1,000 more because my local dealer, ( 15 minutes from my doorstep), had the regular tractor on the lot & would not commit to a delivery date on the HD higher hyd. Output model I requested.
faa952d442ba6c2d0d9a7ee1a01ade33.jpg


See about a different dealer: some just won't act right.
 
colb said:
I'm a sk650 owner. The sk752 is going to be a great machine. Check on the tier 4 specification - there may be a forced idling period to reduce emissions, which is a no-can-do for tree operations. It will lack power for 36" tree planting augering or unassisted stump grinding, but will be fine for tipping and lifting. You may wish to swap tracks to narrow down to 36" access. The ground pressure is a little high on my narrow tracks. The hinge pin is lower than a giant or avant, and the tracks vs. wheels thing you already know about. Most of the current generation of minis are great machines, so I wouldn't say that the sk752 stands out. If it is like my sk650, the access to the engine compartment is inferior to the new vermeer. A comparable hours sk650 may be much cheaper and will be a better unit than the sk752, imho.

@hsell but proprietary attachments... you ever run into that problem?

If I were you, I'd at least test an avant 420 and also find out where your local ditch witch/kubota dealer is.

I'm gravitating to a dump bed roll off bumper pull trailer. One of my reasons is that the roll off helps with low hinge pin height. Your smaller unit may not have encountered the issue of grappling larger diameter logs over the side of a trailer - you just lose clearance. The sk752 will put you in 30" stumps, taking away 10+" from your lift height. I have a standard flatbed trailer and I occassionally have clearance issues. I've loaded a standard dump bed bumper pull trailer with 16" logs, which was suitable, but not easy.
Click to expand...

You can get them with either backing plate, but how cool would it be to be able to use your regular skid steer Bucket on your mini when mulching or grinding?

Added:

And also when cleaning up in a back yard with a gate.
 
Last edited:
hseII said:
I just bought a Kubota from a dealer 1.5 hrs away for $1,000 more because my local dealer, ( 15 minutes from my doorstep), had the regular tractor on the lot & would not commit to a delivery date on the HD higher hyd. Output model I requested.
faa952d442ba6c2d0d9a7ee1a01ade33.jpg


See about a different dealer: some just won't act right.
Click to expand...
Maybe I'll try the basic sales line (get a different sales guy). The dealers down here stay specific to their area. I just so happens that they sell morbark too and they were a problem then as well. I called another and he wouldn't touch the sale, demo or anything. They didn't even want to sell me parts to fix my old machine until I explained what I was up against. I'm looking at the used unit Friday. If it's not satisfactory I will make another attempt.
 
Looks like I'm picking up my first mini tomorrow. Best I could find is a 840 hour Dingo TX425 Kohler with a bucket and a cultivator for $9,000.
At first I overlooked the cultivator (listed as a tiller) but I see they go for like $6,000 new so maybe I could sell it for $2-3k, or start offering sod prep/ install.
Hoping a TX425 with used BMG will be the ticket for me..
 
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