Which to choose? Mini Skid Steer

[Serf Life]

So numbers right now are:
Mt85: $27,841 with bucket ($29,394 after taxes) 0% interest for 60 mo

SK800: $28,500 with bucket (about 31k after taxes and interest on 60mo finance)

Vermeer 925: Still waiting on quote, told 31k ballpark estimate

Seems MSRP is not readily searchable and numbers from this and other forums vary widely from year to year and locale. Demoing an SK800 now (they have been great to work with), renting the Vermeer next week, Bobcat is without demo units but local spot has one to rent.

 

[Serf Life]

I'm not saying that the Bobcat is absolute junk quality wise but I can't stress enough to people looking for a mini that it is a poor value for the price. It's a $28k machine and uses the smaller Kubota "D902 Super Mini" that is used in the Ditch Witch SK600. The $25k SK 800, by comparison, uses the larger Kubota "D1105" which is the same engine as the old SK 650 and SK 755 minus the turbo. They are both 24.5 hp but the 1105 is a bigger block engine and has a good bit more torque. SK undercarriage (main wear item on a mini) is more robust and easy to work on as well. You can also add just another $5k to that $28k and get an SK 1050 and in spite of what many Bobcat salesmen will tell you, they are not even close in comparison. It seems that many gravitate towards (and purchase) the MT85 because of the aggressive "ours is better" approach that Bobcat uses which in this case, is downright dishonest. The MT85 is inferior to the SK800 and the Vermeer 925TX. They'll have to design a whole new machine to compete with anything greater than those.

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Great in depth post, the SK800 seems ample in power and stability for my scale, and no re-gen. Rented the CTX100 and wow, what a beast.

 

[Serf Life]

That all depends on a few things, are you talking about from MSRP or their advertised or quoted sale price?
The manufacturer may be running low interest programs as well and if you use those you will give up a rebate to do so or there may be a dealer cost to offer that financing so your price may be higher for financing than cash.
Do you have a trade in could also have a reason why a dealer would give a lessor discount, they may have unexpected repairs to your tradein and withhold some profit from deal to make those repairs.
So the question is do we as dealers have wiggle room? Yes, but how much is hard to say as there are many variables to each deal and most of our starting prices are not full MSRP.

Thank you for your time and viewpoint, much appreciated.

 

[Wes84]

Great in depth post, the SK800 seems ample in power and stability for my scale, and no re-gen. Rented the CTX100 and wow, what a beast. What kind of work will you be doing with it? And yes the CTX100 is a beast. Lol. And where do you live that you can rent a CTX100? We can't rent anything cool around here.

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[Serf Life]

I rented the ctx100 with BMG an hour away by Augusta, ME which is the only spot renting minis for tree work within 2hrs that I found. The Bobcat for rent comes only with a bucket due to their insurance (he even said they can't rent forks with it?).
My work is probably 50:50 removals and pruning. View work by the ocean, apple pruning for weeks on end in winter, keep having rugged wind storms to cleanup after, occasional trail construction and a bunch of small scale woodland work. But it's Maine, 4ft dbh trees are not super common, 800lb rated lift is fine.

 

[Wes84]

I rented the ctx100 with BMG an hour away by Augusta, ME which is the only spot renting minis for tree work within 2hrs that I found. The Bobcat for rent comes only with a bucket due to their insurance (he even said they can't rent forks with it?).
My work is probably 50:50 removals and pruning. View work by the ocean, apple pruning for weeks on end in winter, keep having rugged wind storms to cleanup after, occasional trail construction and a bunch of small scale woodland work. But it's Maine, 4ft dbh trees are not super common, 800lb rated lift is fine.

Ah nice. I love Maine. Im from Alabama but my wife is from New Brunswick. We come through there every year. Have family friends in Bangor and Winterport. Yeah sounds like the 800 would do you just fine. You can actually put the weight kit on them now I believe. Brings you up to 1,050 lbs.

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[evo]

Don’t forget to factor in the service location and or repair shops

 

[Serf Life]

Don’t forget to factor in the service location and or repair shops

Bobcat is closet others (preferable machines) are in Mass. Few mobile repair crews available but who knows response or price...

 

[Fivepoints]

We have an sk650. We are 2.5 hours away from the ditchwitch dealer in either direction. Sometimes that absolutely sucks. I really like our sk650 but I'm going to have to consider an mt85 next time as bobcat is our only local dealer. One of the guys I work with bought one recently. He really seems to like it. He has an mt55 as well and has had really good service from our local dealer. I will try it out at some point before I make any sort of decision. Any mini as long as it operates is better than no mini.

 

[evo]

When I hear 2.5 hours away I laugh! For me it’s 4-6 hours from anywhere plus a $100 round trip boat ride for a over 20’ truck and trailer

Left at noon to pick up the favorite chainsaw from the preferred repair shop. Home at 6. It was a turn and burn trip, no piss stops, one efficient “honey do” errand.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Well, that resets my perspective.

I'm about a 35 or 40 minute drive from shops because I choose to live by the ocean which my wife and I love. Often think while driving back, "It's okay because we live in such great surroundings." Now I'll think, "No problem at all."

 

[Wes84]

Bobcat is closet others (preferable machines) are in Mass. Few mobile repair crews available but who knows response or price...

To be honest. With a mini skid..especially a fairly simple unit like the SK800. Distance from a dealer isnt a big issue. You should be able to do all repairs and maintenance outside of the engine pretty easily if you are the least bit mechanically inclined. I'm no mechanic myself and the only thing I wouldn't touch on a mini is proprietary engine or hydraulic system components. With the 800, you have a straight forward "no emissions" engine that has been around for decades. The only thing you should really have to do to that thing for at least the first 2000 hrs. is change fluid, filters, greaseless loader bushings (Exclusive to Ditch Witch... very low maintenance), and replace tracks, bearing assemblies, and track rollers periodically. All of these things are very simple to do. Again... I'm no mechanic and I can rebuild an entire Ditch Witch undercarriage in 3-4 hrs. tops. You'll likely never encounter that situation as the bearings usually fail one by one.

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[tnttree]

To be honest. With a mini skid..especially a fairly simple unit like the SK800. Distance from a dealer isnt a big issue. You should be able to do all repairs and maintenance outside of the engine pretty easily if you are the least bit mechanically inclined. I'm no mechanic myself and the only thing I wouldn't touch on a mini is proprietary engine or hydraulic system components. With the 800, you have a straight forward "no emissions" engine that has been around for decades. The only thing you should really have to do to that thing for at least the first 2000 hrs. is change fluid, filters, greaseless loader bushings (Exclusive to Ditch Witch... very low maintenance), and replace tracks, bearing assemblies, and track rollers periodically. All of these things are very simple to do. Again... I'm no mechanic and I can rebuild an entire Ditch Witch undercarriage in 3-4 hrs. tops. You'll likely never encounter that situation as the bearings usually fail one by one.

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Very true, my experience too with most all the minis and Arties

 

[Serf Life]

Update on numbers if anyone is in the same boat. Numbers are before tax and haggling, 60mo loan.

S925tx: $28,600 bucket and forks narrow track. $562/mo, 6.7% $5,136 interest

Sk800: $28,500 bucket, wide track, dual stick controls. $523/mo, 3.9% $2,915 interest

Mt85: $27,861 with bucket and universal plate. $490/mo, 0% interest.

 

[Wes84]

Update on numbers if anyone is in the same boat. Numbers are before tax and haggling, 60mo loan.

S925tx: $28,600 bucket and forks narrow track. $562/mo, 6.7% $5,136 interest

Sk800: $28,500 bucket, wide track, dual stick controls. $523/mo, 3.9% $2,915 interest

Mt85: $27,861 with bucket and universal plate. $490/mo, 0% interest.

Vermeer is giving you a better value compared to the others. I'm surprised. That's a bit high for the 800 with only a bucket. Should be around $26k. By contrast that Vermeer would be at that price with no attachment in my area. I would not get a narrow track though unless you have some kind of big contract with HOAs that have small gates or a similar situation. Some areas are different but I haven't run into a gate that I couldn't get in with a wide track in 3 years. You want all the traction and stability you can get on a mini.

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[VenasNursery]

Vermeer is giving you a better value compared to the others. I'm surprised. That's a bit high for the 800 with only a bucket. Should be around $26k. By contrast that Vermeer would be at that price with no attachment in my area. I would not get a narrow track though unless you have some kind of big contract with HOAs that have small gates or a similar situation. Some areas are different but I haven't run into a gate that I couldn't get in with a wide track in 3 years. You want all the traction and stability you can get on a mini.

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I would second that
No narrow track no way

 

[Fivepoints]

I have a buddy with a narrow track mt55. He's laid it on its side at least twice. I wouldn't want a narrow track. On those odd instances where you can't get through a 3 ft gate, you can usually take a section of chain link down.

 

[evo]

It looks like the vermeer wins the offer... narrow tracks suck unless you HAVE to have the slimmer width. If you can get a quote for the 925 with wide tracks and it's within 5-10$ per month go for it.

 

[Hotsaw]

I demoed in the past month the Bobcat 55 and 85, Boxer, and DW 800 & 1550. I wont consider Vermeer since dealer support is too far away and I see too many Vermeers on social media getting lifted back onto trailers with logs and brush still in their grapples. If I was going Mini skid it would be DW hands down no contest

 

[Serf Life]

Picking up a 925 for a week on Monday, we'll see after that. For sure didn't ask for narrow track quote, they are tippy enough already in the woods.
DW has let me demo the 800 for over a week now and there are so few things I dislike. Standing platform area is more padded and secure on Vermeer, throttle control is super stiff but maybe not broken on yet, pins on attach plate seemed more robust on ctx100 (asume similar on 925), maybe have more next week after comparing. Thanks for insight.