Skid Steer vs Tractor

Thank you, Scott. we can always count on you for sound and good advice .

I'll pull that $20,000 out of my ass

Have three tractors in weekly use, now looking to add a tracked skidsteer to the arsenal because the loader tractor is just too big and cumbersome to access where I need to go. Most of my work is lifting and moving, not plowing or cutting hay.

It's been quite a while since last encountering a video from this channel. Too bad for me. I'd forgotten how good this guy is. Excellent verbal skills, organized in what he wants to convey and his presentations are top notch as a result. No "ahh"...no "umm" ad nauseam confirming how poor too many content providers are in their overall preparation. Am I in the market for either machine? NOPE. But I know in watching his video I'll not only enjoy the experience, chances are I'll learn something as well. Good deal. THX!

I like your points. I hate always looking backwards on my tractor. My skid its in front of me. Price in st louis, a tractor with a loader is almost more expenive then a skid. My 40hp dsl601 with track over wheels and grapple i got under 7k total in it. I love it feel way safer in it and have done some great land clearing and logging. The same work in a tractor would have been longer and would have would worn me out more..and thats saying soming as the skid has all manual controls and can wear you out. Yes fixing a tractor is easier.

Love the weeping willow great video. Thanks

I can swear this is the builder of a home I worked on in Lake Placid.

Turning around with a skid loader takes some finesse.

Make a three point turn instead of hard turns.

I have both and haven't used my tractor in a few years.

The skid loader is a bit hard to get in and out of.

But let me tell you there is no substitutions when it comes to the need for Hp and Hydraulics to go with it. As well either having it or not...

It will make you second guess what you have been doing all this time bu putting it off buying something.

The last and probably the most important. You better like working on it to as if your like almost everyone else here your going to have to buy used unpess you can keep it working and paying for itself.

As for used, a bit of knowledge I learned from trusting people is they are all liars when it comes to equipment, if they arent just believe they are, it will inevitably save you some money.

Nobody just sells perfectly good equipment, even if they did remember they dont, be cordial but dont take anything you didnt see with your own eyes as truth.

Theres only one way to buy new toys if you arent born rich, find a sucker who really wants yours and sell it.

I dont sell mine, I use it till there isnt anything left to use...

Renting skid steer attachments makes the skid steer like a Swiss army knife because of the available hydraulic flow. Tractor attachments are limited due to PTO and limited hyd flow. Tractor easier for 1 person, skid usually requires 2 as the operator has to crawl out over the load or attachment.

As a rural homeowner, he tractor wins every time. the 3 point hitch and a skidsteer plate on the bucket end means it can handle agricultural and construction implements. The skidsteer does not plow however. Tractor has fewer blindspots, the tow bar can drag a dump trailer too, so the high capacity of the skidsteer is offset for rural property. If I needed a seriously flexible construction machine I would get a skidsteer.

I still don’t get why you would use even both of them. a small wheel loader is the way to go and pretty much the best of both worlds

Good presentation Scott, on a skid steer you learn to even use plywood on lawns and make wide arcing "Y" turns to save the grass. They are a ton of fun cleaning up logging slash with a grapple attachment. They also do well plowing snow. But l agree for a land/ homeowner the small wheel tractor is a better choice.

One crucial point, a tractor is infinitely easier to work on than a skidsteer like an order of magnitude easier!

And if you are going to buy a skiddy with wheels just get a tractor. You are artificially crippling a skiddy if you get one on wheels. ISO controls are also nice and give you a lot more finesse and control over a skidsteer.

Tractor is a toy compared to a skid steer. Skid steer can use multiple attachments which you can rent. Skid steer is the way to go. Have both. Tractor only gets used for brush hogging the hay field.

Good job. Thank you 😊

Then you have plan-C, the small articulated loaders like Avant, MultiOne and Bobcat.
Comes in a range of sizes from able to drive through a door, up to rivaling a medium skid steer.
I have one that lifts and loads as much as the loader on a 100hp tractor. Its the piece of equipment I use 80% of the time.
With a channel like yours, you'll have no problem getting one to demo to show people.

That tree is pretty awesome.

Get a skid steer with tracks. Best of both worlds.

What about a tracked version of the skid steer? Weight distributed over more contact area might mean it's less likely to tear up the yard?

Tractor does not leave black marks on concrete.

Agree with all points made. I have a late 70's Kubota L185DT. It is very small, and perfect for my property. I've done a lot of construction over the years, and a backhoe and skid steer are much better for that task. But for moving some gravel, tilling a small garden, and moving snow, a small tractor is the best.

Just buy bigger tractor if you want a bigger front end loader. Tractor is much more versatile when it comes to equipment you can connect to it.

I have a Bobcat A300 (All Wheel Steer) that does little to no damage on any terrain. It is much less impactful than my Kubota tractor. Thank you for the video!

Hello Scott, I’ve only just discovered your channel because of your tractor vs skid steer video.
Your videos are full of great advice and I thoroughly enjoy watching them.
I notice someone suggesting you consider plan C being an articulated wheel loader which I think is a great idea.
However I would like to suggest that you also consider a plan D, being a lesser known option of the Agromehanika AGT860 4 equal wheel tractor with reversible console.
This tractor I often refer to as a crossover between a tractor and a skid steer. It does everything an ordinary tractor does but most jobs can be done without the operator getting a soar neck from looking behind him. But when you add the Agilator bucket it becomes very comparable to a skid steer, however I firmly believe it does most jobs better than a skid steer (in fairness though some jobs not as good)
I’d love to discuss this with you further if you have time and interest. Please feel free to contact me via our website Hillside Tractors Australia if you’d like to know any more about them.
Thanks for your time and keep up the great work.
Regards Mark Broderick

Good to know, but I can't afford either... but if I need to rent or hire very good to know

The man who taught me to run a skid steer insisted that I make wide sweeping turns, unless it was absolutely necessary to flip around quickly. His main concern was wearing out the tires or tracks, also to save work after tearing up the job site.

Au contraire! I've intentionally used skid steers as pseudo tillers/plows, ha ha. Would love to have a Kubota with a backhoe. Great video as always

When I sold my plumbing business I kept my skid steer and attachments. So handy to have when I need it. Rock bucket, trencher, front hoe attachment, log splitter, 4 foot hula hoe attachment which I built, post hole auger, regular bucket, pallet forks, It is a time saver, back saver and blessing to have. I have been operating them for 35 years and it has become second nature. I also have seen attachments for a host of other needs including a home built boom for setting trusses. Love their versatility

Last year I bought a Kobota L3901 with the backhoe attachment. Definitely the best tool when buying some land to improve!

You probably won't see this. But 'ASV, track loaders' with their low ground pressure...
Looks like it solves a lot of the skid loaders weaknesses. Particularly 'RT-50 Compact Track Loader'

On the bigger loaders, they even have the "Imax cab" which is a nice touch, but needed on the smaller units.

I've always had a much easier time placing material and grading with a loader/backhoe loader than a skid steer. Very interesting take on it that you found it easier with the skid steer.

Aftermarket backup camera for reversing, they are relatively cheap now.

we are just finishing up the ground work of a new house, it was challenge because it was so muddy, we ended up waiting until the ground dried out a bit. one thing I noticed was that the skid steer did better in the mud than the tractor that we used at first. thankfully someone we knew had a little skid steer very much like the Case, If it was me I would get one with the tracks, they are way better when the ground gets soft.

The newest generation of compact tractors is particularly well suited to home owners with a lot of FEL uses. At 24hp and the same class as that Kubota I can lift 2000lb to 8.5'. It's no power house at the PTO but for 4' wide implements it's more than enough. Works great for >5acres

For farm owner tractor is a way to go. For running stables with farm animals, horses in our case, a mini-loader was a game changer. The amount of work it does and time it saves it returned 10x fold, worth every penny.

Great video.
Please, give my regards to Mrs. MacElhenney's rose garden.

If you would have helped if you you would have put the tractor in 4 wheel drive, and you can't even hardly find a decent skidter .each has a specific style job.

You have to consider weight foremost. For dirt or heavy duty work, you need a machine that weights 4 tons + (8000 LB). A farm tractor in this weight range will be very large and cumbersome to maneuver. Most skidsteers weigh 2-3+ times what a typical compact tractor does because they are designed for heavy duty work, but a tractor is made for land maintenance or agricultural tasks.

If you compare a 4-6 ton skidsteer to a 4-6 ton construction grade tractor backhoe, the difference is less in terms of capability. My 8500 LB tractor backhoe wont lift as much as a similar weight skidsteer and is not as nimble, but it will still get the job done equally fast. This backhoe is designed for heavy duty work and while it is a tractor, that is not the primary purpose.

I personally don't like skidsteers:
- Getting in and out is difficult or impossible depending on what attachment you got up front and what position the loader is in or there is a glass door. At best, it's certainly not an easy in and out like an open station tractor is.
- Visibility side and back is poor. Dirty beat up front glass often feels like you need to look through fog.
- Attachments are very expansive and some of them don't make much sense up front (means you go backwards a lot... see prior point).
- Most new ones have controls mostly electric over hydraulic, which can be jerky and delayed.
- They beat you up operating due to no suspension (all you get is an air seat)
- They tear up the ground easy and cause lots of destruction. You're constantly making a mess and cleaning up after yourself. Leave ugly track marks everywhere that then turns into mud.
- They use lots of diesel per hour (2-4 gallon per hour on a decent size machine).
- Tracks don't compact soil well and get torn up easy on rocks.
- Hassle of keeping dirt out of tracks/sprockets.
- Very difficult to get unstuck from mud.
- They don't hold their value well... people either buy them to not use then want to sell or beat the crap out of them.

Where a skidsteer shines is how compact and maneuverable they are to do some heavy lifting.

If doing heavy duty work like land clearing, a large excavator or bulldozer is best. A large 20,000 LB backhoe also works great. A 10,000 LB skidsteer isn't too useful aside from moving material around or doing finish grading, both of which a tractor could do though slower.

I've never run a skid steer but I've spent many hours on a front end loader almost identical to Scott's. The main difference in my mind is efficiency vs. versatility. A skid steer will move material and work twice as fast as a loader but try tilling, plowing, or finish mowing with a skid steer.

Great topic!

I took exception to a couple of your points.

Skidsteers are harder to get 'into' than tractors. The act of climbing down into the cockpit of a skidsteer is difficult if your knees are not working correctly. Stepping up onto a tractor is easier by comparison.

Skidsteers are generally easier to work on than tractors. If you know the basics of working with hydraulic lines, you're pretty much good to go. There's no hassle of working with chassis splits and specialized splitting stands like is the case with tractors. It takes longer to get the cab out of the way on certain models of skidsteers, but once the cab is slid forward or tilted upward, everything is laid out and is easy to get to.

A skidsteer can be used effectively on a lawn, but you have to modify your turning method to avoid tearing up the grass. If you use gentle three-point turns like you would with the tractor, the grass will survive as well as under a tractor. These three-point turns may seem frustrating compared to how a skid-steer can turn normally, but really it's no less efficient than that same three-point turn in a tractor.

Generally speaking, a skid-steer will have higher maintenance costs and more breakdowns on a per-hour basis; but I've definitely known tractors that challenge that concept!

I remember laying 4 x 8 sheets of osb plywood down on top of grass to ensure the ground did not get torn up. The plywood works very well when the distances traveled are small(ish) and limited.

the 3 pt and PTO is where the tractor shines. try mowing your yard with a skid steer

Something critical to keep in mind -- The skid-steers of the previous century were initially conceived for working in turkey houses. High maneuverability, and the ability to move lots of fluffy materials, were their strong suit. Up until 2000, skid-steers were primarily for material handling. Moving this pile of stuff from here to there; cleaning out manure and loading it into a spreader, loading a dump truck, et cetera.

Sometime around the turn of the century, skid-steers made the life-altering jump onto the construction sites, where they began to replace small bulldozers for grading, excavating, and land-clearing projects. This necessitated longer wheelbases, heavier weight, greater breakout strengths on the loaders, higher horsepower, and tracked undercarriages.

Your 1845c is of the old-school variety -- conceived in the 1980's, and built in the 1990's. It can do a fair bit of clearing and grading, but it's still inferior to a newer skidsteer that's built for those tasks.

I'm running a 1840, which is a more compact version of the 1845c, but with most of the same internal components. It's absolutely perfect for farm work of the type that I do, and can handle some limited grading. But if I'm trying to do any excavating below grade, its short wheelbase, limited traction, and low weight make it miserable for the job.

Good video, but i think you missed a key point. The tractor was originally designed to pull implements behind it, and provide power through the PTO.
The skid was designed to have attachments on the front, and can power them using high-flow hydraulics.
You can't beat a tractor pulling a plow but it's easily defeated if you only consider the front loader.

I like how the whole time he's talking that gorgeous MVP is hanging out in the back ground....the one and only took tank 💪💪💪

As someone who has owned both for many years, if I could add a few notes-

On the negative side for the skid steer-
You can't get out of the skid steer to do anything if you need to hold the bucket or the load up for any reason.
There are fewer attachments that you can use with a skid steer than with a compact tractor, (unless the skid steer is plumbed and prepped and powered for hydraulic attachments).
The backhoe attachments for skid steers are terrible, but the ones for compact tractors are not bad
A skid steer is prone to getting stuck in wet or steep situations, (you can sometimes use the bucket to boost yourself out, but not always)

On the plus side for the skid steer-
It can lift far more weight than the bucket on a compact tractor can
It has a smaller footprint and can maneuver in much tighter spaces.

Thanks Scott, a good comparative analysis for me.

Or… you can become Andrew Camarata and have both. And then some.

with experience you can run a skid on grass without damaging it.