Why a Mini Skid Steer is Better than a Tractor… and Why It’s Not
mini skid steer vs compact tractor
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Hey it's Brock here with Rock Hill Farms And today we're going to do a comparison Between these two pieces of equipment Over here we have a compact tractor and Here we have a mini skid steer now for Most of you when you're thinking about What type of equipment you need for your Property or your business you're Probably not comparing these two pieces Of equipment because they do serve Different purposes but I think it's more Of a comparison than most people might Initially think so one reason for that Is these two machines stocked from the Factory machine only cost the same Amount of money or really close this is A $32,000 machine this is a $34,000 Machine another thing that's similar About them is how heavy they are stock From the factory this weighs 2,900 lb Stock from the factory this weighs 3,000 Lb so there's two things about these Machines that are very similar the third Thing I would say is very similar is the Lift capacity both of these machines can Just barely lift a tote of firewood and Nothing more now this machine handles it Slightly better than this one but They're in the same ballpark as far as How much weight they can pick up and Carry so when it comes down to buying Equipment it's always a matter of Assessing what do you need to accomplish
What are your priorities and those are Different for every person then once you Have your list to priorities you're Going to go through that and see what Machine fits those needs I just watched A video by Wrangler star where he had a Mini excavator and a skid steer and a Tractor and a side by side and he said The question was if you were just buying Your first piece of property and it was Undeveloped which of those four machines Would you buy first and he said first The side by side and then the full-size Skid steer personally that's not how I Would do it I think I would start with a Compact tractor but it all depends Depends on what you're doing I really Had a hard time choosing between a mini Excavator and a skid steer I chose the Skid steer and now I'm not sure I made The right choice but it's been a great Machine so for me personally I do a lot Of different things and we're going to Compare these machines in each of those Categories but first I just want to talk About for the average homeowner who's Got between five and 20 acres which Machine makes more sense a small tractor Or a mini skid here and I'm going to say For the average person it's going to be The Tractor Because it's versatile and really Because it's it's inexpensive I think
For the average person you're trying to Keep your cost down buying one of these Machines is a major expense that you Really need to put a lot of thought into And you can get a compact tractor with a Brush cutter and a box blade for like $20,000 but I didn't pay that for mine And there's a lot of people out there With a piece property like that are that Are spending 30 or $40,000 on their Tractor and at that point you're in the Same price range as this machine but the Other reasons besides price that I think The tractor is the best option is Because it's a good mowing machine and If you've got that much acreage you're Probably going to want to do some brush Cutting skid steer mini skid steer is Not a good brush cutter it moves too Slow in the attachments are too small The next reason that you might prefer The tractor is because you're more Familiar with it and it's more Comfortable to you because you've been Around them your whole life another Reason that you might prefer the tractor Is it can have a front attachment and a Rear attachment at the same time a Tractor is an overall great piece of Equipment and like I've already said for The average property owner I would say This should be your first equipment Purchase as a small tractor so now I've Explained reasons you might prefer to
Have the tractor now why would anyone Want this machine and there's a whole List of reasons to depending on what Your application is but let's start with The most basic thing just the machine With with the most basic implements Let's say you've got a bucket pallet Forks and a grapple like I do for moving Dirt this machine gives you great Visibility to the front of the bucket And precise control you can get in a Very small space it's got tracks so it's Going to let you do a better job of Grading with the loader bucket it's also Very quick quick and easy to work on and Off the machine so the other day I was Cutting some firewood and I was using The grapple to pick the log up and carry A log and I left my chainsaw running I Drove the log over would step off the Machine and leave it running walk around Grab the saw make my cut drop the Remaining round out of the grapple go Pick up another log and there's no time Delay or slowness or hassle of getting On and off of the tractor or getting in And out of a skid steer it's very quick It's like I've said with the standon Mowers if you're on a sit down Mower and There's something in front of you it's Like this big hassle that you got to Stop and engage your parking brakes and Get up off the machine and with a with a Standon mower you kind of drive up next
To it you take one foot off you grab Your your whatever was in the way and You're back to mowing it's so much more Convenient to quickly get on and off the Machine that's true with the mini skid Steer Another obvious Advantage is that even Though these machines weigh the same Amount the footprint on this machine is Less than half of this machine it's way Less than half it's about a third of the Length if you have a a brush cutter or Something on the back of your tractor so For just using those basic implements Your biggest Advantage is that it's a Space saving attachment and visibility To the front of your bucket or your Pallet Forks so those are kind of small Winds for this machine but not enough to Make me want it over this machine but Let's talk about some of the things that Are definitely a GameChanger for this Machine one is hydraulic flow this Machine has very limited hydraulic flow It's listed at 5.3 gallons per minute That won't allow me to run anything Hydraulic other than the grapple off of The front I can't do something like a Front mount augur don't have the Hydraulic flow I can't run a front mount Mower like a lane shark it just doesn't Have the hydraulic flow this machine has 11.4 gallons per minute and so it can Run a wide variety of loader or boom
Mount attachments like a trencher a Stump grinder a augur a brush cutter It's phenomenal versatility of Attachments that you can have great view On and control of so running a Three-point augur is a real hassle in my Opinion I don't like running them They're fine when they're working but as Soon as you hit a rock or something You're stuck and it's a big ordeal if Your tractor especially a little one Like this can't lift it out and there's No reverse so I find myself Disconnecting the PTO or taking the bit Loose and then trying to walk it out With like a big pipe wrench or something It's not a lot of fun an augur with a Reverse is so much better so if you set One of my main purposes for my machine Is running an augur and digging post Holes this is the machine for you it's Got pinpoint control of where you place The augur and then it's got forward and Reverse same thing with a stump grinder With a stump grinder on this machine Which I have not actually used you have Perfect visibility from a comfortable Standing position you can see exactly How you're working and control the unit Effortlessly a stump grinder on my Tractor is a big hassle to put on it's Heavy it takes up more room to store and The whole time I'm running it I'm Looking Backward or in the case of the
Stump grinder I have I'm on and off the Machine constantly so it's a big Advantage in my mind to run an Implement Like that on this machine now the PTO Stump grinder is probably going to have More power but for Convenience I would say it's definitely This machine same thing with a Trencher almost BAS basically anything That's running off a hydraulic motor on The front of this has advantages now I've went into two categories of reasons This machine might be better than this One but the number one reason is for Transportation in my mind so with this Machine I do some paid work and every Time I think about doing a job you start Getting into the logistics if that job Requires you to take anything besides The tractor to the job you're making Multiple trips and let's say I need to Take some materials with me I need the Tractor to load the materials on the Trailer take the materials to the side I Have no way to unload them because I Can't take the tractor with the Materials same thing with having Multiple attachments let's say I've got This job and for it I really want to Have the brush cutter and I want to have A grapple and I want to have a box blade Well I can't take multiple things it's Very limited on my trailer space without Getting a much bigger trailer so with
This machine I find myself making a Bunch of trips and sometimes I say man It's hard to price this job where it's Worth it for me to take all those trips And spend all that extra time but it's Still affordable for the customer where With this machine is going to take a Fourth of my trailer a commercial Operation could take two of these Machines and a chipper and a pallet full Of concrete blocks it's like the Versatility for transportation and for Getting into tight spaces is so next Level so if you're working commercially And you need to take materials through a Gate this is like your only choice you Can landcape someone's backyard and take A pallet full of bricks into their Property you can't do that job with this Machine without taking the fence down so There are a lot of advantages to this Machine for a commercial contractor Another place I think this machine could Have an advantage over this one is Firewood I've been using this machine For my firewood work and I was trying to Figure out a way to do multiple firewood Deliveries on one trip and I could not Figure out a way to do it that did not Involve hand stacking all the materials With this machine and a flatbed trailer I could set my firewood totes on the Trailer from the Side Drive the machine Up onto the back of the trailer strap
Down go to the first site drive my Machine off grab a tote set it at the Person's property that's the versatility You get with a little machine like this And the only way to get a tractor that's Even close to this small is to get the Most Ultra small Sub Compact and it Won't have the capabilities so most of The commercial tree work Crews that I've Seen are running this type of machine Not this type of machine or a full-size Skid steer or something like that as a Matter of fact a friend of mine from the Channel Dude Ranch DIY has recorded a Little speech about why he likes using a Mini skid steer hey guys Jake here for Dude Ranch DIY as a professional Arborist I love having a mini skid steer Not only does it allow me to fit into Really tight quarters and maneuver and Spin on a dime it allows me to pick up Pretty heavy logs actually a lot larger Than you might think a machine of its Size is capable of lifting and get them Out you know to the truck to the chipper Whatever uh the job job might entail the Fact that it has tracks over tires is an Advantage in some instances because it Has a lot less ground pressure than a Tractor with four points of impact would Typically have the fact that it has a Skid steer quick attach in the front you Can put on a grapple you can put on Pallet Forks you can put on high flow
Hydraulic attachments it's kind of like A Swiss army knife and it's just been an Awesome tool to have in my Arsenal to go Out to jobs and be able to get them done Quickly efficiently and safely so There's a person who's earning their Living running a machine like this who Loves this machine and what it's good For and I appreciate it he's got a great Channel you should go check out dude Ranch DIY but back to the viewer this is Supposed to be information for the Viewer if you've got a small piece of Property and you can only get one Machine I'm probably getting a machine Like this but if you are into anything Else there's a lot of viewers like me I Want to have a big machine and I want to Have a small machine and if you've got More more than one machine it gets more Interesting or if you're doing something That's more specialized you say I don't Do any brush cutting I maintain my Driveway and I do firewood and I cut Down trees this machine might be better For you and I think it's at least worth The time to find out in the same way I Had trouble deciding between a skid Steer and a mini excavator they're both Amazing machines that that can do a Variety of work but it was a matter of Deciding which one fit my need And currently I've had a small tractor And a big skid steer would I be better
Off with a big tractor and a small skid Steer a small tractor and a mini Excavator hard to say it all depends but This is just supposed to be one point of Reference for someone who's trying to Decide on what kind of machine they want To buy and hopefully it's been helpful To you I appreciate you taking time to Watch the video I'll put links on the Screen to a couple more of our videos And I'll I'll see you next time
