Skid steers

[Hilly]

Bobcat here you can see anytime

Cheers what model do you have ?

 

[Bald Rick]

Looking secondhand the robots look like only ones i could justify anyway

New ones are only made in America & they take the bulk of production. Long waiting list for new has put ££s on secondhand ones

My two biggest bugbears with JCB are:

1) the horizontal radiator attracts a lot of dust etc and because of the fan cowling is difficult to blast through with a jet wash

2) If you push slurry around, the fuel filler is in a ludicrous position

and 3) [because you always need one with a JCB] is that the engine oil dipstick is extremely difficult to get to with clothes on and without long arms

and 4) [why not] if you use a sawdust product, it will quickly build up under the cab where there are a lot of pipes & sensors including the ECU.



With No 4, trick is to sell to an unsuspecting hill farmer before it catches fire I think

 

[Suckndiesel]

Is there much difference between a 135 jcb and a 175? They look similar size. Looking something for running a sawdust bedder on and the jcb looks like the one you’d have less chance of injury mounting and dismounting

 

[Fendt516profi]

Is there much difference between a 135 jcb and a 175? They look similar size. Looking something for running a sawdust bedder on and the jcb looks like the one you’d have less chance of injury mounting and dismounting

Be a big (183kg) operating weight difference, I had a 160 and some things were on heavy side swapped to a 190 and it handles them no bother

 

[Suckndiesel]

Be a big (183kg) operating weight difference, I had a 160 and some things were on heavy side swapped to a 190 and it handles them no bother

So physically they are the same size just bigger load capacity ? How long have you been working with jcb robots? Had much trouble with them?

 

[Fendt516profi]

So physically they are the same size just bigger load capacity ? How long have you been working with jcb robots? Had much trouble with them?

8 years, oil leaks and a park brake sensor that broke so wouldn't release the brake. Not a massive user but use it to feed and bed cattle in winter and lift and shift anything throughout the year

 

[sodbuster]

Cheers what model do you have ?

S530 turbo

 

[Fendt516profi]

Be a big (183kg) operating weight difference, I had a 160 and some things were on heavy side swapped to a 190 and it handles them no bother

6ft tractor bucket on adapter plate digging out bedding muck

 

[Bald Rick]

Is there much difference between a 135 jcb and a 175? They look similar size. Looking something for running a sawdust bedder on and the jcb looks like the one you’d have less chance of injury mounting and dismounting

Oil pump likely to be too small on the smaller machine to drive the bedder properly (or at all under full load).

Bedders and front entry machines are a match made in hell unless your good & flexible

 

[Cowabunga]

Whats wrong with newhollands ?

There’s nothing wrong with the basic ones. I have two that are now twenty two years old and one over and one just under 7000 hours. As it happens one of them just had a new starter this morning. Not a CNH part because genuine parts are extortionately priced. They have added all kinds of emission equipment on the latest models and most have electronic easy-to-use hand controls, all of which add complexity that can and will incur more expensive repair costs in future. Bobcat used to be bad for complex electrics but everyone is at it now and you can’t get away from the heaps of emissions stuff crammed around the engine.
As far as my own machines are concerned they have been very reliable. They have needed radiator repairs, water pumps and starter motors plus regular maintenance. The carriage pivots on one have been rebuilt, an externally mounted hydraulic pipe every few years shared between them and, bizarrely, they both had exhaust manifold studs failed last year, after both running for over twenty years with no such issue.

I have no knowledge as to whether these are any better or worse than alternatives but do know that this pair has done sterling service over more than two decades with no major issues. Touch wood!

 

[Cowabunga]

Skidsteers for a lot of farms are actually a nightmare to own in some applications. Dirty environments and now with emissions crap its a dealer's nightmare to keep dairymen happy with some brands of machine.
Lot of times they get used for multiple short tasks then engine stopped never worked hard. Eventually creating regen issues with the dpf and egr valves. Seems to be biggest overall problem in this area

The emissions crap has added a ridiculous amount of complication to these machines. The running cost of modern ones must be near impossible to justify once out of warranty. I have no proof of this but just one look at the engine bay of most models is enough to sow severe anxiety and doubt about the viability of the machine long term. Its the kind of thing that makes one think that two should be bought to ensure that at least one is functional most of the time.

That’s not the reason I have two. It’s because they work on different farmyards several miles apart, but I do believe in self sufficiency and redundancy when it comes to essential livestock equipment. The work just cannot wait for a machine that is out of action for any length of time.

 

[Pistonbroke]

There’s nothing wrong with the basic ones. I have two that are now twenty two years old and one over and one just under 7000 hours. As it happens one of them just had a new starter this morning. Not a CNH part because genuine parts are extortionately priced. They have added all kinds of emission equipment on the latest models and most have electronic easy-to-use hand controls, all of which add complexity that can and will incur more expensive repair costs in future. Bobcat used to be bad for complex electrics but everyone is at it now and you can’t get away from the heaps of emissions stuff crammed around the engine.
As far as my own machines are concerned they have been very reliable. They have needed radiator repairs, water pumps and starter motors plus regular maintenance. The carriage pivots on one have been rebuilt, an externally mounted hydraulic pipe every few years shared between them and, bizarrely, they both had exhaust manifold studs failed last year, after both running for over twenty years with no such issue.

I have no knowledge as to whether these are any better or worse than alternatives but do know that this pair has done sterling service over more than two decades with no major issues. Touch wood!

Talking to a NH rep the other day about them, controls can be electrical ( nicer to use) or mechanical ( not so light but reliable). Friend had his Manitou instead of another Case from Riverlea because the sales bloke said they are simpler with less trouble with electrics apparently.

 

[Suckndiesel]

The emissions crap has added a ridiculous amount of complication to these machines. The running cost of modern ones must be near impossible to justify once out of warranty. I have no proof of this but just one look at the engine bay of most models is enough to sow severe anxiety and doubt about the viability of the machine long term. Its the kind of thing that makes one think that two should be bought to ensure that at least one is functional most of the time.

That’s not the reason I have two. It’s because they work on different farmyards several miles apart, but I do believe in self sufficiency and redundancy when it comes to essential livestock equipment. The work just cannot wait for a machine that is out of action for any length of time.

What year did all the emissions gumf appear on the engines and can it be bypassed and rectified with a laptop?

 

[Cowabunga]

What year did all the emissions gumf appear on the engines and can it be bypassed and rectified with a laptop?

Not sure when but I did look under the bonnet of a new one, not long ago, and was shocked at the bulk of cats and DPF’s and lord knows how many sensors, cables and pipes, including common rail electronic injection compared to my comparatively simple machines. My NH rep and service man have both told me to keep changing the oil and filters on mine because the latest are not in the same reliability league. That’s not to single CNH machines out in that respect, because all brands have this stuff forced upon them by legislation. Not sure whether there is an environmental benefit of not, considering the relatively small amount of fuel these machines consume and out in the countryside mostly. On even a local scale, I suspect next to zero. Who pays the price, both in purchase and repairs? Why we do of course! [surprise surprise]

 

[Suckndiesel]

Not sure when but I did look under the bonnet of a new one, not long ago, and was shocked at the bulk of cats and DPF’s and lord knows how many sensors, cables and pipes, including common rail electronic injection compared to my comparatively simple machines. My NH rep and service man have both told me to keep changing the oil and filters on mine because the latest are not in the same reliability league. That’s not to single CNH machines out in that respect, because all brands have this stuff forced upon them by legislation. Not sure whether there is an environmental benefit of not, considering the relatively small amount of fuel these machines consume and out in the countryside mostly. On even a local scale, I suspect next to zero. Who pays the price, both in purchase and repairs? Why we do of course! [surprise surprise]

Yea often wonder what the environmental impact is of making all this emissions equipment to fit to vehicles and then having to get someone out to repair it comparded to straight forward engines especially like you say small engines that don’t even use much fuel. I’d like a skid steer with a fully enclosed cab for the dusty conditions but the older simpler skid steers seem to be hard to get with one.

 

[Deerefarmer]

What year did all the emissions gumf appear on the engines and can it be bypassed and rectified with a laptop?

I know there is delete software available, laptop guys in this area stay busy.

 

[aled1590]

this is ours, good machine been tempted to swap for a newer model but few have said keep this one going I’ll have far less problems with it

 

[Cowabunga]

View attachment 1153022
this is ours, good machine been tempted to swap for a newer model but few have said keep this one going I’ll have far less problems with it

Change the engine oil and filter every 150 hours maximum, grease regularly including wheel bearings (sparingly) and change hydraulic fluid and filter every 1500 maximum using 10w/30 SUTO or UTTO, or hydraulic fluid if you have some convenient. There are other fluids but apart from checking for leaks I’ve never even checked those. Coolant is best changed every four years maximum. I changed the coolant in one a couple of weeks ago due to the radiator leaking over Summer and the need for fresh coolant of the correct concentration. Added some trick leak stopper fluid at the same time. So far so good.

Tried to buy a new work light bulb the other day but they have stopped importing these for very early 21st century models and nobody else supplies them either so I’ve bought new quality LED lamps to replace the original. They will not fit as neatly as original but should supply far morel light.

 

[oil barron]

If your budget can extend to one with high flow hydraulics and a case drain there are more back saving attachments available than you could believe. Especially once google knows you own a skid steer.

 

[Cowabunga]

No point getting a skid steer loader unless it has tools for it to make best use of it.

It is vital that a new prospective owner, or indeed existing ‘conservative’ owners, budget and acquire a broad selection of tools to fully utilise the base loader. I have an ‘adequate’ number of tools including two basic buckets [one each that is] which always come as the kit tools. Both mine are now seriously worn and are probably beyond economic repair and may soon need replacing with new buckets. However I also have a toe tip bucket, a 4 in 1 bucket, a shear grab and a muck fork and grapple plus a high lift big bag hook for easy unloading of artics and stacking in the sheds. Then there are pallet forks and a three point linkage adapter for fitting a rotary road sweeper brush and yard slurry scraper. The least used are the four in one and yard scraper, nevertheless occasionally very useful. Most used are seasonally the shear grab on one loader, the bag lifter, the standard buckets all year round and the toe tip bucket for loading over high sided things like the mixer wagon.