# Compact Track Loaders



## sitegrader

I'm a small contractor that has several pieces of equipment and am looking into adding a Compact Track Loader to my operation. I've been passing up a lot of work that is too small for our smallest crawler dozer, and due to trucking costs and limited access just isn't feasible for me to even attempt to do. I'm looking at Bobcat , Cat and Deere machines with around 70 hp. There seems to be some decent deals on used machines right now but not haveing any experience with these machines I'm at a loss as to which brand will yield the the best bang for the buck-speed, strength, and most importantly durablility. 
I deal mostly with clay soils that are typically not very abrasive to our track machines. We typically get around 6-7,000 hours on our steel undercarriages on our dozers and track loaders. Any idea what the typical life of a set of rubber tracks is (keeping away from demo debris, concrete and gravel of course)? I know this question is like the Ford Vs. Chevy Vs. Dodge debate but at least I'm in a forum that is made up of end users and not a bunch of hot air sales people. 
One more consideration I've got is all the dealers are offering 0 down with long term 0% financing.


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## Morning Wood

I wouldn't think you'd get those kinds of hours from rubber tracks. I've read a lot of good things about new holland's machines too


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## keenan993

1250-1500 on the cat c series if your lucky


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## guyute65045

Its not just tracks, its bogies and idlers too. I put 4500.00 into my cat 257b this year. better off to rent and let somebody else shoulder that cost in my opinion. I am selling my cat for that reason.


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## MBS

I'm in sand and gravel country with a Bobcat T200. Rubber tracks last 500 hours before the lugs wear out and break, with about 50% rubber wear. Drive sprockets have about the same life span. Idlers last about 700 hours until the hardened surfaces are worn and then they wear super fast. 

With just over 2000 hours on my machine, I'm on my 4th set of rubber tracks, third set of drive sprockets and third set of idlers. The rollers seem to hold up real well though. All mine are still original and in great condition.


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## bryans

I would take a look at the Terex skid steer. Terex bought ASV and I have great luck with the rubber tracks. It has a perkins engine, which caterpillar owns. As far as the financing goes, make sure you are passing up on enough of these jobs to cover the payment and maintenance costs each month. See who provides the best warranty and how long it will last. Just don't finance it so long that the warranty expires and you are making payments and repairs. Check with your accountant and see if it makes more sense to deduct the rental costs or if you need a larger write off and buy it.


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## DeVoll Erosion

Hey Site, you are in my back yard (somewhere). Why dont you just sub the small stuff out to me and take a percentage:whistling. If that dont sound good then just let me do the silt fences around your dirt work:laughing:. But really I have owned/ ran JD, Case and Bobcat. I own John Deere now and will never switch! They beat the competition hand down! Bobcat is junk, especially the track machine! You couldnt give me one with out me selling it! JD has a lot more power, Bobcat has a serpentine main drive belt (anybody ever not heard one of them squeal?) and JD is gear driven, so the JD looses less power in the motor. They and Case have the same problems over and over and never fix it. I have 2 J.D. skid steers now, a series 2 and 3 (series 1 where not that good). One has 3400 hours and the other something over 3000 hours. Neither has had any major issues! As a matter of fact my sales rep (Donny at RDO equipment) worked at Bobcat before he worked at JD. He can go over the major differences good and bad. He really is a very honest man. I can give you some more info if you would like, Call me (Or post) if you want to talk about it more, or just post 817- eight zero eight- 1061 Randy:thumbsup:


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## ConstSvcs

I own a John Deere CT 322. I bought it with 300hrs and it currently has 670 hrs. We use it in all types of soils which seems to be the full gamut here in CT. I will be replacing tracks at 1000hrs. As stated above, track wear is all about what material the machine is used in and the operator. The hard bottom machines (everything except Cat Multi Terrain and ASV=now Terex) are fairly inexpensive at $3500 per set of tracks vs. the Cat M/T and Terex at $6000 per set. I'm sold on hard bottom machines over the ASV style simply for machine bottom repair costs. Local availability of service and parts is key to these machines is key as is understanding that 6000 hard running hours may never be reached on a CTL without a bit of coin out of your pocket. 

Demo as many as you can ! As you may know, there is much hype over the John Deere "D" series CTL's and also Kubota SVL's in 75 and 90 hp versions that are now on US soil (thank goodness). I love my Deere CTL..........except for the loud cab......which is why I'll demo a Kubota..........the 0% financing for 5 yrs or less is nothing to sneeze at on a $45,000 CTL.

Demo...demo...demo


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## sitegrader

*CTL's*

Thanks everyone for your input on the CTL's. I've got a friend that has a couple of the larger Cat machines and he is in love with the tractors but has already warned me about the undercarriages on them and replacement costs. I'll be demoing a couple of machines next week and see what that brings about.

I've always believed in buy American and bought Deere and Cat equipment in the past but I own a 50hp 4wd Kubota tractor that is over 20 years old and other than regular maintenance has never had a single mechanical problem. I will give Kubota a serious look since most of the major players probably outsource their smaller tractors to other countries. anyway.

Thanks again for your input.


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## Vinny

We have 2 cat 257's. We love them and hate them. They do an unimaginable (wait, is that a word, LOL) amount of work. But for what I use them for we gat about 1000 hours out of the tracks and maybe 1500 to 2000 on rollers. 

We normally use them to clean up the grade after the shovel removes the asphalt then we spread the base with them. As far as I'm concerned, theres no better way for all sizes of residential and small commercial paving work. 

The hate comes from having to service and repair the little SOB's. I think the designers were lovers of pain and blood. 

The other machines have a different undercarrige design. The cat is definetly the smoothest but the others (case, JD, Takiuchi,Bob Cat, etc..) all have a steel belted track and they last more than double the cat.

Oh yea, demo, demo, demo...


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## ryanh

Just replaced my tracks and sprockets on my T190 @ 1100 hours.


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## TERM101

I had 2 T300s and really never had much problems out of them, I loved them. My only word of advice is DO NOT buy a case. Ive got a 450CT now and absolutely hate it!


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## Poolman

I have a T190, love it. What don't you like about Case? I've never run one.


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## keenan993

Poolman said:


> I have a T190, love it. What don't you like about Case? I've never run one.


^ bump,
what don't you like about the case?


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## MIT

Anybody have a Terex machine. I am checking out the PT 80


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## keenan993

MIT said:


> Anybody have a Terex machine. I am checking out the PT 80


no, but the track system looks the same as my Cat 287c.
awesome undercarriage from a performance standpoint, but dreading the rebuild.


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## cexcavation

MIT said:


> Anybody have a Terex machine. I am checking out the PT 80


I think the Terex is just a restickered ASV.......could be wrong, but I think Terex bought ASV out or something like that.


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## tgeb

cexcavation said:


> I think the Terex is just a restickered ASV.......could be wrong, but I think Terex bought ASV out or something like that.


No, you are correct. Terex is the new owner of ASV, and yes it's pretty much the same machine as far as I have seen.

Well the paint color is different.....


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## Redneckpete

cexcavation said:


> I think the Terex is just a restickered ASV.......could be wrong, but I think Terex bought ASV out or something like that.


Completely correct. ASV is now Terex. I love the Terex excavators, but have no experience withe the Terex track loaders. I have no interest in learning Pilot controls.

I see the benefits to the suspension undercarriage, but the Pilot controls and rebuild costs have kept me from purchasing. I'll stick with the Bobcat T190.

Pete


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## cexcavation

Redneckpete said:


> Completely correct. ASV is now Terex. I love the Terex excavators, but have no experience withe the Terex track loaders. I have no interest in learning Pilot controls.
> 
> I see the benefits to the suspension undercarriage, but the Pilot controls and rebuild costs have kept me from purchasing. I'll stick with the Bobcat T190.
> 
> Pete


Pilot controls are great once you get your head wrapped around the idea. If you have never ran foot controls, then the pilot controls make sense right away. Kicking old habits is a little harder, but it took me maybe 10minutes on pilot controls and I was going full speed. Give it a shot......you may end up liking them!!!:thumbup:


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## Joasis

dayexco said:


> I've never owned a tracked skidsteer.
> 
> Just going by what others have told me.
> 
> You that own them, tell me different. It's my understanding operational costs per hour are about double.
> 
> If the need is there, you can bill for it, doesn't make much difference.
> 
> Remember, 80 % of the time, you probably don't need it.
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


The T200 we run is a gem to run fine grade with, and using the Apache laser, a few less guys raking pads too. I would never buy another wheeled skid loader unless I had a specific need for one, like a dedicated hammer machine in building demo.


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## aj3580

I have had a cat and the undercarriage is a maintenance nightmare the ride is great but it seemed like something always needed replacing. You will get typically 1500-2000hrs out of an undercarriage. I bought a takeuchi and i love the machine check them out if you have a dealer nearby


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## austinfce

Does anyone use their track loader for snow removal? If so what type\brand of tracks are you running and what attachment? Snow box, blade, ect. We currently have a S300 but looking at track machines, we do snow removal and no one really has an answer for how a track machine dies in the snow.


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## aj3580

austinfce said:


> Does anyone use their track loader for snow removal? If so what type\brand of tracks are you running and what attachment? Snow box, blade, ect. We currently have a S300 but looking at track machines, we do snow removal and no one really has an answer for how a track machine dies in the snow.


The cat machine i had was great in the snow with the asv undercarriage. Now the takeuchi i have now is horrible i would put snow tracks on in the winter if your gonna plow.


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## Moxley-Kidwell

I hated our T-300 in the snow on asphalt. That thing just about rattled my head off my shoulders. Tracks weren't the best at the time, but I can't believe it would make that much of a difference. I did pretty good moving the snow but pavement is hard on a track machine.


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## TBM

John Deere is by far the best out there right now hands down. I think they could improve some of there implements and attachments but as for the tractor itself its the best. As for the tracks, they never last me as long as they should but we abuse our skidsteers quite abit.


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## peteo

The cat skid steers with the asv track system does pretty well in the snow. Our old 267 did quite a bit of snow removal and we never had too many issues with traction. Any other skiddy with the block style tracks are going to be terrible in the winter. If that's what your machine has on it then I'd look into a set of polar tracks. I believe Michelin makes them


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