Hauling a skid steer and firewood?

Would Love to find a 4,000 lb Bobcat for at the homestead.

 

mine is a 1973 M-610. Clutch drive. It’s not much different than a hydro except it can roll when not engaging the clutches. Awesome machines.

 

That’s a lot of weight for a ctl. I have several years of time on mini skids, and they are very handy. They will beat you up pretty good though, because you have to ride on the back, so it’s like riding in the back of a school bus. You can put them on the back of a truck too, so you could haul it that way. They don’t lift much unless you get a big one, and at that point you might as well get a small skid steer unless you really need the smaller size. The MT100 weighs a little less than my m610, and has the same lift rating, but will max out slightly higher because it has tracks. I was originally looking at the mt100, but they start at 40k and I got my m610 for 4k. Kind of a no brainer at that point.

I don’t think you can get a cab for a mini skid, which means you will be out in the cold. I just closed in my m610 cab and having a warm space is very nice when it is cold out.

I would stay far away from the chinese mini skids. I have looked at them and they are not great. No lift capacity and built like crap. The toro dingo is marginally better, but still clunky and prone to breakage with very expensive and low quality parts.

I spent a lot of time on a toro and we had guys on the back to move heavier logs. They are handy machines, but if you want capacity and smoothness, look elsewhere.

I would look at vermeer, bobcat, etc… if you want a good mini.

You can find M610’s all over the place for cheap. Usually in the $3,500-5,000 range. They are 4.5 ft wide with the factory 7x15 tires and 7 or 8 ft long. I could fit mine on my pickup bed if I needed to. The bucket would stick off a bit.

The m610 will lift at least 2k with some counter weight. I have 200 lbs on mine and it will move just about any log I have in my pile without tipping. I have an extra 100 lbs I can add if needed and that maxes out the hydraulics so it won’t tip. The weights are a 1.5:1 ratio, so 100 lbs of counterweight gives you at least 150 lbs more lift.

Here is my m610 moving 30-40 ft poles. The longest I have picked up is 65 ft.

 

That's impressive!!
That looks like a red fir broomstick. Or power pole .

 

Doug fir stick

 

When they get that long I’d be more worried about tipping sideways

 

Be careful, that’s a steeper and more slippery slope than buying another chainsaw. 2 machines mean you are quite likely to need 2 sets of forks, 2 grapples, 2 well filled wallets!

 

They just tip off the forks.
You can’t tip over unless you use a grapple and pick it up way off center.

 

Yes , Red fir in the PNW . As opposed to old growth yellow fir . Both are Doug Fir .

 

A machine like yours is much preferable to a mini skid for my needs . Love the look of yours !!!

 

Yes , but it would be great to have a machine at the homestead to unload truck and trailers ect .

 

I use the hell out of it. I can take it anywhere I can fit the lawnmower. It will go theough some incredibly tight spots in the woods.

 

Trailer and pickup are 10,000 lbs. skid steer depending on the attachment, can put me at my max of 18,400 GCW

I’m pretty much relegated to bringing the wood home and the nThe skidsteer.

I cut the sticks to 13’6” to hit a 16” mark on the tape

 

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I have been thinking of building a loader for one of my cub cadet 149’s just because they are so compact and they wouldn’t muss the grass at all. It would only be for small jobs that I couldn’t justify using the bobcat for.