Bobcat mini-skid steer

[CalTreeEquip]

What the word on Mini-Skid Steers?
Those of you that use them for tree work.
What brands and model do you like with what attachments?
I think there the greatest thing since prost-----(were not suppose to talk like that here), anyway they are great.



WWW.CALIFORNIATREEEQUIPMENT.COM

 

[A. Stanton]

A friend of mine uses a Bobcat MT-52 in his business. He loves it. I goin to have to take my Kubota Bx 25 over there and set him straight. Hey, it all good.

 

[nickblaze466]

never actually used a true bobcat mini. I did use one of those crazy kanga loaders for a day or two and it worked great until i was tryin' to pick up part of a stump and the motor mount came loose, motor smacked on frame and somethin shorted out.

i have two bobcat mini full size skidders, 450 and a 443. so far, they have worked awesome and i've had zero problems. the true mini's have just a few hundred pounds less lift, but being able to just walk around without physically getting in and out of the machine would be awesome. i'd love to have one.

 

[arbor pro]

I've had a 2002 bobcat mt-50 mini for 3 years now. Just turned 700 hours on the meter. I just use a grapple thumb on the bucket and it works very very well for what I do. Besides puting new tracks on it last year and a few minor repairs, it has been a very dependable machine that is truly worth its weight in gold to me.

Some guys swear by the 'clam' type grapples such as branch manager, beaver squeezer, etc. For their applications, those probably are indeed better suited. For the work I do which includes the cleanup of ground stumps, the bucket with grapple works better. I can still pick up brush and logs with it and feed a chipper.

 

[arbor pro]

pics of my machine...

 

[CalTreeEquip]

Nice setup.

 

[arbor pro]

I attached a pic of how I haul the mini when I need it along with my chipper/chip truck. I have the truck set up where I can use my dump trailer ramps on either side of the truck bed and back the mini skid right up behind the cab of my chip truck. It's a sizeable load with the mini, a full load of chips and the chipper in tow but, the truck handles it well and all the work I do is local. Also, whenever possible, I attempt to dump the chips before reloading my mini skid if the load is getting full.

This setup also works great if I'm pulling my dump trailer or 665a stump grinder with the same truck. I can load logs into the dump trailer or grind a stump with the 665a and use the mini to load the grindings and rakings into the chip box from the rear. When done, I load the mini behind the cab and I'm on my way.

For a one-man-show, it saves me a lot of time being able to haul the mini on the truck rather than on a trailer behind.

I also added two new 60" tool boxes to the truck this last spring. One for saws, gas, oil and chains and the other for rigging and climbing stuff. It's great to not have to load/unload equipment each day.

 

[CalTreeEquip]

sweet'

 

[CalTreeEquip]

I really like your set up ArborPro.
Very efficient and well thought out.
If done right, the one or two man op can be so much more efficient than anything else. And when your laborers are machines well, they don't complain much do they?
I never that of using a mini with a stump grinder, great idea.
They even make a grinder unit for them but I'm not sure how well they work.

 

[squad143]

A friend of mine owns an excavation business and has a Mt52 with various attachments and likes his. He has an attachment that allows him to stand/ride on the back but it does not work too well on rough surfaces.

Another buddy of mine, who is a contractor just bought a used Kanga with several attachments (auger, 3 in 1 bucket, forks). He borrowed mine for a day and liked it so much, just had to get one.


I have a Thomas 25g. I have a bucket and a branch manager grapple for it. I really like it for what I use it for. My ground guys love it even more. They call it Thomas the third ground guy.

A few shots of my mini in action: