payloader vs. tractor

7lazy77 · Feb 19, 2014

I currently have a IH 706 (approx 75 hp) that I use for unloading & stacking hay, clearing the driveway of snow & busting through drifts, pulling a ground driven manure spreader & cleaning corrals. I like the smaller size tractor & it "generally" works for everything I need it for, but there are times when I am trying to bust through a big snow drift that it just doesn"t work real well & I have to scoop it out, which can take quite a while with a driveway 1/4 mile long! I passed a semi hauling a small CAT 906 (appox 75 hp) on the back this morning & got to thinking......I wonder how that smaller payloader would work around a small ranch. I understand that I would lose the pto, but I dont have anything that is pto driven so I wouldn"t lose much there. I have a Farmall A that I use to pull the manure spreader with. So I was wondering if anybody else had a payloader that they used around their house & if they liked it? Any other input is greatly appreciated.

the tractor vet · Feb 19, 2014

Other then gaining the four wheel drive not much . Just more cost when it takes a dump. For snow removal since ya have a 706 and i assume that it has a three point or atleast a fast hitch i would get a 7-8 ft. snow blower for the back . Now if your talking about a bigger loader then it would move snow but here again the cost of up keep . Hard to find a GOOD old loader that is not wore out , hinge pins no brakes expensive transmission fixes just for starters. Oh and tires . Tractor tires cost way to much but you ain't seen nothing till ya start buying loader tires. . We have been looking for a loader just to handle silage in the fall as we can chop faster then we can push level and pack now with what we are using and what we have found in our price range is nothing but a lot of work for me to make useable , and we are talking in the 10 15 grand range .

in-too-deep · Feb 19, 2014

We used a miniature payloader last winter for feeding large round hay bales to cows and pushing/piling snow. It was 60hp Terex TL-60. Just about the best thing since sliced bread. WAY more visibility than a skidloader, and much more manueverable and capaple than a 2wd tractor. Standard skidloader plate attachment with aux hydraulics. The one we used just had ROPS and canopy but a cab sure would've been nice for those cold days. Our goal is to own one someday for our cow/calf operation. I definitely recommend it over a tractor.

7lazy77 · Feb 19, 2014

Thanks for your input tractor vet! I used to have an 8' snowblower for it.....however, I found it did not work well at all. Works fine if you have a nice even blanket of snow, but here in Wyoming where the wind is almost always blowing (we could get 4" of snow & end up with 6' drifts) it compacts so hard that the snowblower would just ride on top of it. My tractor doesn't have down-pressure, so I ended up selling the snow blower.

Kent Petersen · Feb 19, 2014

There is no way in he$$ that any tractor will keep up with a 4 wheel drive articulated loader; most cattle people around here are using them and now wonder way they didn;t go that way long ago

7lazy77 · Feb 19, 2014

While you were pushing/stacking snow with the 60hp, did you ever find that you didn't have enough hp & wished you had more?? Even with my IH706 having FWA, I still do quite a bit of sliding & digging in when I am scooping pushing snow. That skid loader plate would be the ticket....I could use the forks & front blade on it!

Ken Macfarlane · Feb 19, 2014

They don't get around well in fields here. Too heavy for wet ground. Have seen some with large tractor tires retrofitted that do better.

Mike M · Feb 19, 2014

I know one thing about those type loaders even the smaller really old Michigan loaders can really lift ALOT of weight !

Anonymous-0 · Feb 19, 2014

I take a loader over a tractor

in-too-deep · Feb 19, 2014

My only complaint power-wise, is the bucket curl strength. The boom could lift lots, but it couldn't curl much back. Had no trouble with round bales but struggled with a big snow bucket in hard-frozen piles. I would lose traction before I would lose power, but it was snowy. May be a different story in gravel/dirt. It had an oil-cooled Duetz.

rockyridgefarm · Feb 19, 2014

Neighbor just tried out a small John Deere payloader. Was gonna trade the loader off his 4240 and his 320d two-speed skid steer. Loved the loader, hated the price. His only complaint (other than price) was the fact that it was quite slow - no faster than the skid steer. Ended up keeping the loader on the tractor and trading the 320d in for a 320e.

I have a Deere 317 skid steer and wouldn't be without it. They're just handy. I've run those Willmar Swingers and they're handy, too. That said, I don't think I'd have a skid steer or payloader as my primary "big" machine. Why don't you keep the 706 and look for a low cost skid steer to replace the loader?

in-too-deep · Feb 19, 2014

Been looking at New Holland W50TC, Wacker-Neuson WL37, or a Terex TL-65. Bout $50k for a new one. Someday...maybe.

7lazy77 · Feb 19, 2014

I definately can't afford a new one & even if I could afford one, I couldn't justify one with the little use it would get..... so I was looking into older models. This would be my first time looking at a payloader, so I know very little to nothing about them or the models. Any suggestions on what older "compact" models to look for??

in-too-deep · Feb 19, 2014

Try link.
Poke Here to Shop

the tractor vet · Feb 19, 2014

Well then i guess that idea is out . We have looked at Case W14's a couple 510515 Dressers and a Mich. Clark 55 and of all that we looked at the Clark was the best one but it had a Detroit and brake problems . I did see on In. Craigs list last evening and older Hough 65 articulated that sort perked the interest but i am sure that it would take a lot of work and money to make it into something dependable. Now if ya want to and have big bucks then yes they are out there tons of them . E/Bay dealers yep they have them . We could use a 2-3 yrd machine . as it would be faster then the old oliver we use now and a lot easier on my left knee from clutching . . most used loaders have tons of hours on them .

7lazy77 · Feb 19, 2014

Thanks!

Geo-TH,In · Feb 19, 2014

I don't have a payloader, instead I have a backhoe.

We got about 10 inches of wet snow, temp 30. I used backhoe remove the wet stuff. Then temps went to -14, we got about another 6 inches of dryer snow, winds, snow drifts. County decided not to do anything for about 3 days. The 10 inches of wet snow became Ice. The snow plows needed help. The county used their big payloaders to open the roads.

Not sure if a smaller payloader will work, but under worst case a big payloader will work.

Dick2 · Feb 19, 2014

I bought 2-1/2 yd. wheel loaders for ADOT on a guaranteed maintenance program with a guaranteed buy-back from the dealer. The dealers all had lists of dairy farms that were waiting to buy those loaders when the dealers bought them back after 7 years. These were all low-hour loaders in really good condition. Most of them were pre-sold before the dealer actually got them back.

oldtanker · Feb 19, 2014

A friend picked a payloader cheap at auction a couple of years ago. He had not planned on buying it but the price was so low he did figuring that he could resell it for more. Still isn't for sale. Another friend told him to fab a bale spear for it before he tried selling it, and use it for hay. He has sense had a local welder fab a quicktach and has a snow blade, bale spear and the bucket. He says he used the payloader more than any other machinery on his place. I have a backhoe and wouldn't be without one. But I'm thinking a smaller (2 1/2 yard) payloader wouldn't be too bad of a thing to own.

Rick

Pair-a-dice farm · Feb 19, 2014

I would say it's just a personal preference. The only one I've ever used was a neighbor's W14 Case. For loader work in a close area it worked great but was slow as smoke if you had to go very far. I've got a Terex backhoe that I use some for feeding hay but if the ground is muddy it's too heavy. For pushing snow or gravel I prefer the backhoe, for feeding hay I'll use a tractor JMO.

MSS3020 · Feb 19, 2014

Skidloader, Skidloader, Skidloader. I have about 550 feet drive to clear. the idiot (me) that built the house and shed and the other outbuildings happened to like where he put them until winter in which case 3 inches becomes drifts in various places along the stretch. Did the tractor blade thing for a few years...then bought a skidloader Case 1840. Let me tell you what..I have a large material bucket that I use for snow and If I put the chains on the back there has not been much that can stop it. I have bulldozed through 20 ft long drifts with that sucker.. only problem is drifts that are taller can poof back into the cab when your going through them.. But I can also carry and pile if I choose..

Traditional Farmer · Feb 19, 2014

You can run circles around a tractor/loader with a payloader using the loader.I have a small 4WD articulating loader and its very handy also have a couple farm tractors with loaders but farm tractors really weren't built for loaders they're just add ons.

bison · Feb 19, 2014

I have an 940 Allis loader,..don't know how got by before.
So much handier than a tractor for heavy stuff and moving/loading dirt, snow or manure
Got no fork for the loader so I still use the tractor for loading and feeding hay though

old · Feb 19, 2014

That is like comparing apples to oranges. A farm tractor is build for farm stuff a pay loader is built to do heavy duty work. A farm tractor with a loader is just that but a pay loader is made to stuff like building roads and rock work. Got an old Cat 950 4 wheel drive one sitting here that ran years ago but it 40K lbs so hard to use for much and do not run a dump truck any more

charlespretzer · Feb 19, 2014

I have a Cat 920 Wheel loader.I would never go back to a tractor loader. I like the up front view, & the "can't tear it up with a crow bar" ruggedness. It will move hay bales or dig dirt all day long.

VaTom · Feb 19, 2014

I was looking for a larger farm tractor when I first bumped into payloaders. Didn't take me long to forget farm tractors. My need is heavy loader work, tractor front pivots weren't made for that. I ended up with a Cat 944 (3 yd bucket), the answer to my dreams. Here, 2-3 times the tractor for 1/4 the price when non-articulated which is more stable on my mountain.

I kept my small tractor, for the PTO.

IlliniJohn · Feb 19, 2014

AGREE! and the attachments are endless.
Look at a rubber-tracked model.

ericlb · Feb 19, 2014

if you ever get a payloader youll love it, its only downfall is its weight, depending on how large of one you wind up with , look at it this way a farm tractor is just that, and with a loader it will do general light and medium duty loader work , a loader is a much more robust machine , it is basicly designed to be run into a unmovable wall every minute pickup a full bucket of material and leave, and do that for decades....

Pops1532 · Feb 19, 2014

Get a payloader, and get a set of forks for it.
Those old straight frame Michigan loaders were great for pushing snow. They're cheap, but parts availability might be an issue. I was offered a good looking one for $3500 and I would have bought it if SWMBO hadn't still been ticked at me for buying an old grader.
The old Ford A62, 64,66 are usually affordable. Parts availability might be an issue with them as well, but they were good machines in their day.

RodinNS · Feb 19, 2014

I've run wheel loaders a little bit... I wouldn't mind having one... but I don't think it's a substitute for a tractor in regards to what you want to do. You need to remember that a wheel loader is heavy and it's got rock tires that aren't worth a damn for working in soft ground conditions. They get stuck on a banana peel.... Plus you need to be very careful about getting one that is in good condition. Transmission problems are costed more in terms of what would be a major down payment on a new MFWD tractor in that class... Just something to think about...

Rod

Bret4207 · Feb 20, 2014

I grew up using a Hough HM straight body loader. I've used articulated too, but for the farm an old straight body would work fine and is cheaper. I sure would like to have that old loader today. They're just so much more than a skid steer or a farm loader. I bought a 1010 JD CLB but as nice as tracks are, tires are lots more useful in general terms.

payloader vs. tractor

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