skid steer

iam starting to look at skid steers. my son says I only want a track machine.but I don't know enough about tire machine verus track machine or how much trouble adding steel tracks to tires are, I do know tire machines are much cheaper,i will be using it load gravel or dirt and site work on dirt, thanks for any input

There is so many viable's to them There are some so small as to have 14HP Koler engines on them or as big as having 75 plus HP. Many you can add tracks to. Track can be good or they can be bad. Tire machines do not hurt pavement and cement etc. but track machines can. My advise if look, look and then look some more and maybe even talk to people who own them and see if you can find some one to show you how they work or go rent one for a day and see how you like them. By the way they can be very hard on your back and if your not careful they can become a bucking machine. By the way BTDT on many of them

In my experience with steel tracks over the tires is, they are heavy and will eat the tires eventually. Not really hard to put on but heavy. Rubber tracked machines ride smooth and provide pretty good stability. If I was buying one for myself I would buy a rubber tracked machine. Definitely have to keep the tracks cleaned out in the winter if it freezes where you are. As with any tracked machine of mud is left in them it will be stuck solid until you can thaw it out

Steel tracks will really tear up the ground when turning.

If you are thinking new or late model, then you are talking a pretty good chunk of change. Might be good investment to rent one for a day or two like one you think you like.

Rent one of each and then decide. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Size matters too.

When I bought mine, the bobcat dealer told me not to get rubber tracks if it would be used on gravel or rocks very much. A neighbor bought one on rubber and when the tracks wore out the rollers were shot too. When he priced tracks and rollers he sold it and got a rubber tire machine. I have rubber tires and use metal tracks in the winter and if I buy another I will get the same thing.

I use rubber tires for most of what we do and they work fine. Going to push snow? Tires.

I do have a favorite skid loader of mine I bought new, a new holland 170. It has prowler stealth tracks over the tires and they are awesome. Rubber pads on steel. They go anywhere and won?t tear up concrete. We use it for wet work and for grading. Tracks help to stay level and keep traction.

If you need tracks get real ones.

big daddy you may want to cost out tires verses tracks before you make up your mind, my case 1845c is on wheels and a new set of tires are about $250.00 each, or $1000.00 for all 4. my friend who owns a landscaping business has put on 3 sets of tracks, rollers and sprockets at $7000.00/side. by the time the tracks are done so are the rollers, idlers and sprockets are done also.

I have operated skid-loaders for many years, tracks are nice if you can afford them. Skid-loaders moved a lot of dirt before tracks were ever put on them.

I have a 216 Cat and a 247 Cat. Wheels and tracks. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Simple thing I was told early on, If you can get down on it and roll around bare back, it is ok for the tracks. Tracks shred easy in gravel. You want to steer it like a tractor, no zero turns.
I made a serious mistake and let a fellow borrow my tracked machine to trench in a water line by his barn. Found out he was running it all over the region. He destroyed the tracks. No point in suing the guy, he has already been sued by every one who could afford a liar err lawyer, and will never have much.
Another thing to consider is differences in controls. Case vs Bobcat vs Caterpillar vs... people have preferences. Swing through a new development and talk to the operators, you might get an ear full.

Not having used one before I also had the same question. I asked a friend who owns a excavating business. He said if you plan to use it in the winter on ice the rubber track is no good. They park all their rubber tracked skid loaders in the winter. I went with a New Holland L218 used with rubber wheels. It has worked fine for what I do (horse manure, move big square bales and move snow.

tracy brown has the best advice, rent both and try them out, also drive different types to see what controls you like.
Tired machines buck more and don't go well in mud, they'll rut down and belly out, other than tire replacement cost there's little maintenance to the drive line.
Track machines do less damage to the surface they're working on, have a much better ride and will go places a tired machine won't even start to go to.
Tired machines with steel tracks over the tires will go better in wet grass and slick mud than rubber tracks but do more damage to the surface when turning.
Also track machines are different amongst brands and track designs.

I have a track machine and love it, but I also know that I can destroy the under carriage if I abuse it.
When I bought the machine it was 2 years old with 800 hrs on it, someone had used it in a demolition site and destroyed the tracks.
I got the machine cheap and doing the work myself I spent a little over $7000 replacing bearings and seals in the bogies along with new wheels and tracks. Today that cost will bee around $10k
I've put 2000 hrs on the machine and the tracks have around 50% wear, one track has a cut in the side where I slid it sideways into a sharp object, the other has a chunk torn out of the thread where I spun it on some limestone rocks while digging a tree stump out. Both times were my fault where I got over aggressive with it. I make long slow turns in large #3-4 stone to keep it from getting up inside the tracks and will not operate it in sites with broken concrete or rebar sticking out.

A friend has a Deere 325, 76 hp, 8400 lbs on tires, he mainly uses it on hard surface and gravel, he'll wear out a set of tires in 3-400 hrs.
Another friend has a Cat 246, 75 hp, 7400 lbs on tires with steel tracks, he only uses it in dirt but has worn out a set of tires and tracks in under 1000 hrs.
My ASV RC85 is 85 hp, 9500 lbs, I needed a bigger machine for it's hydraulic flow capacity.
Some skid steers today have over 120 hp and weigh over 11000 lbs.

Look around rent some different models to see which one you like the best.

Also depending on how much you plan to use one you may be better off just renting one when you need it.

I have a Case 1840. Wouldnt be without it..and not to mention fun to run.. I have never ran a track machine but have heard from landscapers that they are better on terf then wheels..(wont tear up as bad or sink in as bad)

I have no reason for tracks as if its wet It stays put.. I generally dont run on pavement either mainly around the farm and gravel..

Once you have one you wont know how you got along without it..