Caterpillar Skid Loader Vs BobCat Skid Steer at the GIE-Expo

Stan: This is just a massive machine. You notice that they pointed out they all face you. They all face the operator. I love what you said, they're not hidden back here. He's a grease Nazi, I found out. They call me the black Nazi, here's the grease Nazi. Every eight hours. But if you're missing the zerk, if you can't find that zerk, do you think that zerk is gonna get greased in 8 hours? No, then what's gonna happen is your pin is gonna wear out. When that doesn't get changed in time, then your bushing's gonna wear out and then you've got a big dump.

Travis: With something like a grommet like that, matters. We figured that out with Bobcat, it's kind of what I like about the Caterpillars, that the attention to detail is there. The price is higher, but things like that are not really happening on a- She said every 50 hours one light's gonna go out.

Stan: Oh, on a Bobcat?

Travis: Yeah.

Stan: I buy used Bobcats all the time. 

Travis: The plate over the lights is a good solution, but dirt's gonna get in there and it's gonna be-

Speaker 3: Definitely better than what they had.

Travis: Yeah, what do you think, Stan?

Stan: I've never seen this before. I've never seen this before. 

Speaker 3: I've never seen those guards before either.

Travis: Yeah, I mean, they put this guard around this- [crosstalk 00:01:20].

Stan: To me it looks like a pretty weak fix for a design flaw. Okay, so they've obviously said, "Hey, we've got a design issue. Here's our solution." I don't even try to fix the lights anymore. Just forget it. Lights are mounted here, flush mount

Travis: Right back here.

Stan: Then they just pop out and it's like I can put it back in but in two hours it's gonna be out again or I can just forget about it. You give up when it comes to lights. And I buy all Bobcat. I absolutely love Bobcat, but-

Travis: We have two Bobcats.

Stan: Look at this. This is a way better [inaudible 00:01:52].

Travis: You can also put the [inaudible 00:01:54] really simple, just put the mesh on top of the lights. You don't have to deal with it. I also like that it locks down. I'm big into the security that no one can tamper with my machine on a job site, when I leave it on a job site. You open it up. One thing that I will say about it is you do have your camera here because the visibility out the back window is just not there. But the cameras are good. You have a pop-out for it. But the fuel filter here is super easy to service. We can drain it into a Dixie cup then spin it out. Yes, there's gonna be some diesel that's gonna leak in there and then the dust is gonna stick to the diesel. It's gonna get grimy, but it's somewhat out of the way. 

Stan: What about this track assembly. I wanna get your opinion on this and see what you think of this track assembly. 

Travis: So, I love how open the track is. So, in Florida we deal with a ton of sand. It's just like a sandy muck. It's like a concrete. It's a terrible soil.

Stan: We have clay in Minnesota, everybody's got their unique thing.

Travis: I love how open this is because the middle on our Bobcat tracks come up to here-

Stan: The same kind of tracks we were talking about.

Travis: Now you see what we were talking about. No clearance.

Stan: No clearance. No clearance to clean that out. You're gonna get dirt in there.

Travis: This right here cakes on this entire thing and you can't even spray it out with a pressure washer. That's how hard it gets. And think of all the stuff you've got up inside here. This is all open space under here.

Stan: Oh yeah, it will get up there.

Travis: You know we have a thin layer of mud that just rides and wears these teeth and sprocket out. I love that this should be self-cleaning. And if it's not, I can easily kick it and it will be a weak point. The Bobcat's tough to kick because it's really packed in there.

Stan: Yeah, you've gotta actually get a flat-nosed shovel and scrape it out or a pry bar or something to get in there and then you're also getting the teeth on the bottom because these come down at the same time when you're trying to clear because you don't have a lot of clearance. Your only drawback that I see to a track assembly like this is the ability for it to get loose.

Travis: And I know on the back that we take a piece off that is pretty much located here and we pop a grease fitting and it tightens up instantly. It tightens the track assembly. Meaning that it's one piece. It's heavy-duty. It's meant for serious job sites. I want the multi-terrain motor. It's a little bit more expensive. We do landscape supplies and so I'm on all types of peoples' lawns all day long delivering sod pallets and mulch pallets. And the neat thing-

Stan: And you're jumping curbs.

Travis: Constantly jumping curbs.

Stan: Constantly jumping curbs.

Travis: Sometimes a [inaudible 00:04:20] on a tree project or whatever, but there will be springs on a multi-terrain and it will come up and all of these ones come up so you can basically just snake over an obstacle.

Stan: Probably saves a few shovels too.

Travis: Saves some concrete too. I like that for jumping the curbs. But it is a more expensive option and it probably won't last as long.

Stan: So remember when you're shopping for a skid loader, you look at your track assembly and see what kind is gonna fit your needs. [inaudible 00:04:52]