Bobcat

[nickk]

Anyone have much experience of these,I’ve seen a digger of the right size/price,thinking parts prices/accessibility. Thanks.

 

[Welderpaul]

Go for the JCB one rather than Bobcat.....

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Used to be good machines but I think they’ve been surpassed by many others from the big names

 

[Welderpaul]

This is a pretty decent comparison between the two brands.

 

[TechnicAl]

I hired one to dig out a drive.....bucket wouldnt go in....just lifted the cab.......had to do it pick and shovel

 

[Welderpaul]

I hired one to dig out a drive.....bucket wouldnt go in....just lifted the cab.......had to do it pick and shovel

Its the wrong machine to dig, they are a shovel. You'd have been better with a mini digger.

 

[hermetic]

Paul is right, they will level and shovel off a flat surface, or dig into a bank, but will not dig below their wheels, or at least, not easily, you can rake up the surface with the bucket tines going backwards, then skim it, or angle the bucket down slightly and lift the front wheels off and scrape, but it is slow going, and it is not the right machine for digging below its wheels, JCB if there is room mini digger if not, and I would go with JCB over bobcat as well. We used to hire loads of different makes, my personal favourite was the Owatonna, Bobcats tended to be a bit underpowered. Nearly bought a recon Bobcat from the Leeds depot, but the business changed and it didnt happen!

 

[brewdexta]

I've got a small Bobcat S100. I can't really compare it with much else, I occasionally drive the neighbours Daewoo but that is a much bigger beast and rarely sees any grease being a farmers tool.

The bobcat is OK for my needs. I wanted one for three reasons. First to get behind the house to build the boiler room, its very narrow and there was a lot of block/stone/aggregate to move. Clear the driveway of snow and dirt, it does that very well with the brush and blower. And finally lifting IBC cages of firewood and pallets of pellets for the boilers. Its fine with an IBC of firewood, right on its 500kg limit, but with pellets it will only take a half pallet. Not a big deal as I have now improved access to the boiler room with concrete ramps and I can get a full pallet down the side of the house and into the boiler room on a pallet truck.

No major gripes apart from the paint, could be thicker, tends to chip easily and go rusty, when I picked it up from the dealership they had part of the warehouse kitted out for spraying them, looks like Bobcat could do better in this department. I should have bought the auto levelling feature where the forks or bucket stay in the same angle when you lift the arm. Not a big deal for my use, you get used to moving it manually.

I have a 3 in 1 bucket for it that I used once in anger, I should get it sold. Only other attachment is a 3 point linkage for the front so I can drive the log splitter. I had this made, complete with tow hitch so I can use it for moving trailers around in the yard.

 

[Bornfree]

I look after a 763 bobcat it's got a 4 cylinder Kubota engine. It's incredibly reliable but it's an absolute pig to work on so it's a good thing that they rarely give any troubles.

 

[Robbie260]

Anyone have much experience of these,I’ve seen a digger of the right size/price,thinking parts prices/accessibility. Thanks.

What exactly are you looking for nick, skid steer, mini ex, wheeled loader, backhoe? What do you intend doing with it? What size range as well anything that can be towed behind a standard pickup is going to come at a premium.

 

[nickk]

A 2-2.5 tonne digger,just jobbing around my ground,no need to leave the joint,actually the bigger the machine,the more reddies,I look on e bay mainly,also catlowdy carriages,as recommended by a forum member.

 

[Robbie260]

A 2-2.5 tonne digger,just jobbing around my ground,no need to leave the joint,actually the bigger the machine,the more reddies,I look on e bay mainly,also catlowdy carriages,as recommended by a forum member.

Generally that gose against the usual grain of things in machinery. You will be looking about £10,000 for a mini ex that is not worn out or so old it's considered a scrap pile. There are some of the Chinese brands that are making reasonable machines such as Carter, lui gong, and sunward (teal colour machines). @8ob knows a hell of a lot more on the subject than I do he may be able to give you some pointers. Good dealer and parts availability is always the main consideration for these things so see who's closer to you may effect your choice of machine. You will usually get a machine that's in much better condition with lower hours if you look in the 3.5 ton plus bracket for your money.

 

[8ob]

Good dealer and parts availability is always the main consideration for these things so see who's closer to you may effect your choice of machine. You will usually get a machine that's in much better condition with lower hours if you look in the 3.5 ton plus bracket for your money.

Thats pretty much it Robbie. I know a lot of guys into plant hire and the general concensus is a smaller machine is good for about three thousand hours before needing money spent on it, thats normally when they get moved on and worth bearing in mind. A friend runs Bobcats and he rates them.

Bob

 

[Adam Marshall]

I have a bobcat mini digger 1.7 ton had an antique machine before that I bought at an auction no tracks but could be towed behind a 4x4. It made such a mess on jobs it had to go, il try dig out some pics.

 

[Adam Marshall]

Just before new owners picked it up

 

[Robbie260]

Thats pretty much it Robbie. I know a lot of guys into plant hire and the general concensus is a smaller machine is good for about three thousand hours before needing money spent on it, thats normally when they get moved on and worth bearing in mind. A friend runs Bobcats and he rates them.

Bob

Cheers bob. Another point I forgot to add is the +3.5 ton machines usually benefit from having had a genuine trained operator at the helm, that should have done thier checks each day and greased the machine properly, though that ain't garunteed it's more likely it won't have been left in the hands of a DIYer Weekend warrior or any old builders labourer who won't have looked after or cared about the machine.

 

[addjunkie]

You will pay a premium for a 2.5 ton machine as its about as big as you can tow behind a pickup, they are also not that common. Id go on condition over brand anyday espescially on things that get abused.

 

[sako243]

Having gone through the process recently I'd concur with the above thoughts. Going bigger than 2.5t so it's no longer towable and there's a comparatively big saving.

As an all-rounder a JCB style machine can't really be beaten in my opinion apart from if you're always working on slopes they need to be treated with respect. My "little" 2CX is a very handy machine to have. Supposedly it'll lift close to 2t on the front (not yet found the official figure) but it's handled 1.5t with ease. With the extra dig on the back she'll dig deeper than my father's 3.5t IHI (which for its weight actually has a massive boom and will lift its near enough its own weight which is unusual).

The 6 in 1 (as the manual refers to it) on the front will dig, grade, blade, back drag, grab so incredibly handy. I've used it as a log grab to shift stuff around for example. The 2CX also benefits from 4 wheel steer as well as 4 wheel drive so will turn tighter than almost every car and at 6ft wide will fit into some amazingly tight spaces. But side slopes are a killer for it, I've very nearly had it over on quite a gentle one but with some weight up high.

Interestingly I've got Dad's 4t dumper over at the moment and one of their neighbours wanted some hardcore gone so Dad collected it to build a road into a forestry. The neighbours tractor with loader needed a small ramp built in order for it to be able to tip stuff out into the dumper. Dad was concerned I wouldn't be able to tip into it - he didn't need to worry because actually I can get the bucket to twice the height of the dumper and also have the bonus of not having to tip but can open the clamshell if needed. I think the previous owner was able to load his 32t grain lorry with it so shows how capable it is.

Anyway if the vast majority of stuff you're going to do is digging then I'd say go for a >3t 360, unless you're always working in tight spots bigger is nearly always better. If you can see a mixture of stuff from moving things with a bit of digging then I'd say a JCB style machine.

I know of a 13t that's old but reliable and in good shape that was up for sale for not much more than scrap value. Equally I do know of a 2CX Streetmaster (same as mine so top of the line) which needs some work (front hub needs rebuilding and there was a dodgy electrical connection to gearbox) but the pins etc are in very good nick. The Street masters are like rocking horse poo but if I had to have one machine it would be that, unless I had more space then I'd go up to a 3CX or 4CX.

 

[brewdexta]

Although probably pointless as the OP needs a digger not a skid steer, here's mine with the brush on.

 

[dobbslc]

I don't know why but this thread had me looking at mini diggers, power dumpers etc on Ebay this morning! I don't need one at all....
I need to stay away from the forum.
I need to stay away from the forum.
I need to stay away from the forum.