Ever seen a small vehicle used to move supplies, soil and even to blow snow? It is also the one that has a lifter attached to its front. Yes, the one called a Skid Steer.
Skid Steers are known to be very versatile vehicles; they are easy to get into a yard, move around quickly and use less fuel than a big vehicle, like a backhoe. Because of its small size, they’re easier to transport to job locations by simply hauling them on a pick-up truck. An advantage of owning a vehicle such as a skid steer is that they can have different attachments added to increase the range of activities they can perform.
They are widely used especially in the winter time because they can be attached with a snow mover, a snow blower, snow plow, or even a snow pusher. However, there was a problem in using a skid steer before; having an open cab makes it impossible to be used in the winter time. Thankfully, today, seeing the problem, manufacturers quickly remedied it. Skid loaders have developed fully enclosed cabs to protect the operator from harm and from the cold.
For those who are thinking of purchasing a skid steer loader for their company, or even for personal use, you might find the price a bit of a disappointment. Yes, they do cost a lot. But if you really want to own one, you can always purchase used skid steers.
A used skid steer is a great buy. However, when considering purchasing one of these machines, their value is measured in the amount of hours they have been run. If a machine is more than 500 hours ‘old’, meaning it has put in 500 hours of work, its value drops to half of the value it has when it is new. While the resale value drops, it remains relatively steady.
But just to make sure, like any used vehicle purchase, it is a good idea to get a professional mechanic’s opinion before purchasing a used skid steer. Enclosed cabs, on the other hand may be a lot harder to look, if you’re thinking of purchasing a second hand one.
Just like my friend who started a snow removal business for the upcoming winter; he basically will be clearing sidewalks in strip malls with his skid steer, also doing driveways etc. However he doesn’t have an enclosed cab and don’t have heat. He joked around that for this first winter, he would have to bundle up and suck it up without an enclosed cab. Which is probably a very dumb idea. You see, his machine is a Thomas 153, and he just can’t find any cab enclosures for that model. He called Thomas and they want $2800 for the enclosure kit-way too much. All he can afford is around $800. I told him to search for used skid steer enclosed cabs, but sadly, he could not find a model that fits in his Thomas 153.
Persistent as we are, we continued to look around. We searched for different places where you can find cheap construction equipments/machineries. Checking online is also a way to look for used skid steer enclosed cabs for sale. You could try visiting some local dealers on heavy equipment machines; they could give you an idea on where to purchase used or second hand ones. There are plenty of ways to look for possible places to buy heavy machines such as: looking into auction houses and checking with your local construction company, they might have some equipment they would like to dispose or replace.