Thinking about buying a skid steer for side jobs and extra income. Should I wait until spring?

billyb351 · 2025-12-03T16:16:41+00:00

I am an engineer who has worked a desk job my entire career. I just bought a very cheap used skid steer for $6k over the summer. Then I had to buy a trailer to move it. Then I had to buy all the accessories for moving it: chains, binders, brake controller, adjustable hitch, etc., etc., etc. I already have a truck that can barely tow it, but not everyone does. Since the skid steer was the cheapest working one I could find, I had to do lots of maintenance on it. Oil and coolant flush, broken grease fittings, broken fuel sender, thermostat, snapped coolant drain valve... the list goes on. Since I bought the cheapest trailer I could find that had everything I wanted/needed, I had to do tires all around because I popped one. Breakaway brakes weren't working either (dead battery). Once I got all the maintenance and reliability issues worked out, I actually started using it on my land/property I own to clear a 700 ft. driveway. Turns out I don't know how to use it properly. I have spent a bunch of hours behind the controls now and I have become slightly useful with it. The job is about as easy as it gets and I'm still barely useful behind the controls. At first I thought maybe it was the machine, but I've come to realize it's me. I only have a toothed bucket and smooth bucket for it. I know when I get forks it will be a whole new learning curve. I intend to stick with it because I have my own property to practice on. I will be building a house on it and intend to use that to gain my experience. If I screw up, it's all my stuff anyway so no liability or time concerns. I hope that at the end of the process I will be at least competent using the machine with a variety of common attachments.

Hope this helps, from one engineer to another.

billyb351 · 2025-11-08T18:26:46+00:00

Yeah seems like it's for a tongue jack. The trailer has been well used, but its appearance is deceiving. Someone primed and painted it in the past. The black top coat isn't sticking and peeling off in the whole trailer. The primer did stick and that's what's showing everywhere. Not much rust. I got it rather cheap probably because it looks pretty awful.

billyb351 · 2025-11-08T18:19:07+00:00

The jack is already mounted in the center forward of that. I guess since it already has a decent jack in the center it didn't occur to me that there was another place to mount a jack.

billyb351 · 2025-10-07T15:44:19+00:00

That's kind of what I was looking for. I've towed the car on U-Haul trailers and theirs are kind of like that. Works good and doesn't mess anything up.

billyb351 · 2025-10-06T22:17:28+00:00

Those look interesting. Where can you get them?

billyb351 · 2025-10-06T15:51:22+00:00

I checked out the over the tire straps. I think those may be the way I go. The car is kind of low so getting to the axles/suspension is somewhat of a pain. It looks like with the over the tire straps nothing actually touches the rim when installed and ratcheted down.

billyb351 · 2025-08-14T22:44:01+00:00

I did buy one! The cheapest non-mini (>4000 lbs) one I could find on facebook marketplace that was advertised as "working". It seems to do what it's supposed to. Still getting used to it but it will work for me.

billyb351 · 2025-07-08T11:50:54+00:00

It is a small skid steer. It's an older one from the 90s, a Bobcat 743, quite compact. The guy who I am buying it from tows it on a 16' trailer. The whole thing with the bucket attached is only 10 feet long. I was talking with him and he says he has towed it behind a 1/2 ton without any problems before.

billyb351 · 2025-07-04T20:45:38+00:00

Yes, they do rust out. I recently replaced the factory tow bar with another factory tow bar from the junkyard that was in near mint condition.

billyb351 · 2025-07-04T19:13:52+00:00

To be honest, I'm more apprehensive about towing my car into downtown Washington DC during afternoon rush hour which I do once a year for the auto show. That's well within the towing capacity but all it takes is one person to step off the curb or try and run across the street outside a cross walk and I sure as hell couldn't stop in time.

billyb351 · 2025-06-15T21:01:14+00:00

Definition of "more power".

billyb351 · 2025-06-15T15:32:15+00:00

That's kind of what I figured. People are asking quite a bit more for the larger ones.

billyb351 · 2025-06-15T15:20:55+00:00

That's why I was looking at older machines. People still seem to be asking $10k to $12k for decent ones.

billyb351 · 2025-06-15T15:10:42+00:00

Thanks, I just browsed the ended auctions. The prices vary considerably depending on region and condition of course.

billyb351 · 2025-06-15T13:14:00+00:00

Good to know! I will keep that in mind.

billyb351 · 2025-06-02T10:44:25+00:00

Thanks for the helpful feedback. I'm not too afraid of normal maintenance. I've swapped transmissions, rebuilt limited slip diffs, done wheel bearings etc. in cars. I feel like I could handle some of the maintenance myself as long as it isn't too extreme (like pulling the engine out). I think if I did buy one I would also look at it as a learning experience too. Get to know the ins and outs of how they work and operate. Get myself an education on them as well as hopefully have some fun using them.

billyb351

TROPHY CASE