# skid steer help



## MTINAZ (Jan 15, 2010)

Well I finally got a truck and now I begin my search for a forklift/skid steer. I have a couple questions. 
First- Do they make the 5th wheels only for bobcat or for other brands as well? How about the fork lift masts?

Second- What kind of lifting capacity/reach do I need and or want?

Thanks


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

What kind of truck and trailer do you have? How many pallets of hives can you get on your truck?


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

i personally have only seen crazy wheels on bobcats. not sayin that they can't be put on other machines, but have never seen it. we have one machine that has a clearview mast from A&O and absolutly hate it. all of the other machines have an Edwards mast that can reach 144 inches. hope you got a decent truck cuz with a diesel bobcat and good trailer you are looking at 7500-8000 lbs behind you


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## MTINAZ (Jan 15, 2010)

I got an f350 with the 7.3 diesel. It only has an 8 foot flat bed on it but might extend it. I was also hoping to get a long enough trailer to put some hives on the front of the trailer and then load the bobcat. Will have to see how the weight works out. The only time I see having a real big load is when we go to almonds next year.


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## Tim Stewart (Jul 19, 2009)

I have been looking at skid steers and am wondering if a smaller skidder would handle four hive pallets if I am not lifting drums of honey. All I have for a truck is an F350 with a 5.8 gas, so I don't want to pull a trailer, lift combo over 5,000lbs.

Tim Stewart


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

If you look around a 753 can be gotten pretty reasonably... but watch out for the number of hours on it. I doubt it and a trailer would make the 5000 lb limit one of you has. It would have to be a very small bobcat not to be able to handle a pallet with 4 hives.


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## Allen Martens (Jan 13, 2007)

I have a New Holland L125 which weighs under 2000 lbs and regularly move 4 hives at a time with it. These are singles but I often move with a deep super. If the super is full of honey I need to be a little careful. Works well for my needs but won't work for loading a semi.

Loading a semi with honey is no problem with this skid steer.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

To me an F-350 w/ an 8 ft bed is too small to be worthwhile. I don't know what you can safely carry and pull w/ that truck. I have a long wheelbase F-450 (14' bed) and pull a trailer w/ a 753 Bobcat on it. 

Twenty pallets of two story colonies on the truck and maybe some equipment on the front end of the trailer and then the Bobcat. That's enuf of a load for me. I figure any hives on the trailer are going to get beat up by the ride, so I keep that to a minimum occurance.


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## mnbeekeeper (Jun 30, 2010)

ive said it before and ill say it again. 610 bobcat late 70s early 80s. lite weight but can handle the weight. pull that behind a 5500 cummins with a 16ft flat bed. only way to go. lol for us anyways. you can get a 610 these days for around 3500 to 4500 bucks depending on shape. we pick up stacks of doubles 4 high off the semi. but if they come out of almonds heavy it wont!! i will say i do like the idea of having more power and a diesel motor but they weigh so much. compare a 3500lb 610 behind your truck to a 7000 lb 763. you will notice it. i have thought a tail wheel on any bobcat even if it doesnt have a mast would be a huge benifit.


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## Mtn. Bee (Nov 10, 2009)

If you get a skid steer definitely get a bobcat as all the attachments they make fit them.
I have been trying to find a quick attach forklift frame for my Toyota skid steer and can't find one anywhere in the country! 
I got sick of looking and decided to hire someone to weld one up for me. ( I already own 2 sets of forks). 
I was told by one of the major attachment dealers that pre-1994 all different brands of skidsteer loaders had different measurements on there quick attach set ups, so you were obligated to buy there attachments only! 
Well good luck finding attachments for all these old skid steers!
He then stated that in 1994 they standardized so that all the modern/fancy/expensive attachments fit them all. As my luck would have it my yota is somewhere in the late 80's model (Broke Beek, need to sell more honey). Also going to put crazy wheel on back of yota, but it will have to be fab'd for it, as the rear doors (weird vents) are all different than a Bobcat.
My Yota weighs in at around 5,300 lbs. and am planning on towing on 16' trailer behind old 1977 F-350 gas (351M) dually with a 12' flatbed! (poor Beeks outfit)!
Been looking at all those nice new Dodge Cummins that all those (well to do Beeks drive). If I can start selling more honey, mmmmm looks like I could afford one maybe in the yr. 2020 and it will be a 90's model! 
So I will still have a poor Beeks outfit! 
Go Bobcat so you don't run into the problems that I have been cursed with!


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## Tim Stewart (Jul 19, 2009)

I was looking at something like a bobcat 530 w/ a 800lb capacity. I don't know of many pallets in my area that would average 200lbs each, and weigh about 3000lbs, so in combination with a tip trailer could easily weigh less than 5000lbs, making for easy towing, and still capable of doing anything I need it to. There are smaller skidders with only 600lb capacity that weigh about 2100, but i think the slightly larger machine would be less tippy, and easier on the bees

Tim Stewart


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## MTINAZ (Jan 15, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. Any Idea on the reach of the smaller machines, as I hope to load semis with it.


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

http://www.equipmenttraderonline.com/find/listing/2001-BOBCAT-Model-753-97757266
If its for beekeeping this is a Bobcat that is ready to go.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

If you are going to load semis, get the bigger/heavier machine. Or you can go w/ a lighter machine w/ the 5th wheel. I've seen David Hackenberg pickup a pallet of deeps of honey 6 to a layer stacked 4 high and set it on a semi w/ a Bobcat smaller and older than mine, but w/ a 5th wheel and a mast.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Trevor Mansell said:


> http://www.equipmenttraderonline.com/find/listing/2001-BOBCAT-Model-753-97757266
> If its for beekeeping this is a Bobcat that is ready to go.


There ya go folks, thats the real deal for less than half the cost of a new Hummer.


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

pretty nice machine and low hours!!! i am fairly sure if you had to buy a new mast and crazy wheel you would have close to $6000 invested from the start. i would be taking that dumb seat bar out of it.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Really Greg? Isn't that dangerous? Would the machine operate w/out it? You'd probably have to do some work on the wiring, I imagine.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

gregstahlman said:


> i would be taking that dumb seat bar out of it.


You have never speeded down a sloped driveway lifting a full bucket of heavy soil up to dump in a truck, start to tip over, and have your brains strained through that steel mesh at the top of the cage. I have twice, and backed into my own trench with hoe on, tipping the whole rig on it's side. You full time beekeepers have easy bobcating. Try digging complicated trenches and foundations on a building site, with one of those backhoe attachments on the front. You begin to appreciate bars and seat belts. Bobcatter since 1982.


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

i completely understand that a seat bar is necessary for dirt work. i have a T-190 that we use for snow and dirt and i would never operate it without the seat bar. but i am talking about removing it for a machine that is completely set up for just for bee work. not like you are blastin around the bee yard full speed hitting bumps and trenches. and i would like to note that us bee guys have it harder than everyone thinks when it comes to running loaders. not much fun loading semi's when you think about the potential thousands of dollars that a stack of bees is worth. wouldn't be much fun to dump a whole stack over. hopefully it never happens to me


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

So what is the advantage of doing away w/ the bar? I'm missing something.


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

I dont know ,there is something about getting out of my Bobcat and my foot slipping onto one of the pedals and crushing me . Hydraulics are very unforgiving.


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## Beetrucker74 (Oct 10, 2010)

Do not take the lap bar out:no:. I was loading an old bobcat 642b onto a drop deck trailer one night useing a set of ramps. Got amost to the top and I didn't have the ramp in the rubrail just right and it popped out rolled the bobcat over onto its side with a 3 food drop. If the lap bar was out I would have bin hurt badly but got luck with just being knock around a bit because the lap bar kept me from being thrown around inside the cab.

Other note it is luckly other bobcat was there. We just sliped forks under cab and put her on her feet. Luckly I didn't panic as it went over I reach up and shut her down, let it sit for 20 minutes(had to let fluids drain down out of top side) check fluids, fired it up put ramps back in place and I got back in and put her on the tailer and chained it down.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Trevor Mansell said:


> I dont know ,there is something about getting out of my Bobcat and my foot slipping onto one of the pedals and crushing me . Hydraulics are very unforgiving.


Been there, almost done that, when the bar came down while I was exiting the machine, while it was still running. Pretty scary. Now I use a bungy cord to keep the bar up and I turn off the machine.


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## HONEYDEW (Mar 9, 2007)

> So what is the advantage of doing away w/ the bar? I'm missing something.


 no "true" advantage other than saving a few seconds here and there, Imagine going to the fair, and on the roller coaster telling them no thanks on that lap bar I'm a real man.... :lookout:


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

Lap Bars are for little girls and housewives .


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

it was merely a suggestion and didn't know it was gonna be a big deal. we have had bobcats for moving bees since 1980 and everyone is still alive and has all their limbs. just thought i would state my opinion considering i have move more bees with a bobcat than 99% of the people on here. but then again what do i know


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Trevor Mansell said:


> Lap Bars are for little girls and housewives .


HEY!! Watch it. I'm a little girl and housewife. And I always wear a lapbar. 

It says right there on the machine "Avoid Death". i read signs and usually do as told. It's when I don't that I get in trouble.

Little Girls and Housewives Unite!!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

gregstahlman said:


> but then again what do i know


I imagine you know alot. Otherwise you wouldn't have spoken up. So, tell us what you know. Why did you suggest Lapbar Removal? Have you done it? If so, is your insurance any good? What is the advantage? I really want to know. Besides, you brought it up.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Beekeeping 101 starts here.


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

alrighty then, i have seen bobcats set up 2 different ways. the first way is a machine fitted with a mast but the cage on the side of the cab is not cut out. the operator must crawl between the mast and the cab to enter the machine. this is the most ridiculous and dangerous thing possible. my dad knew a beekeeper back in the 80's that got his head smashed between the mast and top of the cab by leaving the machine running while exiting. killed him instantly. the other way is a machine with a mast that has the cage cut out. operator must step on the tire and enter through the side. maybe it's just me but i doesn't look very easy to maneuver around the lap bar arms when it is in the up position. as far as bypassing the lap bar, im not going to give details on how to do away with it because i don't want to be held accountable for anything


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

How many of you have ever seen a keeper wearing a seat belt on a swinger ?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

gregstahlman said:


> as far as bypassing the lap bar, im not going to give details on how to do away with it because i don't want to be held accountable for anything


That's understandable. I bet you don't let help run the machine either, right?

I know a guy here in NY that got his head smashed that way too. He survived and is doing alright now. But I bet his family knows he isn't totally back to normal.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Haven't hardly been around a Swinger. But I don't know anyone who wears a Safety Belt on a Bobcat. Do you?


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

sqkcrk said:


> Haven't hardly been around a Swinger. But I don't know anyone who wears a Safety Belt on a Bobcat. Do you?


I usually do, but I don't move bees, I dig dirt. I also lift boxed trees which are close to tipping weight. The new bobcats turn off all controls when the bar is raised. Like I said, I have had several close calls but not killed or maimed yet, and don't want to be.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bobcat+accidents&aq=0


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## MTINAZ (Jan 15, 2010)

The link did not work anymore. I think I might just buy a 18-20 foot trailer and maybe rent a skid steer for the first while just to save some $$. Lots of big expenditures in the spring with no $ until fall.


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

gregstahlman said:


> alrighty then, i have seen bobcats set up 2 different ways. the first way is a machine fitted with a mast but the cage on the side of the cab is not cut out. the operator must crawl between the mast and the cab to enter the machine. this is the most ridiculous and dangerous thing possible. my dad knew a beekeeper back in the 80's that got his head smashed between the mast and top of the cab by leaving the machine running while exiting. killed him instantly. the other way is a machine with a mast that has the cage cut out. operator must step on the tire and enter through the side. maybe it's just me but i doesn't look very easy to maneuver around the lap bar arms when it is in the up position. as far as bypassing the lap bar, im not going to give details on how to do away with it because i don't want to be held accountable for anything


We cut the side of the cage out to see down the side of the pallet ,not to get in and out of the loader. The old 610's or as we call them "helicopter loaders" had enough room to enter from the sides. I've seen new loaders with the entire cage cut off but I don't know something about a 3/4" lid hitting the top of my head sounds painful.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I had a whole pallet flip over and land on top of the cab, last year. Boy am I glad that cab was there. This wouldn't have happened if my machine had a mast.


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## Tim Stewart (Jul 19, 2009)

Can you climb _through_ a clearview mast? If so that would be easier that through a cut cage or between the mast and cage. Just my 2 cents.

Tim Stewart


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## Beetrucker74 (Oct 10, 2010)

If the mast is mounted right you just tip it forward and go in and out the front. I don't wear a seat belt but use the lap bar, some orchards can be steep and rough.


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