Compare Every Manufacturer’s Skid Steers in Our 2019 Spec Guide
Skid steers are one of the oldest and most famous American-made equipment categories. Borne out of the Midwest farming industry in the 1950s, and never really that popular outside of North America, skid steers used to be the benchmark for compact hydraulic tool carrier sales in the United States until its compact cousin — the compact track loader (which you can learn about on pages 42 to 56) — started outpacing skid steer sales. We’ve heard sales for tracked machines were in the whopping 64,000-unit range in America for 2018. Skid steer unit sales were steady at around 34,000ish last year.
Skid steers use wheels, while track loaders use tracks. That’s the big difference. Both categories have the ability to run hundreds of attachments off their powerful auxiliary hydraulic systems. High-flow hydraulic systems originated in the 1980s to power larger niche attachments, and today it’s a popular option for high-powered skid steer operations. Flow ranges from 16 to 45 gpm.
Along with hydraulic power, operator usability, high technologies, increased comfort and improved efficiency have been priority upgrades for all of these manufacturers over the past several years (along with Tier 4 Final engines). Pressurized cabins, adjustable seats, backup cameras and ergonomic controls make operators feel like they are in the driver’s seat of their own cars. Routine tasks such as boom settings and wheel speeds can be automated with electro-hydraulic (EH) joysticks. Choices abound in style, brand, size and power, but the most important choice might be a vertical- or radial-lift machine. For forklift-type and loading applications, the vertical lift does a great job, but heavier digging and attachment applications tend to be better suited for radial lift.
Skid steers can be found in a multiplicity of markets. Farming. Road work. Landscaping. Snow removal. Our personal favorite: Stevedoring — the loading and unloading of cargo ships — which can be done with a skid steer and a remote-control operating system in precarious aggregate-moving applications. Adding to that diversity of applications is an expansive market of at least 14 major brands of skid steers and track loaders being sold in North America in 2019: ASV, Bobcat, Case, Cat, Gehl, JCB, John Deere, Kubota, LiuGong, Mustang by Manitou, New Holland and lots more. Read about all of them below.
