What’s your preferred skid-steer brand?
Derek Madden
Vice President, Go Green
West Chester, Pa.
We just switched to Cat. We use them primarily for commercial snow removal. They’re more comfortable, and all of them have backup cameras. That’s really nice so I’m not turning my neck, and I don’t feel like I can only turn one way by the end of the day when I get out. It’s almost like riding around in a Cadillac as opposed to being in a piece of equipment. You have heat, Bluetooth radio, a backup camera, and they just seem really well built.
Josh Perkins
President, Plant Studio Landscapes
Muncie, Ind.
We were running a different brand, but we just switched to John Deere for two reasons. One, we needed a provider close to service our machine and the one close to us dropped our previous brand. Second, we saved more than 3,000 pounds in gross weight by switching to a John Deere 317G, getting us into a light trailer. I can’t speak for all states but in Indiana, if we stay at gross vehicle weight rating 25,999 pounds or less, no commercial driver’s license is required. Our 317 does everything we need, and we are happy with it.
Jerry NeSmith
Co-owner, NeSmith Landscapes
Tallahassee, Fla.
A lot of the smaller skid-steers are very popular. Some of the mini skids, though, cannot lift pallets of pavers. They’re versatile in the attachments, but they can’t unload and load pallets of pavers like you need and move them very well. There are some companies that make larger mini skids that now move full pallets. We use a John Deere skid-steer, a 325G. It can move and lift and dig material.
