Basic CTL Questions

lundi 28 juillet 2014

Guys-I am new to the forum here and for the most part, new to heavy equipment. I am in the market for a compact track loader. I was hoping you guys could give me some guidance.



First of all, I don't do this for a living and never will. This machine will be used around my home, farm, and rental properties for various tasks. I know right now I will be using it for a retaining wall project where it will be shuttling dirt and loading some dirt into a dump truck. I will also be putting out some rip rap at a lakehouse, moving pallets of blocks, doing some grading and excavating around my home, etc.



My first question is radial vs. vertical lift pattern. I have done some research and it seems like a real toss up. I think overall the radial would probably suit the majority of my needs better but I know I will be loading some dirt into a dump truck so want to make sure it is able to do that. I know the vertical lift machines excel at this a little better while the radials are preferred for ground level work. But, can you do either with either machine? Is there one that would be more versatile for general miscellaneous use?



My next question is whether I go with a new one or a used one. I have the means to buy a new one but feel silly doing that because I'm never going to put thousands of hours on it. You could argue that if I buy new it would maintain it's value because of low hours and light use but you could also argue to buy a machine with 2K or 3K hours on it that I will probably still never wear out. Any thoughts on new vs. used, how they hold their value, etc. are appreciated.



If I do go with a used machine, where is the best place to find them? I don't see much of anything on craigslist and I'm kind of afraid of buying one at an auction when I don't know a tremendous amount about them. I have been on machinerytrader.com which appears to have some reasonable machines for decent prices.



Lastly, any brands you definitely do or don't want? I know there is passion with a lot of folks for a certain brand, but just wanted to see if there are any brands out there that most eveyone would agree are lemons or are superior to the rest.



Thanks for your help!




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