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| I had an 873F and then S300 Bobcat. Bought both as used machines. 1500 hours on the 783 and 850 hours on the s300. The F, G ect, designates a newer version of the 873. Some updates and changes with different letters. I believe my s300 was a K series. (I think they skipped the H completely). The S250,300 and 330 have much beefier lift arms. The 873 lift arms were prone to cracking but I never had an issue. The 873 will just lift a 2500 lb pallet. The s250 is rated the same but has much more lift. The s300 is the same machine as the s250 but more weight in rear door get the higher lift capacity. Had few to no issues with either machine. For farm use, a skid steer is treated much nicer than commercial use.
The 873 had cab heat, the s300 had heat/air conditioner. Love the a/c. I believe all 873s had the duetz engine. Oil cooled. The timing chain must be replaced before 2000 hours. If that chain breaks while running, it bends the valves and an expensive repair. Not a big fan of the duetz engines overall but did not have any issues.
I would stay away from the first JD made skid steers. Many had issues while others were fine. The series II addressed those issues and were good. Some guys love and others hate the overhead door of the JD. Case and NH have good machines.
For pro boxes, you need a big machine. 2500 lb minimum lift. 3000 lbs better. On the farm, you have the room for a big machine and you can never have enough lift.
I love attachments. I also have a Bobcat Toolcat. I have 2 sets of forks, finish mower, PHD with 5 different bits, smooth bucket, tooth bucket, construction grapple, fork grapple, backhoe, tree shear, tree spade, snow blade, man lift, broom. tiller and few others I can't think of. Most of my attachments were bought used.
Edited by radman1 2/8/2012 22:45
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Opinions on a skid -steer
