Skid steers and compact track loaders are small, highly manoeuvrable carriers that take an enormous range of attachments. On the right job they are the obvious answer; on the wrong one they are a slow way to spend money.
The distinction is straightforward. They excel where access is constrained, where the area is modest, and where the work is fiddly. They struggle where the work is simply large.
Tracked versions handle soft ground considerably better than wheeled ones, which matters a great deal in this region.
Where it excels
Residential and in-town lots where a full-size machine cannot get in or cannot turn. Gates, alleys, fences and existing landscaping all favour a compact machine.
Corridor work — fence lines, trails, narrow strips — where the job is linear and the width is small. A big machine gains nothing on a six-foot corridor.
Finishing and detail work around structures, and anywhere the operator needs to see exactly what the attachment is doing.
Where it stops
Acreage. On open ground with volume to clear, a compact machine is simply slower, and the hours add up faster than the day rate suggests.
Stem size — a compact mulching head has a lower ceiling than a full-size forestry carrier, which is worth asking about specifically.
Lifting and digging capacity. It is not a substitute for an excavator on stumps or for a dozer on bulk material.
Wheels against tracks
A wheeled skid steer is cheaper to run and fine on firm ground and pavement. A compact track loader spreads its weight, handles soft and wet ground far better, and does less surface damage.
Given how much ground in this region is soft for part of the year, the tracked version is usually the relevant one for clearing work — and worth asking about if you care about the state of a lawn or a field afterward.
Questions
Common questions on this
Is a skid steer enough for my property?
For a small lot, a corridor, or tight access around buildings, often yes and sometimes it is the only machine that fits. For open acreage it is usually the wrong economics — the lower rate is offset by considerably more hours. A rough rule: if a bigger machine can get to the work, a bigger machine will finish it for less.
Tracks or wheels?
Tracks for anything on soil, particularly here where a lot of ground is soft for part of the year. Tracks spread the weight, keep working in conditions that stop a wheeled machine, and do far less damage to a lawn or a field. Wheels are cheaper and fine on firm ground and pavement.
Can a skid steer with a mulching head clear woods?
Light woods and understory, yes. The head has a lower stem-size ceiling than a full-size forestry carrier, and it will be slower across acreage. It is a genuinely good tool for trails, fence lines and small wooded lots, and the wrong one for clearing several acres of established timber.
Keep planning
Related planning guides
- Brush cutters and rotary mowersThe cheapest way to keep ground open, and no way at all to open ground that has closed.
- Clearing light brush and seasonal overgrowthThis is the cheapest clearing there is, and the one most likely to be needed again in two years.
- Clearing a wooded residential lotOn a bounded lot, access and disposal drive the price — the vegetation itself is often the smaller part.
- Understanding what grows in a fence rowA fence row is a linear seed trap, which is why it grows faster and thicker than the ground either side of it.
- Forestry mulchers: what they do and where they stopOne machine that cuts and disposes in a single pass — which is its whole advantage and the source of every one of its limits.
Everything else is in the planning workspace.
Get it quoted
Services this relates to
Evansville Mulching is a free matching service, not a contractor. Nothing on this page is a determination about your property — a contractor standing on the ground is the only person who can make one.
Covering 10 towns across the Evansville tri-state area, and all 14 services.