Bobcat What's It Worth?

[Corley5]

This is coming up at an auction in N Michigan this weekend and I'm kinda interested if the price would be right.  Cheap enough that is.  I haven't seen it in person but it looks good right down to having what appear to be the original decals.  It doesn't appear to have been abused and the rubber looks almost new.  I'm not sure about the green paint on the wheels though ???  The bucket and grapples don't even have all the paint worn off.  I've learned that this model was made from 74 til 76 and the first 720s made in 1977 were still M-700s with the new decals.  I would mostly be using it for loading cut split firewood out of a pile into my dump trailer.  I've been planning on outfitting a tractor loader with a skidsteer quick attach and a grapple bucket but if the price would be right on this.  Having a setup of this sort would allow me to stockpile processed firewood so I wouldn't have to run the processor in the winter ;D and it'd be kinda handy to have around the farm for other things too    What would one off these be worth in your area ???  I've looked into them on E-bay and similar ones are anywhere from 2,000 to 4,500 dollars and they're all over the country and without grapples.  This one is an hour or so away and a good excuse to go to an auction even if I don't buy 8)  Skidsteers in the spring and fall when the ground is soft up here aren't my machine of choice but I could get along  ;D

[UNCLEBUCK]

That skid steer is worth every penny of your high figure but all I see is chunks of firewood spilling out everytime you hit a bump that the wheels created on your grassy area .  I could ram your firewood pile with any farm loader and get bigger and fuller scoops and be done loading by the time you got done holding your breath from all the bumps . 

Just my honest opinion .  I used a new Gehl skidsteer last week for 8 hours,the biggest diesel one Gehl makes and all I can say is they are great inside of a barn .

Plus I think you would want a bucket like whats called a manure bucket around here on a skid steer that would leave the dirt on the ground . Again just my honest opinion

[badpenny]

  I have a 610 that is identical to the machine you have pictured, the two hex shaped covers between the wheels are access covers for drive clutch adjustment. Things to look for on a 610 are the driving and driven variable speed sheaves; the drive belt; and the cross shaft that the driven vs sheave is on, which will be directly under the operators seat. Check the driven vs sheave for elongated holes where the 3 bolts around the return spring go thru the moveable side of the sheave.
  The rated lift on a 610 is 1000#, so the lighter the attatchment, the more of whatever you can pick up. My grapple has 8 "fingers" across the botton,and a single 4 prong clamp, and weighs 475#, and will only pick up about a 500#load.
  I paid $4200 for mine a year ogo from a dealer in Dassel, MN. Grappel was $2000, new pallet forks and a used bucket brought the total to $7400 , so the $4500 with the grapple pictured would be a good buy IMHO. Just be aware that the machine may be clutch driven, not hydrostatic. If there is a drive belt from the motor to a shaft under the operators seat, it is clutch driven.

[beenthere]

Clutch driven is what I suspect too, with the indication of the clutch adjusters on the sides. It's real similar to the Owattana skid steer I had once. Good comments from both UB and badpenny, in my opinion. The lettering on the side that says 'hydrostatic' is a bit confusing if it has the clutches. Keeping the oil sealed in with those many bolts holding the side plates on over the clutch's and drive chains can be trick, as well as keeping seals around the axles. There is a lot of gallons of oil in the side compartments, as I recall.

You are handy with a wrench, so this may be a good buy if the engine and drive are okay.

[Paul_H]

I bought a 1974-75 around 1981 and sold it  in 87.It had a V4 Wisconsin gas engine that was scattered all over the owner's basement.I paid $1300 for it and put the engine back together and ran a little skidsteer business as a sideline when logging was slow.

The only real breakdown I had with it was when the spring clip on the rotoseal on the Variable speed sheave let go and spat $130 worth of parts out into the cow manure I was mucking out.I had to replace the muffler too but found a Volvo muffler with the intake at 90 deg angle fit just fine although it was $70 back then  ???

When I couldn't run it,my younger cousin Keith would fill in for me.He eventually started his own company after I sold mine and he now runs a skidsteer and a couple of mini excavators,all Bobcat.

Here are a couple of pics of Keith operating my ol' Bobcat when he was around 16.






Nice little machines!

[Corley5]

I've been thinking about a skidsteer business too.  Mainly aimed at horse owners in the area.  Throughout the year and especially in the spring horse owners need there lots cleaned up and a skidsteer fits the ticket perfectly to load the manure into the dump trailer which could then be hauled home for composting and sale at a later date.  Get paiding twice is  8) 8)  It's a thought and it's been suggested to me by a couple of my hay buyers.  I'd just be hauling the hay home again ;) ;D  I'm gonna go to the sale even though I'm sure the machine will go for much more than I'm willing to pay but if I don't I'll always wonder or hear that it sold for $1,500.00  Another thing is an older industrial loader tractor with a reverser tranny in good shape could be had for the high side of the skid loader value and it wouldn't rough up the operator as bad

[Corley5]

I went to the sale today and pictures can sure tell a different story than what is real.  The machine had been around and seen a rougher life than was evidenced in the photos.  Both loader arms had been busted and welded on a much less than professional level.  It had a thick coat of brushed on paint.  The cage had been sprung and cut and patched.  The pins were worn and some had been replaced with bolts etc.  The engine had been rebuilt in North Dakota and it had new tires but one was flat.  It did seem to run and move around good but the controls were sloppy from LOTS of use.  It sold for 2,700 which was about 1,500 more than I would have paid after seeing it in person.  It wasn't an M-700 either.  I'd say it was a 610.  There wasn't anything hydrostatic about it ;)  Still a good day for a sale.  Guess Zach and I'll go to the U.P. now 8) 8) 8) 8)

[beenthere]

Interesting.
Did they just stick the wrong name (Bobcat M-700 hydrastatic) on the side?  ???
Good decision, and a lot of $$ for someone to pay out.

A local builder of houses and barns had one going strong for around 40 years, with one engine overhaul. A real workhorse, and who has it now says it is still in good shape.

Enjoy the UP.

The leaves are probably falling up der now.  eh?

Aspen and walnut are turning here already, and falling to the ground.