Yes, lots of good info here. Thanks everyone!

I'll go down to HD to talk to someone about a track bucket and also a walk behind unit. Maybe I can take a look at them both and get a sense of how complicated it might be but sounds like no special license required and could be fun for an old geezer like me.

I'll also ask about a SAL but no idea what the looks like yet - but sounds promising.

You do not want to use a skid steer. I own both a wheeled skid steer and a tracked skid steer. They will tear up your river stone bed and leave black rubber marks all over your concrete. If you decide to take it on a lawn, you will tear that up too. If your concrete pad is slightly elevated above grade, you could break the edge if you use a tracked machine. This is because a large portion of the machine's weight is concentrated on elevated obstacles. I have thousands of hours running these machines.

If you really want to use a machine, a mini articulated loader is what you want. Something like this: https://www.avanttecno.com/us/machines/500-series

Okay, really dumb question since I don't know the right terminology and such.

What's the difference between these two things:

https://www.avanttecno.com/us/machines/500-series

https://www.compactpowerrents....eeled-roc-1000-1200/


To my eyes, they seem basically like the same thing. Unless it's something that is not visible like how the units are driven and steered?

The orange one means business. Skid steer appears to be more heavy duty. Best to wait for those SF members who boss a Dozer.

Bobcat Small Articulated Loaders: https://www.bobcat.com/loaders...ted-loaders/features

Ohhh... I want one of those! LOL!

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Okay, really dumb question since I don't know the right terminology and such.

What's the difference between these two things:

https://www.avanttecno.com/us/machines/500-series

https://www.compactpowerrents....eeled-roc-1000-1200/


To my eyes, they seem basically like the same thing. Unless it's something that is not visible like how the units are driven and steered?

The Avant is lighter and steers by bending in the middle. It also has turf friendly tires. The skid steer steers by stopping the wheels on one side and basically grinding it on the surface. This is why they are so damaging to finished surfaces. They are meant for construction sites.

This video demonstrates how a similar loader works:

Thanks! So even though both have wheels, they are driven and steered differently.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Bobcat Small Articulated Loaders: https://www.bobcat.com/loaders...ted-loaders/features

Ohhh... I want one of those! LOL!

Neat machine, but I still bet if you drive one of those back forth across a side yard multiple times moving materials, you'll rut the yard big time, and may still kill the grass.

There is literally nothing mechanical that you can drive over a lawn area repeatedly that will not do some (or a lot of) damage. I don't know exactly what lawns others have worked on but I own just about everything that has been discussed. Based on my experience and what you are likely to find in the rental market a very small tractor with turf tires likely offers the minimum impact and reasonable availability. Don't for even one minute consider an actual skid steer (tracked or not) for this project. Not that you can't run one, because about 5 minutes on a joystick machine you (and any 10yo as well) will have the basics to move material (never, never rent a traditional control style bobcat). Even the mini tracked ones do a pretty serious amount of damage turning on soft turf.

In my case, I have no lawn or grass to worry about. Hence the ton of bark. . Water is expensive here and we have droughts every few years. But I’m am concerned about damaging a concrete patio that I would have to drive over repeatedly for however many trips this takes. And maybe crushing some irrigation piping (sched 80 pvc) that is basically at ground level (barely covered). Mini loader sounds like they way to go. I get to learn how to operate heavy machinery.

I should add we don’t have soil. It more like clay and solid granite. I use a mattock to dig holes in the ground, not a shovel. Shovel is useless in my yard. When we want to plant something, we buy soil and install it on the ground. .

the method of avoiding damage to
things like that is simple and (mostly prices on lumber are ridiculous) cheap. one merely puts down a plywood path to protect what you are concerned about. for serious long term traffic they make better mats but in your case that is silly.

A “compact tractor with loader” would be ideal but will also take numerous trips. Easy to learn, Rental place will show you the basics and practice will make operation smoother.

It sounds like your yard is “solid” - ie well packed and not likely to tear up easily. Mine is like that too. Still, a skid steer will still smear the lawn if turning too tight. A tractor, especially with turf tires, will be a lot more forgiving.

The articulated loader (bending in the middle to steer) is also impressively gentle on the lawn.

15 yards is a lot of mulch. Rent the biggest tractor/loader you can comfortably use. Whatever you get, by the end of the day you will be saying to yourself “that was easy, fun and I should have rented a bigger machine”.

Tell the guy at the rental place exactly what you want to do. He can best suggest the correct machine that he has available. He might also show you what damage they might do to the yard.

Having run both machines (and owning two tractors with loaders) I found the skid steer a bit more challenging to master. Driving a tractor with a loader has a more direct transfer of skills from driving a car or truck. If you are already skilled at driving a tank, doing the skid steer will be a breeze.

If there’s landscape cloth or plastic underneath the river rock to reduce weed growth, and you drive anything heavy across it repeatedly, you might find that you damage the plastic or cloth and start growing noxious weeds and grasses in your river rock.

I agree that you should hire this work out. Hired help is as cheap as several doctor visits for a hurt back, and much less painful.