Sell Your Skid Steer

MachineryBarn buys used skid steer loaders and compact track loaders — wheeled and tracked, running or not. Two specification details move the number on this category more than anything else and both are routinely left out of listings: whether the lift is radial or vertical, and whether the machine has high-flow auxiliary hydraulics. The first decides what the machine is good at; the second decides which attachments it can run at all, which decides who wants it.

Skid Steers we buy

Configuration changes who the next buyer is, so it changes the offer. These are the variants worth naming when you describe your machine.

Wheeled skid steer

Cheaper to run, easier on hard surfaces, and far cheaper to re-shoe than a tracked machine. The default for yard, farm and paved work.

Compact track loader

Rubber tracks for flotation on soft ground. More capable in mud and on slopes, and more expensive to keep — tracks and undercarriage are the dominant running cost.

Radial lift

The arms follow an arc. Strongest reach at mid-height, which suits digging, grading and general dirt work.

Vertical lift

The arms rise closer to vertical. Better reach and capacity at full height, which suits loading trucks and placing pallets. Usually the more sought-after configuration on larger machines.

What determines a used skid steer's value

Roughly in order of how much each one moves the number.

1. 1

   Auxiliary hydraulic flow

   The single most overlooked value factor on this category. Standard flow runs most attachments; high flow is required for mulchers, cold planers, large brush cutters and snow blowers. A high-flow machine reaches a whole class of buyers that a standard-flow machine simply cannot serve.

   How to check it: High-flow machines usually carry a decal near the couplers and a selector in the cab. If you are not sure, the serial plate or the original spec sheet will say.

2. 2

   Radial versus vertical lift

   Not a better-or-worse distinction, but it decides the buyer. Vertical lift generally commands more on larger machines because loading and pallet work is where the money is; radial holds its own for dirt work.

3. 3

   Tracks or tyres

   On a compact track loader the tracks and the undercarriage beneath them are the dominant wear cost, and buyers price the remaining life closely. On a wheeled machine tyres are a much smaller number, which is part of why wheeled machines depreciate more gently.

   How to check it: On tracks: lug depth, cracking, exposed cord, and roller and idler seal weep. On tyres: remaining tread and whether the set matches.

4. 4

   Rated operating capacity

   Sets what the machine can lift and therefore what work it can take. Larger-capacity machines have a broader commercial buyer pool; the smallest machines compete with compact excavators for the same jobs.

5. 5

   Cab enclosure, heat and air conditioning

   An enclosed cab with working climate control is worth a clear premium, particularly on machines that will work through a Central Valley summer. An open ROPS machine is a seasonal machine to most buyers.

6. 6

   Control pattern and type

   Pilot or electro-hydraulic joystick controls with a selectable ISO and H pattern are worth more than mechanical hand-and-foot controls, because they suit a wider pool of operators.

7. 7

   Two-speed travel

   A small feature buyers ask about specifically. It makes a real difference on larger sites and is worth listing if fitted.

8. 8

   Attachments and quick-attach condition

   The universal attach plate is the whole point of this machine class. Buckets, forks, augers, grapples and breakers all add value, and a worn or damaged attach plate is a real deduction because it affects every attachment the machine will ever run.

What gets inspected on a skid steer

Knowing what a buyer looks at lets you describe the machine accurately the first time, which avoids the offer changing later.

What we need to price your skid steer

You do not need all of it to start. The more of it you have, the closer the first number is to the final one.

• Make, model and serial number
• Year and hour meter reading
• Wheeled or tracked
• Radial or vertical lift, if you know it
• Standard or high-flow auxiliary hydraulics
• Cab or open ROPS, and whether the air conditioning works
• Track or tyre condition, or when they were last replaced
• Every attachment included in the sale
• Whether the machine came out of a rental fleet
• Whether it starts, drives and lifts

Makes and model families we see most

We buy skid steers from manufacturers beyond this list. These are the ones that come up most often, with the series a seller is likely to recognise from the machine.