Skid steers are useful devices when it comes to moving quickly and easily. These machines are quite popular due to their ability to make great use of smaller sites. When contemplating the purchase of a skid steer, consider a pre-owned vehicle. Buying a used skid steer will likely be most optimal for your price range. They are practical for most job sites, so it is important to know how to properly go about selecting and buying a used skid steer online.
Things to Consider
When you are thinking about purchasing a skid steer, you need to know what you’re looking for. Follow this list of four things you should acknowledge.
1. Try writing out a list of things you want to be able to use it for. For example, do you want to use it as a trencher, or do you want to use it as a snowplow? Do you want to use it on multiple kinds of terrain, or will the sites be mostly the same?
Going along with that, consider what attachments you will need. Typically, attachments will need to be purchased separately.
2. Think about what manufacturer you are interested in. There are lots of skid steer brands out there, but not all of them will be right for you. Do your research and find a manufacturer that is reliable and caters to your needs.
3. Know the operating capacity that you are looking for. Most often, if you need a larger capacity, then you’ll need a larger skid steer.
4. It is important to know where you will most often be using your machine. This information factors into the size of skid steer you want to purchase. If the work site is quite small, then you may want to entertain the idea of getting a mini skid steer to maneuver the tricky terrain more easily.
Know Your Budget
Skid steers have prices that usually range anywhere from $10,000 to $60,000 depending on the size and age of the product. If you’re looking for something on the lower end of the scale, you’ll want to look at used older products. If you can spend more, you might want to invest in a newer model that has been pre-owned.
Keep in mind, the weight and capacity of the machine can also factor into the cost. If you need a larger skid steer, that’s going to be a bigger investment.
Be realistic about what you can afford. More power is more money — this is worth it if strong capacity is what you need for your project. There is always the option to buy an older high-capacity machine. Newer models tend to have more convenient features, but if you don’t find them necessary for you, an older model will serve you well.
Know Where You are Buying From
Buying a skid steer online is convenient due to the wide assortment of options. But it is important to know what you’re looking for in a website. Skid steers are available for sale in a variety of places online such as eBay, IronPlanet, other equipment websites, fleet websites, and, sometimes, from the manufacturer’s site.
Some pages will give you the opportunity to make your own offer and bid against other shoppers. If you think you can get a good deal and are willing to go back and forth through the process, then this might be an appealing choice for you. If you are not interested in bidding on a skid steer, then you will want to look into sites that have a fixed price.
Either way you choose to go, you should make sure that the page gives you all of the information on the skid steer that you can get, such as its make and model, hours used, and the condition of the machine. Some websites might also give you a full breakdown of the condition of each aspect of the vehicle, sometimes with photos. If this is something that you think you would prefer, then consider targeting these types of pages.
If you’re still feeling a little uncertain about where to start, IronPros has a whole showroom of skid steer products to help get you going. It provides a wide range of brands and types of skid steers, ranging from mini skid steers to skid steer loaders.
While there are lots of well-known websites out there selling skid steers, there could be scammers lurking around. To avoid having a run-in with a scammer, make sure that the website you choose to buy from is well-accredited and legitimate.
Take the Plunge
There is a lot to consider when it comes to purchasing a skid steer. Once you know what you want, the process becomes much more straightforward. If you are thinking about purchasing a used skid steer online, following this basic guide will support your needs and aid you in finding the perfect skid steer for you.
While making such a big purchase online can feel very overwhelming, good planning and a checklist come in handy and make the process smoother and easier.
