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Skidsteers
BROKEN: My '05 LS185.b listed at $47,000 with enclosed cab, heat, standard aux. hyd., weight kit, turnsignals, block heater, 2-speed, hyd. locking plate (sweeet!), 72 inch bucket and a bunch of other stuff. Dealer gave me $20,000 trade-in on my '03 LS180 with 300 hours. You can buy these all day still for dealer trade-in price.
With your employee discount what would you be looking at?
You can get a used, plain-Jane 170 for about $10K, and it may work fine for you. Add steel tracks and you'll have a fairly powerful machine to do most of your tasks. Traction is another thing. You'll have 10 inch wide tires which aren't known for being floaters, though you can put 12" wide on there, it raises your bucket heel about 1.5 inches making grading difficult. Either way I would suggest steel over-the-tire tracks like I've got---mine's almost unstopable---I can go through 18 inch deep marsh mud with no problem with a full load! I can get you dealer cost on a set if you want. I saved $300 on mine by working toward being a dealer---and they're made in Wisconsin too! Ten inch list at around less thn $1000, your price about $800.
You can make your tracks like I didd using logging chain and 1/2 x 2 inch bars bent and welded to the chain, but that will cost about $600. They work realy well but need constant attention to adjust them to keep 'em tight.
Weight will always work in your favor when getting traction--if you've got the money, surely go for the 180/185--you won't go wrong. For comparison, for about 2 years I used a LS170. I thought it was a bully until I tested a 180 for a month. I was sold. The 170 felt like a kid's toy. I can pick up and move an entire car from the side with the grapple bucket. (have another one for sale just like it), and back home even dug my neighbor's septic tank hole in solid rock hard clay with it. Couldn't ahve done it without tracks though.
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Skidsteers
That's why I say for the same or less money you can get a 2 or 3 year old machine that will sooo much more.
But back to yours: the hydraulic plate adds over $800, the cab and heat about $1800, wider bucket $??, factory weight kit upwards of $4-500 (which is a waste of money on a small machine IMHO). Skip the wider bucket and you won't need the weight kit. You can get after-the-sale (not aftermarket) hydraulic plate that connects to the hydraulic aux. or the actual kit through parts which is very expensive and extensive to install. Back in '02 my buddy paid $23,000 for his basic LS170 and recently got $9000 at auction. Check out e-bay for what new and used machines are going for (check out "completed items" which shows what they actually sold for).
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Skidsteers
Hydraulic plate means there is one hydraulic cylinder connected to the locking pins where the levers would normally be to lock the attachment. It makes life much easier by changing attachments in seconds from inside the cab versus getting in and out. Anything requiring hydraulics still requires getting out to hook them up like a snow blower---these are "aux. hydraulics" located on the left boom arm, which are a standard feature. But like I said there is a hybrid hydraulic plate available from NH Parts that connects to the "Aux. hydraulics", but then you couldn't run a snow blower because it would lock or unlock the blower from the SS. The cab/heater is great for what you're using it for. I can use mine in 95 degree weather and still freel reasonably comfortable. The filters I found are interchangable with car engine air filters for $3.50 each.
I still think a used big LS180 is the way to go.
NH is not reliable when releasing new model years from my exp. It took me 5 months to get my LS185.b because the factory messed up my order 4 times before they got it right. d They're not like cars "ooooh the new '07's are out"---it's more like it was made on a certain date and that's it---no hoopla. I have to think a dealer might be gun-shy to order an '07 when he's got several '06 or even '05 on the lot. They have 30 days to sell them before they start paying interest to CNH Credit, so my dealer told me. That said I'd be looking for one from your dealer that they have been paying interest on and want to dump it and CNH may even help them out on the employee price to help them move it---dunno.
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Skidsteers
But you CAN have BOTH! Whadacountry! It's only money. And remember: the guy with the most toys wins.
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Skidsteers
Having worked(ing) down here in the Hurricane mess personally, I'd stay away from anything used down here--most guys including me came down here thinking we'd make some money. But truth is only a select few made money. The rest of us found that after we paid our expenses there was little or nothing left over to properly maintain the machines---oil changes, lubrication, AIR FILTERS. And the conditions these machines were subjected to---knee-deep mud saturated with highly concentrated salt water which rusts everything, buried stumps and trees, pavement that is like 80-grit sandpaper which wears out tires and strains drive trains and wears out bucket cutting edges, and picking up debris and loading trucks day in day out for nearly a year. All my pivot points on the loader are worn badly from grabbing a load or demolishing a house and having to shake or pull loose buried power lines in it. When I brought my brand new NH LS185.b with 12 hours on it. It's got nearly 500 on it now and it looks like it's ten years old---every square inch is either dented, scratched, or rusting. And KW I don't know what prices they commanding in your area, but when they were still down here guys were tying to get as much as they can for these used and abused machines since they were bought new and have big payments still. I met numerous guys who second mortgaged their homes, or borrowed $100,000 to buy big semi dump truck and loaders who are about to, or have lost everything because they couldn't pay for it.
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Skidsteers
Tony, maybe I'm thinking 30 days for used equipment they take in on trade??
IMHO the hydraulic plate IS worth it for the well-heeled estate owner such as Brokenarrow or those whose backs are just as bad or worse than mine. There's nothing like slipping off a wet or muddy bucket in the rain or snow trying to latch or unlatch it. But I'm jis' sayin'
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Skidsteers
Tony, I still sound like the people on TV--when I make a sales call for private work some of the locals ask me,"you ain't frum 'roun' he-ah 'r ya?  ---and I'm the one with the accent! KT are you dizzy yet from all the drivin' in circles? And you do that...wwwhhhhy? hahahaha.
And if the machines are new and in good condition, those were the even more unfortunate ones who came to the party late only to find the good work was already done. We had guys coming from all over the US as late as 6 months too late looking for work.
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Skidsteers
uh-uh. I deleted the second one (got fatfingeritis---flairs up more in this southern air)
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Skidsteers
Insurance paying for it??? errrr?? No way Jose, it's your TAX dollars paying for the cleanup and the up-to $150,000 individual block grants some are getting. Plus their $2000 each FEMA evacuation money, plus up to $26,000 each FEMA grants right after the storm for households who lost everything---plus whatever insurance pays out. And no my machine isn't paid off; I made one payment before I came down here and 4 years to go. And let's not forget the $70,000 each FEMA pays for each camper trailer to buy, maintain, set them up. PLUS they pay property owners $400 month each for lot rental to put someone else's trailer on their lot.
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