Bobcat is the first company to mass produce the skid steer loader and have been copied by other compinies. Bobcat Skid Steer Loaders have built a long lasting customer base that has continued to grow for over 50 years. Bobcat owners sware by their Bobcats. Bobcat Skid Steer loaders in my opinion are good solid machines. Kubota engines and the Deutz diesel engines are good engines and will last up to 7000 hours, the smaller kubota diesel engines that are under 46hp seem to last about 4000 hours or less. Bobcat makes a quality machine, Just remmember that the larger the engine the more hours you are going to have trouble free service. About the controls, Bobcat skid steer loader controls are hand and foot operated controls(some times you might find a special order hand control Bobcat, but they are rare. I sell a whole lot of Bobcat Skid Steer Loaders to people who would not own anything but a Bobcat, and Bobcats have some real pluses, like the track Bobcat Skid steer loaders have steel undercarriages that are pretty much trouble free. Bobcat also has been around so long that you will be hard pressed to find a large city that does not have a Bobcat dealer where you can get parts when you need them, plus in a Bobcat rubber track machine you can get aftermarket rubber tracks which is very nice on the pocket book. Bobcat Skid Steer Loaders are some of the best Skid Steers on the market.
