Bobcat S76-2

Bobcat's large wheeled mid-frame is the machine for people whose work is hard-surface and whose biggest gripe with a track loader is the undercarriage bill. A 128.3-inch hinge pin on a vertical lift path clears full-size dump truck sides, 23.3 GPM of standard auxiliary flow at 3,500 psi covers more attachments than rivals manage without a high-flow upgrade, and the 74 hp D24 skips diesel exhaust fluid entirely. Owners put real loads through it, with one using an S76 to set 1,800 lb concrete bunks his smaller machines could not touch.

Two things to understand before you compare it to anything. First the rating basis: the 2,900 lb figure is 50% of a 5,800 lb tipping load, where track loaders quote 35%, so the headline number reads better than it works out against a tracked machine rated the same. Second, a genuine handling quirk owners describe: on this vertical-lift geometry the arm cylinder is at a severe mechanical disadvantage, so the bucket cylinders creep a load upward more smoothly than the arm cylinders, which takes adjusting to if you have been running a radial machine. On the fault side, owners of the R-Series 76-frame and 86-frame machines report the cab running under vacuum rather than pressurised after Bobcat reversed the engine cooling airflow without relocating the fan, and dust follows into the vents and ducting. There are also reports of the machine shutting off in service and then refusing to power up with a dead display, which is a dealer visit rather than a field repair.

Pavement, yards, snow and material handling are its ground, where flotation is not the constraint, and where saving an undercarriage rebuild every few thousand hours matters more to your margin than getting across a wet site. Ask the dealer what customer programmes apply, because buyers report an at-cost programme narrowing the gap to a comparable Kubota to around $10,000 when it had looked much wider. Test the cab for positive pressure with a bag taped over a cracked window before you sign. And be honest about whether $74,000 to $80,000-plus is better spent on tracks, because owners who do turf or wet-site work admit they end up renting a track machine anyway.