Bobcat

Bobcat T86-2

$120,586before options, dealer-quotedVertical LiftRubber tracks
Bobcat T86-2
Rated capacity of tipping load35%
3,925 lb rated11,215 lb tipping

The bright segment is what Bobcat T86-2 is rated to carry; the grey run past it is the rest of its tipping load. Bar length is tipping load drawn to the same scale on every machine on the site, so a short bar is a smaller machine and not a conservative rating.

115 hp from the 3.4L engine and 3,925 lb of rated capacity at 35% of tipping load mark the second generation of Bobcat's flagship compact track loader. The T86-2 keeps the T86's standard/high-flow/super-flow hydraulic options while adding the -2 platform's redesigned electrical system, 8-inch touchscreen, drive modes, and available Bobcat Sense object detection.

Suits: Production forestry, land clearing, and dirt-work crews who want Bobcat's most powerful loader with next-generation cab technology Its vertical lift path reaches highest at full extension, for loading high-sided trucks and stacking.

Lifting and reach

Rated operating capacityTrack loader rating convention
3,925 lbs
Tipping load
11,215 lbs
Lift height to hinge pin
144 in
Lift path
Vertical Lift
Operating weight
12,083 lbs

Power and hydraulics

Engine power
115 hp
Engine
Bobcat (Doosan) 3.4L
Auxiliary flowStandard circuit
23 GPM
Flow type
Standard
Warranty
2 yr / 2,000 hr

Fitted or available

What this machine can be ordered with. Some of these are standard and some cost extra, and which is which moves between trim levels, so check them against the quote rather than against this list.

Vertical LiftHigh-FlowEnclosed CabTwo-SpeedSelf-LevelingA/C & HeatA/CSuper-Flow

What owners report

Summarised from the sources listed below. Nothing here was tested by us.

Bobcat's flagship track loader exists for one kind of buyer: somebody running a high-demand attachment for a living. 115 hp, 3,925 lb rated at 35% of an 11,214 lb tipping load, twelve feet of vertical lift and a Super Flow hydraulic tier at 42 GPM and 4,061 psi add up to a machine that will swing a drum mulcher or a cold planer all day where a 74 hp loader is working at its limit. The three-tier hydraulic lineup is the real differentiator in the class, and getting the tier right matters: the standard circuit is 23 GPM, High Flow is 36.6 GPM, and only Super Flow adds pressure as well as volume.

The ownership reports on this frame are harder reading than the spec sheet, and they cluster on air. Owners mulching with Super Flow machines get plugged-filter codes and limp mode on units with as little as 30 hours, and the explanation they arrived at is that the intake tube collapses under heat and vacuum rather than the filter being dirty. Dealers have fitted a metal bracket inside the intake with mixed results, and one owner went ten service visits without resolution. The same generation reversed the engine cooling airflow without moving the fan, and an owner who tested it with a bag taped over a cracked window found the cab under vacuum rather than pressurised, which explains dust on the floor pan, engine filters loading in a few hours of mulching, and dust behind the display. He replaced the machine rather than keep fighting it. The optional 5-link torsion undercarriage costs 225 lb of rated capacity and is undamped enough that rocking has frightened operators. Tracks coming off is a reported pattern too.

Nobody should buy this without two things: the need for this much hydraulic output, and a dealer who will chase a design problem rather than change a sensor and send you home. The evidence above comes from the R-Series 86-frame machines rather than from the -2 refresh, whose announced changes were the electrical architecture, the touchscreen and telematics, so ask your dealer directly and in writing whether the intake tube and the cab pressurisation were revised on the -2 and what the current service bulletins say. Take a leaf blower and a spare battery to the field regardless. And weigh the alternative honestly: at $120,586 before options, and against owners who said outright they wished they had bought a Cat 299 instead, this is not a decision to make on a brochure.

What owners like

  • At 115 hp this is the most powerful loader Bobcat has built, and the Super Flow tier at 42 GPM and 4,061 psi is a level of hydraulic output nothing else in the class offers from the factory.
  • The three flow tiers are genuinely three different machines, and knowing which one an attachment needs is worth thousands: 23 GPM standard at 3,500 psi, 36.6 GPM High Flow at 3,500 psi, and 42 GPM Super Flow at 4,061 psi. Most buckets, grapples and brooms live on standard; drum mulchers and cold planers want Super Flow.
  • Rated 3,925 lb on the solid undercarriage at 35% of an 11,214 lb tipping load, and the counterweight options take that to 4,075 lb, 4,150 lb and 4,225 lb, which puts it among the strongest vertical-lift track loaders sold.
  • The 144-inch hinge pin is a full twelve feet of vertical lift with 34.5 inches of reach at maximum height, which is the specific thing buyers loading tall trucks and hoppers are paying the premium for.
  • Air conditioning, joystick controls, a heated air-ride cloth seat, dual-direction bucket positioning, two-speed travel and the display with keyless start are all standard, so the quote is closer to the machine you actually drive than on rivals where those are line items.
  • It is the normal starting point for people entering forestry mulching and land clearing, because with Super Flow it swings heads that simply stall a 74 hp machine, and the land management package exists for exactly that work.

What owners complain about

  • Plugged-filter fault codes that drop the machine into limp mode while mulching are the defining complaint on this frame. Owners report them on brand-new machines at 30 hours and 70 hours, one had a dealer out ten times without a fix, and another was six months in and talking about handing the machine back.
  • Owners who dug into it concluded it is not a sensor fault: the air intake tube collapses under heat and vacuum, restricting volume so the sensor reads a plugged filter on an element that is visibly clean. The dealer remedy has been a metal bracket inside the intake to stop it pulling shut, which held for 100 hours on one machine and did nothing on another.
  • The engine air intake sits on top of the machine with a long run, where falling debris lands in it, while the 76-frame intake is on the side. Owners mulching describe getting out every half hour to clean intakes and feeling the controls bog noticeably as air is restricted.
  • Cooling airflow was reversed on this generation without relocating the fan, and an owner who tested it found the cab running under slight vacuum instead of the designed positive pressure, pulling dust in. He measured an inch and a half of dirt on the floor pan after a few days, the primary engine filter needing cleaning every few hours while mulching, dust accumulating behind the display, and air inside the cab dirtier than outside. He eventually replaced the machine.
  • This generation has one external cab filter where the previous one had two, and the rear grille now carries the A/C condenser, so it works as a screen and clogs with brush cutter cuttings along with the side intake screens.
  • The 5-link torsion suspension undercarriage is an option rather than standard, and specifying it drops rated capacity from 3,925 lb to 3,700 lb. It is also undamped: one owner describes a rocking episode severe enough that it nearly put the machine on its nose and threw him against the belt repeatedly.
  • Tracks coming off repeatedly, favouring the inside of the front, is a reported problem on this frame, and grease track tensioning is an option rather than standard equipment.
  • Pricing starts at $120,586 before Super Flow, wide tracks or object detection, and the 115 hp engine carries a particulate filter, so the regen and derate complaints that 74 hp buyers escape apply here in full.

Drawn from skidsteerforum.com, bobcatcce.com.

What buyers ask

Which hydraulic tier do I actually need?
Standard flow is 23 GPM at 3,500 psi and runs buckets, grapples, forks, brooms, augers and blades. High Flow is 36.6 GPM at 3,500 psi and covers most brush cutters, snow blowers and planers. Super Flow is 42 GPM at 4,061 psi and is what a large drum mulcher wants. Super Flow is the only tier that raises pressure as well as volume, so an attachment stalling under load rather than running slow is the one that needs it.
What is the plugged filter problem and is it fixed?
Owners mulching report repeated plugged-filter codes and limp mode on new machines, sometimes within 30 hours, with a visibly clean filter. The cause owners settled on is the intake tube collapsing under heat and vacuum, which reduces air volume enough that the sensor reports a restriction. Dealers have fitted a metal brace inside the intake with inconsistent results. Get the current service bulletin position from your dealer in writing before ordering.
Should I get the torsion suspension undercarriage?
It is optional, and it costs you capacity: rated operating capacity drops from 3,925 lb on the solid undercarriage to 3,700 lb with the 5-link torsion. It smooths the ride at travel speed, but owners also report it is undamped, with one describing a rocking incident that nearly stood the machine on its nose. If you carry heavy loads more often than you cross rough ground fast, the solid undercarriage is the better trade.
How bad is the dust problem?
On the 86-frame machines it is a design issue, not maintenance. Cooling airflow was reversed without relocating the fan, which leaves the cab under slight vacuum instead of pressurised, so dust is drawn in through the chassis. You can test it in five minutes: tape a plastic bag over a half-inch cracked window and run the engine. It should balloon outward. If it collapses inward, the cab is not pressurised and dust will follow into the vents and ducting.
Do I need a CDL to move it?
Not automatically, but you are close to the line. At 12,104 lb bare plus a bucket, an attachment and a trailer you are well past 26,000 lb combined on many setups, which is where a commercial licence enters the picture. Weigh your actual rig rather than estimating. This is a real ownership cost that catches buyers stepping up from a 9,000 lb machine.
T86-2 or a T76 with a mulcher?
The 76 frame costs meaningfully less and its air intake is on the side rather than the top, which is where the 86's filter complaints originate. What you give up is hydraulic output: the 76 will not match 42 GPM at 4,061 psi, so a large drum mulcher works it harder and cycles slower. Buyers doing occasional clearing alongside other work often land on the 76; full-time mulching is what justifies the 86.

Put the Bobcat T86-2 against

Bobcat T76-2Kubota SVL110-3Cat 285

Machines in the same range

The rest of the Bobcat line
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Vertical Lift · rubber tracks
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Aux flow
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Weight
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Full sheet & owner reports
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Engine
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Weight
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Bobcat's best-selling mid-frame compact track loader entered its second generation at ConExpo 2026. The T66-2 carries over the 74 hp D24 engine and 2,450 lb vertical-lift platform while adding a redesigned electrical system, an 8-inch touchscreen with infotainment, four drive modes, Machine IQ telematics, and available Bobcat Sense object detection.

Full sheet & owner reports
Bobcat T64-2

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Vertical Lift · rubber tracks
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Engine
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Weight
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Smallest of Bobcat's Pro track loaders, with 68 hp, 2,300 lb of rated capacity on the solid undercarriage and the full Pro cab and control package. It is for operators who want the -2 platform's tech in the lightest tracked frame it comes in.

Full sheet & owner reports