Mini digger vs skidder

[Excels1or]

Been looking at buying a skid for a while now (sherpa due to closest supplier) but the more I think about it the more a mini digger with a log grab would maybe suite us better....more versatility etc. anyone got any advice? Tried both? Thanks in advance

[Mark Bolam]

@doobin would be my go-to man to ask about running both.

 

I think a lot will depend on your core type of work.

[Excels1or]

Cheers Mark, mostly domestic, but we also do quite a bit of garden and woodland clearances, so its starting to get rough on our bodies on longer jobs

[Mark Bolam]

Oh definitely get something!

My Worky Quad has been a Godsend for exactly that reason!

[josharb87]

Yep, get something for sure! 
 

why’d you think a digger would be better? 

[Excels1or]

For garden clearances being able to scrape would be a bonus. Removing small stumps without having to stump grind as well as having the ability to dig. I'm also wondering if a digger would give us more maneuverability when stacking lengths and rounds.

 

I've used the Sherpa 500 quite a bit and its brilliant, just seen a lot of folk in the arb industry going towards the mini digs. Seems a mini dig does everything a Sherpa would do but also has the versatility for other jobs?

[Mark Bolam]

I think that’s right, and you can also feed a chipper, but on repeated cycles and dragging brash mini loaders are much quicker over the ground.

[doobin]

A digger will be much better than a Sherpa for woodland clearances, stacking logs, scraping up, pulling brambles, digging out stumps etc.

 

A Sherpa is ideal for moving things about quickly with very little mess.

 

I started with a minidigger, I love my Sherpa but I'm glad I didn't start with one otherwise I'd quickly have b ecome frustrated I think.

[Clutchy]

I'm in the Sherpa camp, but looking at a 2.7t with a rotating grab to add to the fleet. 

 

My concern if you went straight to a digger is that for domestic jobs, surly it shreds the grass up? Vs a sherpa on grass tires which doesn't and will fit in more places, can fit in the back of a custom and can be towed by all tippers. A 2.7t (3.5t with trailer) restricts towing vehicles a bit. 

 

It's a really hard decision to be honest. When we were deciding, we went a month and wrote down the number of times a digger would of been better on a job that day vs a sherpa 

 

For us, the sherpa won so we bought. Now we would like to add a digger as it of course can do a lot of things a Sherpa can't 

[Mark Bolam]

Another consideration is that mini loaders definitely favour flatter ground and are best kept away from mud.

 

For woodland work a mini digger would win all day.