Compact Wheel Loaders

An articulated wheel loader does much of what a skid steer does, with a different set of strengths. The frame pivots in the middle instead of skidding the tires around, so it turns tight without tearing up what it's standing on — which makes it the machine to reach for on finished lawns, sod, landscaping and tree work where a tracked machine would leave marks. Wheels also mean real travel speed, up to 12 mph, so crossing a large site or a long driveway doesn't eat half the morning. You sit higher with a clearer view of the bucket than in a skid steer.

Both of ours take standard full-size skid-steer attachments on a hydraulic quick-attach, so our attachment line-up fits them — just check the hydraulic flow. These run around 11 GPM, which drives buckets, forks, grapples and augers, but not the high-flow attachments like the forestry mulchers.

Common jobs: snow removal, landscaping and tree work, general construction, and farm and acreage work.