5 Things to Consider When Renting a Cat® Skid Steer

When it comes to construction, most companies can benefit from adding a Cat skid steer to their fleet. These machines have a number of uses, from moving snow and dirt to loading, demolishing, excavating, grading, and more. Highly manoeuvrable, they bring numerous advantages. But which one do you choose?

Here are five things to consider when renting a Cat skid steer:

Caterpillar offers eight sizes of skid steer. Their operating weights range from 5,849 to 9,573 pounds, and larger models have more horsepower. The rating operating capacity of each size also differs—the larger the machine, the larger the lift capacity.

You also want to consider the size of the jobs you plan to use the machine on. If space is tight, you’ll want a smaller model.

Hydraulic capacity will determine which hydraulic attachments you can use. One machine might be able to run a larger hydromechanical attachment, while a smaller model may not.

Cat skid steers have two levels of lift: vertical and radial. Vertical-lift machines allow you to better control the load through the lifting cycle, whereas radial-lift machines give you slightly better digging capacity.

Think about which attachments you’ll be using, how often you’ll be using them, and the size and weight of each attachment. The hydraulics play a role here, helping you get the most out of your machine. Ask us to help you select the correct attachment for your job.

Cat skid steers are known for being some of the quietest machines on the market, which has a big impact on operators when they’re working all day in the equipment.

Comfortable operators do higher-quality work, are less fatigued and less likely to make mistakes, and require fewer breaks. That’s why Cat does things like giving operators 15% more space between the joystick pods and an up to 40% wider door opening in some skid steer models.

Renting a Cat skid steer is a sound business move, especially when you don’t want to make a large investment in your fleet due to other priorities. Taking the time to consider these factors will help you get a machine that will work for you. Reach out to our team today.

Finning is the world's largest Caterpillar dealer, selling, renting and providing parts and service for equipment and engines to customers across diverse industries, including mining, construction, petroleum, forestry and a wide range of power systems applications. We operate in Western Canada, South America, and UK and Ireland.