Choosing between a skid steer and a compact track loader is a ground question before it is a machine question. Tracks spread the weight over a far larger contact area, so they keep working on soft, wet or freshly graded ground that stops wheels. That costs roughly $75 to $125 more a day at the same rated capacity, plus more care about where you drive.
Ground pressure is the whole argument
A wheeled machine puts its weight through four contact patches, while a tracked one lays it along two long belts. On saturated clay, sand, a lawn or fresh fill, that difference is the machine working rather than sinking. It also means less rutting on ground somebody has to repair afterwards, which matters on a finished property.
Where wheels are the better hire
On pavement, hardcore and compacted gravel a wheeled loader moves faster between piles, turns without scrubbing, hires for less and is easier to load on your own trailer. Abrasive surfaces and tight repeated turns wear rubber tracks quickly, and the yard will have opinions about that which end up in the damage conversation.
What the undercarriage costs you
Rubber tracks, rollers and sprockets are the expensive part of a track loader, and damage from a kerb, a rebar stub or a hard turn on concrete is treated differently to a punctured tire. Ask what the waiver covers on the undercarriage before you take the machine, and clean stones out of the tracks before it goes back.
Pick by surface and by season
Dry summer work on a hard yard is wheels. Winter, spring thaw, wet clay, sand and anything crossing grass is tracks. Where the job is split, the honest answer is the machine that suits the worst ground you have to cross, not the ground you spend most of the day on, because the bad patch is where the time disappears.
Questions people ask about skid steer vs track loader
Which is better on a lawn?
The track loader, by a clear margin. Weight spread along two belts leaves shallow impressions where tires cut ruts, especially on damp ground. Keep turns wide rather than spinning on the spot, because a counter rotation on grass tears the surface whatever the machine is wearing.
Can I tow a track loader on my own trailer?
Only with a trailer and truck rated for it. Track machines are heavier than the wheeled equivalent at the same capacity, and the attachment adds more again. Get the operating weight from the yard, compare it against your ratings honestly, and take delivery if the numbers are close.
Do tracks always cost more to hire?
At the same rated capacity, yes, commonly by a meaningful margin per day. The difference reflects a more expensive machine and a costlier undercarriage to maintain. On the right ground it pays for itself in a morning by keeping the job moving.