Skid Steer Final Drive Replacement Cost: Bobcat, Cat, Case, Kubota, and More

A skid steer with a dead drive motor is a machine that cannot work. One side stops responding, and the loader either spins in circles or sits still. It is one of the most common major repairs on high-hour skid steers, and the repair cost is consistent enough across brands that a single guide covers most of the market.

Skid Steer Final Drive Replacement Cost

Expect to pay $2,200 to $5,500 to replace one final drive on a skid steer. That covers the travel motor itself and 3 to 5 hours of labor at $125 to $175 per hour.

The motor is the main variable. A remanufactured travel motor from a reputable supplier runs $900 to $2,000 depending on machine size. An OEM new unit from the dealer is $2,000 to $3,800. If one side failed, check the other: machines past 3,000 hours with original drive motors on both sides often have a second failure within months of the first repair.

Parts source	Parts cost (one side)	Total with labor
Reman / aftermarket	$900-$2,000	$2,200-$3,900
OEM new	$2,000-$3,800	$3,000-$5,500
Both sides, reman	$1,800-$4,000	$4,000-$7,400

Cost by Brand

Final drive replacement cost on a skid steer is similar across brands because the motor size and labor access are comparable. The main spread comes from parts source and whether secondary damage (contaminated hydraulic circuit) adds work beyond the motor swap.

• Bobcat S650, S770, S850: $2,500-$5,000 per side. Bobcat dealer parts are common and available. Aftermarket reman motors are widely stocked. See also: Bobcat final drive replacement cost.
• Caterpillar 262D3, 272D3: $2,800-$5,500 per side. Cat travel motors on wheel-frame skid steers are well-supported by Cat dealers and independent rebuilders.
• Case SV340, SV185: $2,200-$4,800 per side. Case skid steer drive motors are available from both dealer and aftermarket at competitive prices.
• Kubota SSV75, SVL75-2: $2,400-$5,000 per side. Kubota's smaller skid steers tend toward the lower end of parts cost. SSV75 motors are widely available.
• John Deere 320G, 333G: $2,600-$5,200 per side. JD dealer network is broad and reman support is solid for the 320G/333G platform.

Get an estimate specific to your machine and location: EquipBook's free repair cost estimator covers skid steer final drive failures across all major brands.

How to Tell When a Skid Steer Drive Motor Is Failing

Skid steer travel motor failures follow a pattern. Catching early symptoms saves money over waiting for a full failure.

• One-sided pull. The machine drifts left or right under load. The weak side drive motor is losing pressure or internal clearance.
• Slow or sluggish travel on one side. The machine moves, but one side clearly lags. Usually a motor with worn internal clearances.
• Heat coming from the final drive housing. A motor running hot has internal wear or contamination. Stop and diagnose before the failure propagates.
• Metal in the final drive oil. Skid steer drive motors have small oil reservoirs. Metal particles at the next oil check are a reliable early warning.
• Complete loss of drive on one side. Full failure. The motor is done and needs replacement.

Does the Repair Make Sense?

A $3,000 to $4,500 final drive repair on a skid steer is almost always worth doing if the machine is under 4,000 hours and the rest of the machine is solid. A 2019 Bobcat S650 in good condition is worth $35,000 to $45,000. A $3,500 drive motor is roughly 8 to 10 percent of that value.

The math changes on older, high-hour machines with worn tracks, worn buckets, and other components close to service intervals. Before approving a major repair, know what the machine is actually worth.

Get a free skid steer valuation at EquipBook in under 60 seconds. That number is the baseline for any repair decision.

See also: Skid steer track replacement cost and skid steer hydraulic pump replacement cost for other common repairs on this class.