CAT 275 XE Skid Steer Mulcher Rental in Texas
CAT’s most powerful compact track loader paired with an FAE forestry head, the do-it-all rental for smaller projects and tight access.
Ideal projects
- Residential lot and acreage clearing (1–15 acres)
- Clearing between and around structures
- Underbrush cleanup and firewise defensible space
- Trail cutting on wooded homesites
- View clearing and selective thinning
Best vegetation
- Brush, yaupon, and greenbriar
- Cedar and mesquite up to ~8" diameter
- Saplings and light-to-medium regrowth
- Understory beneath mature trees
Why contractors rent it
- Fits through gates and works in spaces no dedicated machine can reach
- Only machine in the fleet with a daily rate, perfect for small, defined scopes
- XE electronic drivetrain puts more power to the FAE head than standard 275s
- Tows behind a heavy pickup, the lowest-cost transport in the fleet
- Lower insurance requirement: $250K inland marine vs $500K for dedicated machines
Rental rates
| Term | Rate |
|---|---|
| Daily | $1,750 |
| Weekly | $8,000 |
| Monthly | $26,000 |
Fuel and transport not included. See all rates →
Insurance requirements, Skid Steer Forestry Mulchers
- $250,000 Inland Marine rental coverage
- $2,000,000 General Liability
We’ll need a certificate of insurance naming Pierce Equipment Rentals as loss payee and additional insured before the machine ships. Read the full insurance guide →
Transport
Moves on a tag or gooseneck trailer behind a 1-ton pickup. Self-transport is possible for qualified renters; we also deliver.
How it compares
The 275 XE is the right call under ~10–15 acres, in tight access, or when you need a daily rate. Above that, its production ceiling makes dedicated machines cheaper per acre, a mid-size dedicated mulcher clears 2–3× more per day. If you don’t have an experienced operator, consider our turnkey service at $3,000/day including transport.
The one machine here you can rent for a day
Every other machine in the fleet is a weekly or monthly commitment on a lowboy. The 275 XE is the exception: $1,750 for a day, towable behind a one-ton pickup, and small enough to go through a gate. That combination is why it is the right answer for a great many jobs that people mistakenly price against a dedicated mulcher.
It is a CAT compact track loader with an FAE forestry mulching head, and the XE electronic drivetrain puts more power to the head than a standard 275 does. It is not a dedicated carrier and we will not pretend otherwise, but for one to fifteen acres it is usually the cheapest way to finish the job.
Where a skid steer beats a dedicated mulcher
Access, mostly. It fits through gates, works between structures, and turns in spaces where a dedicated carrier would have to back out. On a residential lot, a wooded homesite, or defensible-space work around a building, that is not a compromise, it is the only sensible option.
Cost is the other half. A three-day job costs you $5,250 in machine rental and a trailer you may already own, against a week of a dedicated machine plus heavy haul both ways. Insurance is lighter too: $250,000 inland marine instead of $500,000. Below about ten acres the small machine usually wins on total cost even though it clears far fewer acres a day.
Be realistic about production
Half an acre to an acre and a half a day. That is a third to a fifth of what a dedicated machine does, and it is the number that catches people out when they scale a small job up in their heads. Twenty acres on a 275 XE is a month of work; on a mid-size dedicated machine it is a week. If your acreage is climbing past fifteen, price the mid-size class before you book this one.
Stem size matters as much as acreage. It is comfortable in brush, yaupon, greenbriar and cedar or mesquite up to roughly eight inches. Past that it will still cut, slowly, and you will be paying for the slowness by the day.
Typical work we send it to
Residential lot and small acreage clearing, understory and view clearing beneath trees that stay, trail cutting on wooded homesites, firewise defensible space around structures, and detail work alongside a bigger machine. It is also the machine we recommend for fence line work tight against wire you cannot afford to damage, and for shooting lanes and stand sites on a hunting lease.
CAT 275 XE rental questions
Yes. That is exactly what this is: a CAT 275 XE compact track loader with an FAE forestry mulching head, rented as one unit at $1,750 per day, $8,000 per week or $26,000 per month. We do not rent the head separately, because a mulching head on an undersized or hydraulically mismatched carrier is a bad experience for everyone and hard on the attachment.
$1,750 per day, $8,000 per week, or $26,000 per month. It is the only machine in the fleet with a daily rate, which makes it the right choice for small, well-defined scopes. Fuel and transport are not included, though transport is far cheaper here than on the dedicated machines because it tows behind a one-ton pickup rather than needing a lowboy. See the full rate card.
Half an acre to an acre and a half on typical brush. Be honest with yourself about this before you book: it is roughly a third of what a mid-size dedicated machine does and a fifth of a high-HP carrier. For one to fifteen acres it is usually still the cheapest total cost because the transport and the daily rate are so much lower. Past fifteen acres the maths turns over and you want a bigger machine.
Comfortable in brush, yaupon and greenbriar, and in cedar or mesquite up to roughly eight inches. It will take bigger stems, but slowly, and on a daily rate slow is expensive. The practical question is not the biggest tree on the property, it is the average stem across the job, because that sets your pace.
A one-ton pickup and a suitable trailer will move it, which is the lowest-cost transport in the fleet. Insurance is also lighter than the dedicated machines: $250,000 inland marine rental coverage plus $2,000,000 general liability, with a certificate naming Pierce Equipment Rentals as additional insured and loss payee before the machine ships. The insurance guide has the detail.
Yes. Turnkey on the skid steer class is $3,000 per day with transport included, and that covers our machine, our operator, fuel and maintenance, with no insurance requirement on your side because it is our crew. For residential lots and tight-access work that is frequently better value than renting, and it removes the learning curve on a machine that can do real damage in inexperienced hands.
Where we deliver the CAT 275 XE
Transport is quoted by project location and we coordinate the haul. Popular markets for CAT 275 XE rentals:
Other machines to consider
Our preferred high-HP rental: 375 HP of dedicated mulching power with CAT-backed support, comfort, and serviceability in one package.
$14,000 / weekly
A purpose-built 320 HP mulching tractor engineered to eat through the heaviest vegetation Texas can grow.
$14,000 / weekly
Tigercat’s legendary forestry pedigree in a dedicated mulching carrier built for uptime on demanding commercial projects.
$14,000 / weekly
Put the CAT 275 XE + FAE Forestry Mulcher on your project.
Call to check dates, confirm insurance, and get a delivered transport quote.