Bobcat's R-Series S850: What Actually Changed on the Flagship Skid Steer

The Bobcat S850 has been the brand's largest, most powerful skid steer for over a decade, built on the same 700/800 frame-size platform that introduced a genuinely clever engineering solution back when Tier 4 emissions rules hit the industry hard: a diesel particulate filter-free engine design that avoided the clogging, downtime, and extra maintenance that DPF systems forced onto a lot of competing machines. That M-Series S850 ran 100 horsepower, a 3,950-pound rated operating capacity, and a 12-foot lift height, numbers that made it the undisputed heavyweight of Bobcat's large-frame lineup for years.

Bobcat recently unveiled its next evolution of compact loaders, the R-Series, replacing that M-Series generation across the lineup. For the S850 specifically, and for the largest models in the loader family generally, this isn't a cosmetic refresh. It's a real jump in capability, and it's worth walking through exactly what changed and why it matters on a jobsite rather than just restating the spec sheet.

The Headline Change: More Horsepower on the Biggest Models

Bobcat's own engineering team split the new R-Series into two distinct lines: Classic and Pro. Across most of the lineup, the Pro versions kept the same horsepower as before but shed weight, a genuine efficiency gain. But on the two largest models in the family, the S850 among them, Bobcat went further and increased horsepower outright, pushing the flagship skid steer from 100 horsepower up to 115. That's a 15 percent jump in available power on the machine that was already Bobcat's strongest skid steer, and it's the kind of change that shows up immediately in cycle times on heavy digging, grading, and material-handling tasks rather than sitting as a spec-sheet footnote.

More horsepower on a machine that's already carrying a 3,950-pound rated operating capacity and a 12-foot lift height means a contractor running a pallet fork, a grapple bucket, or a high-flow attachment gets faster hydraulic response and better performance under genuinely heavy load, exactly the conditions where the old M-Series S850 occasionally felt like it was working at its ceiling.

A Cab and Visibility Overhaul

The R-Series Pro cab is a real departure from the M-Series interior, not just a trim refresh. Every Pro-line display is now an 8-inch touchscreen, a meaningful jump in usable screen real estate for an operator managing attachment settings, camera feeds, and machine diagnostics simultaneously. Bobcat added an integrated rear camera as standard and introduced an optional 270-degree camera system, a genuinely useful safety upgrade for an operator backing a loaded bucket through a tight jobsite or working near a crew on foot.

The bigger screen is what makes the 270-degree camera option actually usable in practice; a wide-angle camera feed crammed onto a small display is a lot less useful than the same feed on genuine touchscreen real estate. Bobcat also added a heated, air-ride seat on the Pro line and reworked interior storage, including a phone holder, small details that add up over an eight-hour shift in a machine an operator is sitting in all day.

Smarter Attachment Compatibility

One of the more technically interesting changes is an intelligence feature that now extends compatibility to all attachments rather than just AKR and high-flow configurations, which is how the previous system was limited. For a contractor who swaps attachments across a fleet or rents specialty tools seasonally, a loader that can intelligently recognize and optimize for whatever's mounted on the front, not just a pre-approved short list, removes a real operational headache.

What Carried Over From the M-Series

It's worth being clear about what Bobcat didn't change. The S850's core engineering philosophy, a non-DPF Tier 4 engine solution that avoids the clogging and downtime issues that plague DPF-equipped competitors, carries forward into the R-Series. That's the single feature that's made the S850 and its siblings a favorite among contractors who've been burned by DPF maintenance headaches on other brands, and Bobcat kept it rather than chasing a different emissions strategy for the sake of a redesign.

Why Honest Engineering Choices Matter Here

It's worth genuinely appreciating what Bobcat did and didn't change here, because it says something about engineering discipline. A lot of equipment redesigns chase a full platform overhaul every generation, new engine architecture, new emissions strategy, new everything, whether or not the old approach was actually working. Bobcat's non-DPF Tier 4 solution on the 700/800 frame-size loaders has been one of the genuinely smart engineering decisions in this equipment class for over a decade, and the fact that the R-Series kept it rather than reinventing it suggests the engineering team knew exactly which parts of the machine needed updating and which parts had already been solved correctly.

That's a different philosophy than putting more horsepower, a bigger screen, and new cameras on a platform that also quietly reintroduces a maintenance headache the old version had avoided. Bobcat added real capability where it mattered (power, visibility, attachment intelligence) while leaving the engine architecture that's earned contractor trust for over a decade alone. That's a genuinely good sign for anyone evaluating whether the new R-Series is worth the premium over a used M-Series unit.

Who the S850 Actually Fits

The S850's rated operating capacity and lift height put it squarely in the category for contractors who need genuine heavy-lift capability in a skid steer footprint: site-prep crews moving large pallets of block or landscaping material, demolition contractors handling grapple and hydraulic hammer attachments, and agricultural operations needing a loader that can handle round bales and heavy feed equipment without upgrading to a wheeled loader. The added horsepower on the R-Series Pro version makes it an even better fit for contractors running high-flow attachments like cold planers, mulchers, or stump grinders, where the extra power translates directly into faster material throughput. For a contractor comparing frame sizes across Bobcat's lineup, it's also worth reading how the Bobcat S450 steps up from the S70 at the smaller end of the range, a useful reminder that sizing the right machine matters at every tier, not just the flagship.

The Rent-vs-Own Case for a Flagship Machine

A machine at this end of Bobcat's lineup tends to carry a rental premium that makes the own-versus-rent math tilt toward ownership faster than it does for a mid-size skid steer. If your crew is reaching for the largest frame size in the lineup regularly, that's a signal the work genuinely demands it, and renting the same heavy-duty machine job after job adds up to real money with nothing to show for it afterward. Financing a purchase instead means the machine is available the morning a job starts, not whenever a rental yard's biggest unit happens to be free.

Financing the Flagship, New or Used

BFC Equipment Loans finances and leases construction equipment nationwide, for startups and existing businesses, with good credit or bad. Whether you're after a new R-Series S850 with the updated horsepower and cab, or a well-maintained M-Series unit on the used market, the financing conversation is the same: a structure that fits your business's actual cash flow and utilization, not a one-size-fits-all formula. If you're weighing new against used specifically, our breakdown on used vs. new skid steer financing walks through the real math beyond the sticker price.

• Site-prep and material-handling contractors needing maximum lift capacity in a skid-steer footprint

• Demolition contractors running grapple and hammer attachments

• Agricultural operations handling round bales and heavy feed equipment

• Contractors running high-flow attachments like mulchers, cold planers, and stump grinders

Whether the extra horsepower on the R-Series Pro tips your decision toward the new machine, or a used M-Series unit fits your budget better right now, the financing structure should fit your business, not the other way around. That's the conversation worth having before you commit.

Comparing the S850 to Its Closest Sibling

It's worth placing the S850 against the S770, the next size down in Bobcat's large-frame lineup, to understand why a contractor would choose the bigger machine at all. The S770 runs 92 horsepower and a 3,350-pound rated operating capacity against the S850's 100 horsepower (now 115 on the R-Series Pro) and 3,950-pound capacity. That's roughly an 18 percent capacity advantage for the S850, which matters directly on jobs where the rated lift capacity is the actual limiting factor, heavy palletized material, concrete block, or structural steel, rather than a margin most operators never push against.

For a contractor who's unsure which size to finance, the honest answer is to look at what the crew is actually lifting on a typical day, not the biggest job they've ever done. A fleet that's consistently working near the S770's capacity ceiling is a fleet that should be financing the S850 instead, where the headroom actually pays for itself in fewer strained lifts and less equipment stress over the long run. Going too big, on the other hand, means paying for lift capacity and horsepower that sits unused most days, which is its own kind of inefficiency worth avoiding.

Ready to Put This Machine to Work?

Whatever brought you to this page, the next step is the same: see what you qualify for. BFC Equipment Loans finances and leases construction equipment nationwide for startups and existing businesses, good credit or bad, in all 50 states. Apply for equipment financing and get real numbers back, not a runaround. Looking to buy or sell a machine outright instead? Browse our equipment for sale and financing marketplace. And if you want more of this kind of coverage in your inbox, subscribe to the BFC blog for weekly equipment and financing breakdowns.