Bobcat · Compact

Bobcat CT4050

~$32,608

MSRP, base build

Bobcat CT4050
Compact
50.3 hp engine · 45.6 PTO−9% to the shaft

50.3 hp and 45.6 PTO hp for a published $32,608 - less than the 44.9 hp CT4045 costs, because this one is sold with the 8x8 synchro shuttle as its base build rather than a hydrostatic. It is the most PTO power per dollar Bobcat lists.

Engine
50.3 hp
PTO
45.6 hp
Loader lift
1,795 lbs
3-pt lift
2,716 lbs

1.4 PTO hp per $1,000 of list price

As published by the maker

Specifications

Size class
Compact
Transmission
Shuttle
Engine
Daedong
Engine hp
50.3 hp
PTO hp
45.6 hp
Drive
4WD
Loader lift
1,795 lbs
Three-point lift
2,716 lbs
Hydraulic flow
14.1 GPM
Fuel tank
11.9 gal
Weight
3,745 lbs
4WD
Yes
Cab
Open station
Turbo
Yes
Cruise control
No

On the price: The maker's own published starting figure for the base build. A dealer adds a loader, a deck and freight on top.

Lift figures are the maker's and are quoted at whichever point the maker chose; the about page explains why two loaders with the same number do not lift the same pallet.

Comes with

4WDShuttleFront LoaderPower SteeringDieselTurbo

From owner discussion and long-term write-ups

What owners say

What they like

  • 45.6 PTO hp for $32,608 undercuts the 44.9 hp CT4045 on both price and implement power, because the base build here is the manual shuttle
  • The 8x8 synchro shuttle changes direction without a full clutch stop, which is what you want for hours of tilling or cutting
  • 1,795 lb loader lift at max height and 2,716 lb at 24 in behind the hitch match the rest of the 4000 platform
  • A three-range hydrostatic is available if you change your mind, though PTO output falls to 39.3 hp with it
  • Turbocharged 111 cu in Daedong three-cylinder at 2,750 rpm

What they complain about

  • 14.1 gpm of flow on the shuttle build is 2.4 gpm short of the hydrostatic version's 16.5, so loader cycles are slower
  • No cab variant is listed for the CT4050 - if you want heat and A/C you have to move to the CT4545 or the 5000 platform
  • 11.9 gal of fuel is modest for 50 hp of turbo diesel
  • Emissions hardware is not stated on the page, so a particulate filter and its regeneration behaviour are a dealer question
  • No published warranty term

Gathered from owner reports

What owners report

An unusual number of the people reporting on the CT4050 own it alongside other machines - a skid steer, a bigger utility tractor, an old Ford or Farmall - and they all place it in the same slot: the handy one for gardens, yards, corral cleanup and moving trailers, not the one they reach for when there is real weight to shift.

What comes up favourably

  • Owners describe it as the machine that gets used constantly for property work - gardens, trees, mowing, corral cleanup and shunting trailers around - with one reporting a ten-foot snow pusher on his through the winter.
  • It is rated self-serviceable and solidly built by the people running them, with one owner specifically valuing the steel bodywork over rivals with plastic fenders that break.
  • Owners stepping up to it from genuinely old iron notice the difference immediately - one maintaining ten acres of roads, trails and garden moved on from a 1948 Ford and reports being able to run a tiller without bogging down.

What comes up as a complaint

  • Round bales are at or past its limit. An owner says plainly that his can barely handle one, and the owners running a CT4050 alongside bigger equipment all send bale handling, heavy grading and serious dirt work to the larger machine rather than attempting it with this one.
  • The most consistent advice from CT4050 owners is to buy bigger than you think you need. Two of them, both running it as the small machine in a fleet, repeat the same counsel about sizing up, which is worth weighing if this would be your only tractor.

Questions worth asking

Can the CT4050 handle round bales?
Barely, and owners do not recommend planning on it. One states outright that his can only just manage a round bale, and the owners who have both a CT4050 and something larger consistently hand bale work, heavy material handling and serious grading to the bigger machine. If bales are a routine part of your week rather than an occasional job, this is the wrong size of tractor.
What is it genuinely good at?
Property work at garden and yard scale, which is exactly how its owners use it: garden and tree work, mowing, corral cleanup, tilling, moving trailers around, and snow pushing - one runs a ten-foot pusher on his in winter. Owners upgrading from much older tractors report it runs a tiller without bogging down where the old machine struggled. It is a capable all-rounder as long as the loads stay moderate.

Summarised from public owner discussion, not from testing. Nothing here was measured by this site, and a report that recurs is not the same as a defect rate.

Cross-shopped against

Line the Bobcat CT4050 up

vs Bobcat CT2040vs Bobcat CT4045vs John Deere 3033R

Same brand or same size, nearest in price

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~$34,400MSRP, base build
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44.9 hp engine · 32.8 PTO−27% to the shaft
Loader
1,795 lbs
3-pt
2,716 lbs
Trans
Hydrostatic
Drive
4WD

The 4000 platform is where Bobcat's tractors finally get a turbocharger, 16.5 gpm of hydraulics and a 2,716 lb hitch - a real jump in capability rather than another engine swap into the same frame. Base hydrostatic build starts at $34,400.

Spec sheet & owner notes
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Loader
1,389 lbs
3-pt
1,631 lbs
Trans
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Drive
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At 39.6 hp it tops the 2000 platform for only $762 more than the 34.9 hp CT2035 beneath it - the cheapest way to nearly 40 hp that Bobcat publishes. Every loader, hitch and hydraulic figure is shared with the smaller models in the platform.

Spec sheet & owner notes
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34.9 hp engine · 29.4 PTO−16% to the shaft
Loader
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3-pt
1,631 lbs
Trans
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Drive
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A 34.9 hp Daedong three-cylinder dropped into the same 2000-platform chassis as the CT2025, which means ten more engine horsepower and almost no change in what the loader or hitch can lift. $28,653 in open station; the CT2535 adds a heated, air-conditioned cab at $41,173.

Spec sheet & owner notes
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