It was the skeleton redundancies that were slowing it down. Look:
I also gain about 8 fps by eliminating the hand bones, even though no verts are attached to them. You should use a low-res skeleton as well as mesh, for distant objects! Fortunately, I can eliminate bones, even spine segments, and use the same animations. Your distant skeletons can consist of just a few bones, while your immediate skeletons have separate hand, feet, and full spine bones.
I also gain about 8 fps by eliminating the hand bones, even though no verts are attached to them. You should use a low-res skeleton as well as mesh, for distant objects! Fortunately, I can eliminate bones, even spine segments, and use the same animations. Your distant skeletons can consist of just a few bones, while your immediate skeletons have separate hand, feet, and full spine bones.