Skid Steer Track LoaderJanuary 22
You may have seen that one of the most popular types of machines for construction work and for the private landowner is a skid steer. This machine gets its popularity because of its compact size, ease of use, and the ability to put thousands of different tools on its front end to make it one of the most versatile machines on the market today. If you have ever ran a skid machine or rented one for a few days, most likely it had four tires on it. These machines were originally developed and named because of the skid of the tires. However, as time and technology has progressed you can now find a Skid Steer Track Loader.
Basically, these machines are the same top of the skid machine, but instead of wheels on the bottom, they have two tracks. These tracks are usually steel that is coated with rubber and depending on the manufacturer it will have rubber components or all steel components that the track will ride on. These machines have taken the construction market by storm because they have increased the number of days per year an operator can run this machine. For example, usually when it was muddy, flooding, snowing, or any other condition that provided soggy underfoot conditions a person with a tired skid machine would have to park it because it would not work very well.
Now that there are machines with tracks, these tracks allow these machines to run very well in soggy underfoot conditions. This has allowed contractors to maintain a lot of productivity even when the weather does not cooperate. These machines also have have very low ground pressure which means that just like a skid machine with tires, you will not tear up recently planted grass, landscaping, or mess up newly laid concrete.
There is one major downside to these machines with tracks. This is the fact that they are much more costly to run if you are running in rocks, steel, and major debris. Tires will always be less expensive to replace than a track and its undercarriage components. It is a good idea to talk with your local equipment dealer to get the pros and cons of going with tires versus going with tracks. He or she will most likely want to talk with you about what your normal underfoot conditions are, how well you usually maintain your equipment, and how many operators are usually running your equipment.
22 Jan 2010 | 1:09 pm | Autos
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