Saturday, December 26, 2015

Skid Steer Loaders For Many Functions

By Robert Cook


People who work in construction and farming are familiar with this uniquely versatile vehicle. For everyone else, the skid steer is like nothing you have ever seen before. It may be perceived as a small tractor. The vehicle has four wheels, with the two left wheels mechanically locked and the two right wheels also mechanically locked. Both sides of the machine are steered independently from each other. It moves with in a skidding motion. The wheels, which cannot turn on an angle, are held in straight alignment with the frame.

Operating the left and right wheels at different speeds causes them to skid. The vehicle was invented in 1957 for a farmer who needed to move some turkey manure. As one could imagine, a machine with the traditional type wheel base would just spin and spin and get further stuck into the soft manure. The skidding motion enables the machine to move over areas like soft earth, gravel, manure and other soft terrains.

The extremely strong rigid frame and exceptionally strong wheel bearings allow the skidding without any damage to the machine. They come in a variety of sizes, but the smaller sized machines work especially well in small spaces where larger machines cannot be maneuvered. Amazingly, they can turn at a zero radius, a movement that has been compared to a pirouette. Since this is hard for the untrained mind to picture, watching some YouTube videos of the machines in action is very helpful.

It is pretty amazing all the things these excavators can do. The ability to function in small areas with low overhead space is unmatched. Picture digging a new basement under an otherwise fully constructed house. Large machines could not do this. Sometimes small is better.

There are many attachments that can be purchased to increase the versatility of this loader. You can get buckets to move earth, rakes, levelers, mowers, pallet forks, and several attachments to move snow. Putting a new attachment on the vehicle, is almost like having another machine.

Some of the well known manufacturers are Bobcat, John Deere and Caterpillar, although there are many more. The vehicles come in a wide range of sizes and are priced around fifteen to over sixty thousand dollars. The attachments are needed for the machine to complete a variety of tasks. Their price range starts around three thousand and can go higher than fifteen thousand dollars.

The mower attachment works great when a lot of acreage needs to be cut. With the correct attachment, it can be turned into a cement mixer. When heavy drilling is required, an auger attachment can easily do the job. Living in a rural community, you may need to grade some earth and spread some gravel to create a driveway. The machines are excellent for moving some earth and creating different levels in landscaping jobs.

The loaders are also manufactured with tracks. In this form they are referred to as multi terrain loaders. In every other respect the two machines perform in the same manner. Renting is a good solution if you will only need the vehicle one time. These machines have proven to be an extremely useful design. When you acquire one, you will need some training to drive it.




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