Tracked skid-steers are better.

"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97) 04/27/2020 at 16:56 • Filed to: None

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We’ve got this machine at work for the occasional small flood control structure maintenance projects that aren’t big enough to be worth contracting out like most of our structure maintenance is. Our survey party chief is the primary operator of it, but today I played with it around shop yard while putting a battery tender on it (in my side duty here as keeper of the mechanical things).

I’ve run skid steers before moving dirt around to get a racetrack sanctioned for SCCA club racing , but this was my first time at the controls of a tracked one. These are so much better, and so much more stable. This is a good toy. I’m going to have convince our s urvey guy to let me have some time at the controls moving some dirt around.

This is our biggest toy at work , along with the gooseneck trailer and F-450 to move it around.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/27/2020 at 17:16

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Okay, but older pre-IR Bobcats on pneumatic tires can do semi-two-wheel wild pivot turns and bounce violently off of a wheelie, so I’m not sure the better surface scaling of a non-conversion track skid-steer makes up for that.

What I’m saying is, being able to drive badly is important.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/27/2020 at 17:25

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My uncle has one and I got to drive it once. He has 10 acres, so after we got it started, he told me to go dig a hole with it. After messing around for about 20 minutes, I had a decent-sized hole and a good pile of dirt going. He walked out to inspect the hole, then took over to turn the pile of dirt into a small ramp. We spent the next half- hour jumping his 4-wheelers over the hole. Great fun!

It took him about 10 minutes to put the dirt back in the hole and get it packed down. Experience is everything when driving one of these things.

jminer > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/27/2020 at 17:26

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Skid-steers are a lot of fun! I used to work with a guy that could pickup a quarter with stock picker forks on one. He was very good at it, I never got that good and qualify as barely passable with it.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/27/2020 at 17:29

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And it’s a CAT, which means you can now go drive any piece of construction equipment you want once they’re gone for the day!

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > TheRealBicycleBuck 04/27/2020 at 17:30

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Indeed.  I know just enough to be dangerous.  I'd have to have lot more time at the controls to be anything approaching good with one.  I do, however, appreciate how much fun they are.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > jminer 04/27/2020 at 17:32

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I know just enough to be dangerous.  I can manage to reslope a run off area at a racetrack and put the dirt in a dump truck without hurting anyone or anything.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 04/27/2020 at 17:36

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In case anyone is curious, it was an old-school 743 like this in question:

A Boy and His Longtail > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/27/2020 at 19:00

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This is the correct take

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/27/2020 at 22:44

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they’re great until it snows. My dad is friends with aguy whohas a building supply company, one of his employees parked the skidster with solid smooth tires on the gravel dirt, only for it to rain and sink. So he has to call multiple people to drag/lift this think out. So a few years later he goes and gets a nnew  a tracked one. We have an ice/snow storm and for the life of it couldn’t get up little incline. He still gets so much grief.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 04/28/2020 at 00:06

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Interesting.  Not much chance of this machine ever seeing snow.  

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/28/2020 at 00:23

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its more, properly train your empoyees instead of assuming they’ll figure it out  equipment

functionoverfashion > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 04/28/2020 at 08:39

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It must depend on the track design, because the town I work in plows its sidewalks with a little skidsteer-sized machine on tracks. It doesn’t damage the pavement but it cranks straight up steep hills pushing snow. 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > functionoverfashion 04/28/2020 at 08:44

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like tires, i don’t believe all treads are created equally. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/28/2020 at 10:12

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I would LOVE to have a skid steer...

benjrblant > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/28/2020 at 16:20

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ooh, family has some land in central tx that’s filled with mesquite. this would be pretty rad with a forestry mulcher on the front.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > benjrblant 04/28/2020 at 16:31

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There are all kinds of attachments for these.  We have the bucket, a grader blade and a mower attachment for it.

benjrblant > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/28/2020 at 17:10

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What's the advantage of a mower on a skid steer instead of a tractor or another piece of machinery?

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > benjrblant 04/28/2020 at 17:25

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In this case, simply because we have a skid steer. A tracked skid steer also works well for doing thigs like work on the face of an earthen dam while disturbing the underlying surface as little as possible. As  a (small) agency, we don’t own a tractor. Right now, for us it would be an expensive machine with only one occasional use case.

M.T. Blake > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/28/2020 at 19:01

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Fun Fact: You can still get them stuck in the mud.

But yes, far superior. 

Buddybilt > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/29/2020 at 09:27

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Personally... I prefer wheeled skids. But there are definitely pros and cons to both. I’m in Minnesota and we definitely get snow here and unless you’re willing to spend $2,000+ on a special set of tracks for your track loader. THEY! ARE! WORTHLESS!!! However the same exact thing could be said for wheeled skids in a lot of dirt work situations... So it goes both ways... I will admit that aside from snow use though.. . I probably would buy a track skid over a wheeled skid...