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EC ND | If im going to buy a skid steer to use on the farm, snow removal, tiling business, and landscape work whats the best way to go. I know that in a rough field that the tracks would be nice but is it worth the extra money up front and the repair costs. Do the new cat D series ride nice enough that it wouldn't be bad to have wheels the few times I am in the field? Let me know your experience and which way you would go if you had the choice. |
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Texas | Tracks all the way unless you run a lot on asphalt or concrete. They aren't as bad maintenance wise as some make them out to be. |
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East Central Saskatchewan | Tracks are better for almost everything you do except snow removal. Tires are the way to go then. Tracks slide and spin on ice, but they do float on snow so that is nice. What would really make your decision is whether you have a heated shop to put it in or not during winter. If you don't have heat then they freeze up sometimes and you have to melt it out (you can't even move it till you do it). Tracks like you know are more expensive to maintain, but in certain situations they are nice to have. I only have wheel skids for the freezing reason, and if it got that bad that the wheeled machine spins out I would just get at set of over the tire tracks. Just my 2 cents. |
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Watford City, ND | stxfarmer - 8/31/2017 15:14
If im going to buy a skid steer to use on the farm, snow removal, tiling business, and landscape work whats the best way to go. I know that in a rough field that the tracks would be nice but is it worth the extra money up front and the repair costs. Do the new cat D series ride nice enough that it wouldn't be bad to have wheels the few times I am in the field? Let me know your experience and which way you would go if you had the choice.
Ben,
Im a sales guy over in western ND for a CAT dealer and I would strongly suggest looking at tracks vs tires. Better in 98% of conditions and the maintenance on them isn't that bad.
One thing to consider is vertical lift vs radial lift.
If you plan on doing a ton of fork work (loading, unloading pallets) and using the machine with the bucket/forks a lot off of the ground (like three feet) then go radial. Verticals will lift a little more. If you're not familiar, google vertical vs radial to read some.
I go up against Butler a lot, and would love a chance to beat them up on this! Lol
Have a day |
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NW IA | Have a 262D use in the field some and I don't think the ride is just all that bad. I'm sure if I compared it to a track machine I'd be disappointed. Love the machine would hate to go back the new holland I had
Edited by rednwia 8/31/2017 16:32
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West Manchester Ohio | What about tracks in manure? Scraping alleys, pen packed, all on concrete. |
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Eastern Half of Kansas | All other tracks beside ASV to my knowledge have steel belts in them. When they start cracking manure will eat them up. So I would say no.
To original poster everything you outline, tracks if you can afford them.
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South Central Lower Michigan | HERE, our wheel machine was totally worthless in the field. Just sinks to china and got a flat tire doing it.
We got an older, still more $$ track unit (CAT 279C) and it's a tree pushing machine!
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red river valley se of fargo | The_Owl - 8/31/2017 15:29
stxfarmer - 8/31/2017 15:14
If im going to buy a skid steer to use on the farm, snow removal, tiling business, and landscape work whats the best way to go. I know that in a rough field that the tracks would be nice but is it worth the extra money up front and the repair costs. Do the new cat D series ride nice enough that it wouldn't be bad to have wheels the few times I am in the field? Let me know your experience and which way you would go if you had the choice.
Ben,
Im a sales guy over in western ND for a CAT dealer and I would strongly suggest looking at tracks vs tires. Better in 98% of conditions and the maintenance on them isn't that bad.
One thing to consider is vertical lift vs radial lift.
If you plan on doing a ton of fork work (loading, unloading pallets ) and using the machine with the bucket/forks a lot off of the ground (like three feet ) then go radial. Verticals will lift a little more. If you're not familiar, google vertical vs radial to read some.
I go up against Butler a lot, and would love a chance to beat them up on this! Lol
Have a day
Just wondering why you prefer a radial for elevated work? |
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| Tracks, wheel is pretty helpless off of hard surfaces.
I was told wheel for my application ( mostly heavy brush cutting) regret it now, I can't count the times I've been stuck in one year VS using a telehandler for nearly 15 years never been stuck.
I am planning on selling mine and getting another small tele. |
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Wisconsin | Tracks get my vote. We had wheeled machines for years. Now have one wheeled and one track. I think the wheeled machine is getting traded off for another track machine soon. Like someone said, the only time wheels are better are on roughly finished concrete. Smooth concrete isn't a problem. Even pushing snow I don't notice a huge difference.
You specifically asked if tracks are worth the money to smooth the ride in the field. Without a doubt YES! At the end of the day you don't feel like you got thrown around the cab all day. Another advantage to tracks that I didn't realize is how stable they are with a heavy load. Without the bounce of air filled tires, you can be lifting the max of what it's rated for and not have it feel unstable.
It's amazing how well you can level dirt with tracks vs. wheels as well. Also, you can never have a flat. We just helped clean up a barn fire and it was nice not to have to worry about driving on a nail. The list of advantages of a wheel machine is very small IMO.
Edited by 3500ctd 8/31/2017 20:10
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| Tracks all the way |
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NC Iowa | tracks. have had wheels for a long long time. We are about a year into our very first with tracks ever and we love it. Cat 257D, its like a small dozer compared to our old case.
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| Tracks are worthless in snow |
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NC Iowa | We move some snow with ours. Mostly with rock underneath and we get along fine. It is NOT our primary snow removal tool though. I would agree with concrete underneath hard to push much.
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| Tracks!!!! Ya snow removal tires might be better but on our farm the skid steer gets 10x the hours in summer picking rock, digging out culverts/ditches, leveling dirt, cleaning up tree rows etc where tracks really shine. Demo a cat multi terrain tracked unit (track suspension) you won't be sorry! |
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Watford City, ND |
I honestly don't prefer either lift over the other. But, the vertical lifts do lift a little more than radials, because the load is closer to the cab (the weight isn't further out).
With radials, if you're loading pallets on trucks a lot, using forks, etc that type of work, the boom is noticeablely further out, making it a little easier.
It's just a trade off - I only mention it because some people aren't aware of the difference.
Edited by The_Owl 8/31/2017 22:39
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Carbondale, KS | We demo'd both and wouldn't have anything but tracks. |
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South Central Lower Michigan | Another good use for the track machine is picking rocks.
I drove right across a field that was already planted and didn't hurt a thing. |
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track Vs wheel skidsteer
