I am looken at a bobcat t320. I just saw a bobcat with steel tracks not the rollers but actal steel tracks. the dealer said that you can get up to 10,000 hrs off of them and i dont realy belive that. I am trying to find a skid steer that can get around mud good and ablity to handle 5,000 lbs of steel that come in a bundle. I had been told that the compact tracks get around mud great and im not to sure about the tipping load deal beacase when i get my steel is 32 ft long and in a 5000 lbs bundles off a semi trucks. any info would be great.
Track loader Rated Operating Capacity is done differently than wheeled machines. 320 means it's rated to lift 3200lbs, which is at the bob-tach and 4 feet off the ground. for Track machines that number is 35% of what it should take to get the rear of the machine off the ground. for Wheeled loaders that number is 50% of what it takes to get the rear tyres off the ground. It'll lift it, but it's over what the machine "should" lift
Run away from that salesman as fast as you can! Steel undercarriages on dozers will not last 10,000hrs withour a rebuild and they only drive around at aroun 2-4mph. Guys like that give salesmen a bad name. It depends on how far out from load center on your forks you'll be , but you'll be hard pressed to safely handle 5k off of a truck with a T320.
There's a couple of things wrong about this... 1) The ROC is not rated at the quick-tach plate, ever. It's rated at a specified point in a specified bucket. 2) The ROC is half (wheeled machines) of or 35% (track machines) of the load that will cause the machine to tip at wherever the boom arms achieve maximum reach. For Bobcats, this is roughly at truck bed height, but for Deeres, say, it's closer to maximum height. I don't know if the T320 has the hydraulic capability to handle 5,000 pounds across its entire lift cycle, but suffice to say it's beyond what Bobcat will suggest officially. You may want to consider a Deere 332 or 333D.
There suppost to have a remote control out for that loader too but bobcat has been top secret with the prices. I saw the new Steel tracks on a 320 at World of Concrete in Vegas but as far as getting the new stuff out to the Contractors Bobcat hasnt done a very good job at it.
the remote is just south of 15k. It's been out for awhile and I think it works on all the modern loaders.
I think the loaders need SJC, but it should work with the K-series large-frames. G-series and S205 and down, I'm not quite as sure about.
Are them steel tracks any good or not?? I mean i will run it in mud and gravel without gettin tore up easily???
the steel tracks are good but the paws wear out quick on concreate what are you planing on doing with them
also somthing good to do with them is fill the tires with that tire foam and it seams to help with steel tracks
I dont think you will be able to get 10,000 hours out of them moving steel around like you do even if you stayed in grass for 10,000 hrs they will not last.
I build pipefence. I know mud is an issue but need to get around in mud and carry alot of weight. I have used the tires over tracks and personally i do not like them at all becase the mud is so sticky and had gotten stuck alot and i rented one of the t320 with steel tracks just to finsh the job but it was 3 hrs deal. not enough time to get the exerince i wanted n beside i rather have a john deere but they dont have one with steel tracks becase i will be in dirt n mud the whole time.
Not sure the steel tracks is really giving you any more ability in the mud than does regular rubber CTL tracks. The steel will be more durable in tough ground conditions but as far as more floatation or ability to move in mud, I don't think so. They will certainly cost more and you will lose the ability run around on improved surfaces without causing damage. Also some OTT are better than others in mud. The Loegren Trail Blazer or now known as F track I think, has a wide pad much better in mud than the thin cross bar design. I would certainly try out all your options before kicking down for a steel tracked CTL.
Do you work in rocky ground? If the terrain was extremely rocky, then I would consider the steel option, maybe. The steel CTL under carriage has just come out for major production, there have been after market conversions but not much long term data is out there to compare to. I have a 5 year old T250 with 2500 hours and it's on it's 3rd set of rubber tracks. This machine has been worked hard in some abrasive material and a fair amount of time on asphalt. At $4K a pop for a set of rubber, I have $12k in "under carriage" costs on this machine so far. It still has the original idlers, rollers and sprockets. So a rough base line of my costs per hour for the rubber undercarriage so far is $4.80, which is high. That number reflects my working conditions that have been, well let's say less than desirable. What makes me skeptical about the steel undercarriages on CTL's is the durability with so much side loading of the tracks and sprockets that is common with skidsteers due to the nature of it's operation. Side loading sprockets and chains is a killer of under carriages on larger equipment. Additionally a traditional CTL/skid spends a lot of time running in reverse, another killer of metal under carriages. I doubt Bobcat is making their own steel undercarriage components, so if I was investigating this machine I would want to know who makes it for them and what their under carriage operating costs are estimated at. Of course they are trying to sell a machine so take it with a grain of salt.