I am looking for any input/experiences about what kinda skid steer is best for clearing snow.........tracks or wheels
Wheels without a doubt...... no arguing here,,, you can't afford to plow with a track machine,, no matter what brand.
If you go tracks I think the ASV has the best set up for snow. Bridgestone makes a Polar track made for CTL's in the Winter sounds like it works good.
Hard to beat 4 chains on a SS, but I rented a CTL once and was suprised that it sould stay on top of some deep stuff. I kept wondering when it was going to break thru and belly out. The tire chains ore not very friendly to asphalt! Been thinking of rigging up some 22.5's with studs for some additional speed and clearance.
Tires for sure. If it stays cold in Edmonton you may not even have to chain up if you stay on the pavement. Out here in the northwest it rains every once in a while in the winter just to keep it interesting. I just run one set of chains on my back tires on my S185.
well, if your trying to ski down a hill with your skid steer, i would go with the tracks...
I have used a 743 with chains On all fours and I have to admit it worked pretty well, but you did have to watch out on thick crusty stuff as it would break through and bottom out on the other hand I always thought tracks would be better but haven't tried them for snow yet... although from some of the posts here I might think twice before I did
Don't get me wrong, tracks ARE better,,,,, but the expense to operate tracks make's it cost prohibitive. You can't justify the cost pushing snow..!!!
Thanks for the feedback. Still in doubt, I wanna use it for grading in summer and think tracks are the way to go for that. Gonna do some more research.
I have a track machine and tire machine. The track machine will be better for any grade job, but the tire machine is OK for snow also. My overall preference is track machine hands down for all jobs however.
co73 I am by no means an expert on this subject but given that I have had several different makes, models and drive configurations and the fact that I too reside in the Edmonton area, I figured I would throw in my 2 cents..... One thing absent from the comments so far is what your are going to be clearing snow from. If it is pavement (asphalt or concrete) the argument for a wheeled machine is very strong. Changing 4 tires is a lot cheaper than changing two tracks (and eventually the running gear). The rubber tracks that the machines come with (typically Bridgestone but that is changing) are all that was available at one time and so the machines were actually designed around the Bridgestone track configuration. Although that track design provided superior flotation, in my opinion it is lacking on the traction side. I recently purchased a set of Solideal tracks and was blown away by the increase in traction they provided. To my point about the lack of traction of the OEM tracks, one of my current machines is a Gehl CTL60 (rated at 67HP) which came with the OEM tracks. The machine's power seemed limitless when pushing into a dirt/snow/manure pile but I learned that it was because the tracks started to slip and the machine would stay revved up. When I switched to the new tracks I soon realized that my machine was underpowered for them because now it would stall out due to the increase in traction. I have about 1200 Hours on the new tracks and am very happy with how they are wearing. Last year (2010) as you know we had record snow falls in the Edmonton area. The same Gehl machine was put to work clearing snow for a property manager in the city. I had never intended for it to be clearing snow on pavement (because of the cost of the tracks configuration vs. tires) but I can tell you that I ran circles around every wheeled machine that I came up against. Every operator that saw what the machine could do was impressed. Given that I was using an 8' blade and not a snow bucket served to increase their level of respect because I could keep all of the rubber on the ground, angle my blade down slightly and peel the snow right to the pavement with no loss of rev's at all. This is where a wheeled machine may falter because most operators will lift the front wheels off of the ground so that they can get adequate pressure on the bucket to peel the snow. This can be necessary with smaller machines but it can be costly over time as well. The wheeled machines are ALL designed to be used with all 4 wheels on the ground when doing any kind of work. This keeps the torque distributed equally on all 4 wheels. If you constantly have the front wheels in the air, they are not providing any traction nor are they carrying their share of the torque therefore the rear wheels and drives are subject to unnecessary wear and tear and WILL have issue's....I've seen it many times. This is why many operators choose to put chains on the front wheels only because it forces them to keep all 4 wheels on the ground. Putting chains on the rear wheels only is a recipe for excess tire wear, metal fatigue and failure. Another argument is that it can be easy to get a wheeled machine stuck in the snow or mud. I have yet to get my tracked machine stuck in anything. There is one particular approach on a country road that I frequently clear and with my wheeled machines I got stuck several times. I got cocky and too close to the edge and down I went. With the track machine not only do I not get stuck, I can drive right into the ditch full of snow and keep right on going! Personally, any new machines I purchase will be track machines. To me the advantages far out weigh the costs. That being said, if my machines were pushing snow on pavement, I would purchase a wheeled machine but allow more time to get the job done. Enough rambling.....hope it helps with your decision.
In my experiences, I have not found tracked units to be ideal for snow work. The low ground pressure causes the unit to float ontop of snow/ice and not have good traction for pushing. I've used skid steers for snow for 7years now and just recently bough a compact wheel loader. I believe that it the optimal snow unit with great visibility, comfort, capacity, and speed. Regarding you dilema specifically. If you do go track, I strongly suggest purchasing screw in snow/ice studs. I buy from this website: http://www.maxigripstore.com/ I use these on the rears on my loaders and backhoes, have never needed to use them on wheeled skid steers. A friend of mine has a Bobcat T300 and couldn't do anythig with snow. He bought these, screwed 200 in each of his wide tracks, and never had a problem again. I keep these on the shelf just as a back up too. Google snow studs and you will find a few companies that produce them. I like these the best. Good Luck!