does anyone else notice modern crawler loaders are just about big heavy duty skid steers?
yes and every one loves the skids and says the loaders are old school. it blows my mind
you are a very perceptive man
I agree, they really are. A track loader won't be as versatile as a skid when you start comparing what kind of attachments can be hooked on the front end. Of course with imagination and money, anything is possible. If I could only have 1 piece of heavy iron to depend on to put food on the table it would be a track loader. Dig, grade, clear, load, demo, etc - all with one machine and to boot the small and mid-range loaders can be put on a tag behind a dump truck. Burnout your ride has to take the lowboy. The track loaders have fell out of popularity somewhat with the newer generation but a testament to their usefulness and versatility is the fact that Cat and Deere have launched new versions/models in the recent years.
cm, guys, it was 29 degrees today. cold! i had a nice, warm 950g and an old, cabless 963 at my disposal. i ran the 63. track loaders are the best all-around machine in general earthmoving, in my humble opinion.
I loved my 555A then 555g and now the 655c II Great versitle machines for whatever you need to do, i just find it sad that no new generations want to use them they prefer a dozer or a CTL/ skid steer .
Well, here in SoCal, track loaders are almost as scarce as hens teeth. Only ever see them with the demo contractors. I am a dozer guy, and have always thought about how nice it would be to have a track loader around. One day I will have the right job that makes sense to rent one, just so I can try it out.
can not argue that. Dad supported our family with a 125E international track loader for 14 years (with a dump truck and tilt trailer) Watching him work was so cool, he could work wonders with it. 4 in 1 bucket of course. Its a 1976 model and he still has it, one owner, he bought it new.
Well I all think we knew I was gonna chime in on this right? I do prefer track loaders now, I was talked into running one in the first place. The reason?.... money. It only took a couple months for me to realize they are a much more fun and versatile machine than I ever thought. As CM said, they are great for loading, grading, clearing, stumping and being awesome. It is true that the CTL market has exploded in a way in which many people would have never imagined. They are getting huge but as was pointed out in another discussion, you could have a CTL with the same hp numbers as a 943 for example and that 943 will outpush it 95% of the time due to weight alone. Track loaders put their power to the ground with weight, yes they can be clumsy and too heavy sometimes. But I don't see anyone comparing a big CTL to a trim dozer with any amount of success. As for your lowboy comment CM.... mah 73 hasn't seen one since June. Been walkin it from jobsite to jobsite lol. Granted its only moved a total of about 5 miles since then.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT PROPOGANDA....lol YouTube - Caterpillar 973C Cam 2 HD
Love the video's burnout... I don't get why people even try to compare CTL's to tracked loaders. Agree with the comment that they don't even compare to a trim dozer. Unless I'm cleaning up the street, most of our finish grades are with a D5G.
I just bought a 953C for that very reasoning. We have a Bobcat compact trackloader that is getting severe use and wear. Our plan is to use the Cat instead of gutting the compact Bobcat trackloader.