Plant Machinery

Posts Tagged ‘Skid’

Like a Swiss Army Knife on wheels, a skid steer loader can support a huge range of additional attachments to enable it to be used for an unbelievable variety of jobs. Your standard issue skid steer loader comes with a bucket attachment, but its capabilities don’t end with just humping mud and dirt about. Here are just some of the attachments available for your skid steer loader, and a brief explanation of what they do.

Augers – These look like giant drill bits. They use the Archimedes principal to dig deep, clean holes for foundations.
Claws – hydraulic grapples that are used to grab and lift heavy objects.
Hitches – like the trailer hitch on your car. Attached to the back of the loader and used to pull trailers and so on.
Backhoes – a steel bucket attached to a rotatable hydraulic arm used for digging and scooping.
Mowers – for cutting the grass!

Dozer Blades – a large metal blade fitted to the front of the skid steer loader. Used for pushing dirt and debris..

Plows – like a blade but can have a curved plate at the top, or be angled in a v shape to enable snow or leaves to be pushed to the side
Rakes – for scarifying ground and gathering loose material like leaves.
Forks – same as you would find on a forklift, these blades are used to carry palletized materials and suspended loads such as heavy bags.
Trenchers – used for digging ditches or long trenches.

The list above is only a small selection of the hundreds of additional tools that you can buy for your skid steer loader. You will probably never need most of them in you day to day work, so it’s good to know that there are many hire shops around the country that will rent you specialist tools on a daily or even an hourly basis. Thanks to the skid steer “quick attach” system most of these attachments can be used on any brand of skid steer loader, although there are some exceptions so its worth checking suitability with your supplier before purchasing.

The skid loader is a rigid frame, engine powered machine with lift arms that are used to attach a wide variety of labor saving tools or attachments. Skid loaders are normally four wheel drive with left side drive wheels that are independent of right side drive wheels.  With each side being independent to the other, the wheel speed and direction of rotation of the wheels will determine which direction the loader turns.
Skid loaders are capable of turning in their own tracks, which makes them very maneuverable and valuable for jobs that require the use of compact, agile loader.
Unlike conventional front loaders, the lift arms lay beside the driver with the major pivot points located behind the shoulders of the operator.  Due to the operator being in close proximity to moving booms and buckets, earlier models of skid loaders weren’t as safe as conventional front loaders, particularly during entering and exiting.

Skid loaders today have fully enclosed cabs and other safety features that will protect the operator from injury.  Just like other front loaders, the skid steer can scrape material from one location to another, carry material in a bucket, or load material on a truck or a trailer.

Operation
A skid loader can sometimes take the place of a large excavator by digging a hole out from the inside.  The skid loader will first dig a ramp that leads to the edge of the hole.  Then, the loader will use the ramp to carry material out of the hole. 
The skid loader will then reshape the ramp by making it steeper and longer as the excavation gets deeper.  This method is very useful for digging under an overhead structure where the overhead clearance doesn’t allow for the boom of a large excavator, such as those situations where you are digging a basement under a house.
The bucket of most types of skid loaders can be replaced with several specialized buckets or attachments, many of which are powered by the hydraulic system of the loader. 

History
The first 3 wheeled front end loader was invented by two brothers, Cyril and Louis Keller in their machinist shop in Minnesota back in 1957.  The Kellers built the loader to help a nearby farmer clean turkey manure from his two story barn.  The light and compact loader, with the rear caster wheel, was able to turn around within the length of itself, while performing the very same tasks as conventional front end loaders.
Down the road, the Melroe manufacturing company in Gwinner, North Dakota, purchased the rights to the Keller loader in 1958 and hired the brothers to continue their loader invention.  Resulting from the partnership, the M-200 self propelled loader was introduced at the end of 1958.

The loader featured two independent front drive wheels and a rear caster wheel, a 12.9 engine and a 750 lb lift capacity.  Two years later, they ended up replacing the caster wheel with a rear axle and introduced the M-400 loader, which was the first four wheel skid steer loader in the world.

In 1962, the Bobcat name was added to describe the key features of the machine – touch, agile, and quick.  The M-440 was powered by a 15.5 HP engine and offered a 1100 lb rated operating capacity.  In the mid 1960s, the skid steer loader progressed with the introduction of the M600 loader.

Years later, the Bobcat skid steer loader experienced quite a few changes, including the development of a hydrostatic drive system, enforced cab structures, radius and vertical lift arm configurations, deluxe instrumentation, and even heating and air conditioning.
In addition to the rubber tire skid loaders of today, there are now all-wheel steer loaders and even compact track loaders. Compact track loads offer less ground disturbance and feature better traction and control in soft, muddy, wet, and even sandy ground conditions.

For additional information about skid steer loaders visit Save on Construction Heavy Equipment at The writer operates a website selling used construction equipment and providing information at http://www.saveonheavyequipment.com

There are just so many different types of machines and equipment out there being used for construction, commercial and agricultural purposes and the skid steer loader, also commonly referred to as the skid loader is but one of them. It’s a mobile machine on wheels or tracts. It has a rigid frame, lift arms, and is fitted to accommodate a wide variety of tools and accessories that attach onto it.

The number and variety as well as the usage of attachments that have been developed for the skid steer loader over the years is simply amazing and virtually all of them are powered by the loaders own hydraulic system. Post hole diggers, scoops, concrete breakers, stump grinders, ditch diggers and rock breakers are typical examples of some of the most commonly used tools of this type.

One very recognizable common trait of Skid Steer Loaders is their size. They are a smaller machine that’s designed for medium to light jobs in confined working conditions. In fact, one of the newer types of skid loaders to appear on the market is new mini skid loaders that don’t even have seats. The operator stands on the back to operate the machine that often times is no larger than a common lawn tractor.

One very unique feature of these machines is their wheel or track operation. The four wheel versions that aren’t fitted with tracks are usually four wheel drive. That’s not unusual but what is unusual is that the wheel or track systems on each side of the machine are designed to operate independently of one another. The result is that these machines can turn on a dime while standing perfectly still. The zero radius turn.

The first prototypes for what has become the modern day skid steer loader became operational in 1957. Oddly enough, these were three wheeled vehicles that had two wheels in the font with one in the back. This arrangement allowed them to do the zero radius turns by simply positioning the steering mechanism in the single back wheel.

Subsequently, in 1958 Melroe Manufacturing acquired the rights to the machine and some three years later, the first four wheeled models were being manufactured by them. Of course, since then it has been licensed out to other manufacturing firms and also has undergone many more improvements, including tracks that replace wheels in some models as well as so many of the tools and machines that are able to be added on.

The main benefits that make the skid steer loader the machine of choice in such a wide variety of applications are its low cost and versatility. It basically replaces a two to four man crew in so many of the tasks that it performs. Also due to its smaller size and simplicity of operation it’s far safer machine to have and use on a job site. Also some of its tools are in turn adaptable themselves.

However; it is the newer “mini” skip steer loaders that are powered by powerful smaller economical motors that are really catching on. Contractors are finding that with the money it takes to pay a man’s wages for six months, they can buy one of these machines that effectively do the work of two men. They never need to take breaks or call in sick either.