Loads of work

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SHOVEL HEAD: Buy the right skid-steer loader and you will have a versitile tool at your disposal.

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As worksites get tighter, the compact dimensions of the skid-steer loader are popular with plant buyers, but what features offer benefits for the owner?

Today, there are a multitude of skid-steers on building sites throughout the world. PMV managers are drawn to the usefulness of the compact machines on building sites.

No production skid-steer still uses the three-wheeled model. In fact, modern skid-steers can broadly be put into two categories: wheeled and tracked. We all know the benefits and disadvantages of each drive system, but for the most part the drive remains the same.

The beginnings of the loader are a little more messy, however. Back in the beginning, a farmer needed to clean out a turkey shed, and rather than use the traditional shovel method, he employed a pair of brothers to build him a machine to help with the task.

The machine they came up with had two driven front wheels and a single caster at the back. As the rear wheel went through 360 degrees.

The machine could turn on it's own footprint. While still quite far removed from the modern skid-steer, the concept was born, as well as the foundations of the Bobcat company, which the brothers would later be part of.

Now part of the Doosan Infracore group, Bobcat still controls a large part of the skid-steer market. The latest machine to come from the company is the tracked T320, which boasts a significant increase in power over the model it replaced.

Power is, of course the main consideration when looking for a skid-steer as greater hydraulic pressure means more attachments can be used safely.

Gaby Rhayem, sales manager, Bobcat said; "The increased engine power provides11% more hydraulic power in the T320 compared to the T300, and this significantly boosts the performance of attachments on the T320.

The T320 is equipped standard with a hydraulic system that produces 80.2 1/min of hydraulic flow, but customers can choose a 151 litre per minute high-flow option for powering a wide range of high flow attachments such as the wheel saw, road planers, rotary cutter, mowers, flail cutters, stump grinders and wood chippers.

Application

It might come as no surprise, but the exact spec of a skid-steer will depend on what it is going to be used for. "The application is number one - what kind of payload capacity is the primary driver" said Sudhir Tripathi, marketing, Al-Bahar.

"Also if you are going to use it for work tools, consider what kind of hydro-mechanical or hydro-electrical attachments you have, and what kind of power they need. Ask, will the machine be able to supply that?" He added that working on tight sites can be a factor when choosing a machine.

"In certain cases, you have to go in to a tight area and the width and weight of the machine makes a difference, but that doesn't often apply here (in the UAE) It is more about the payload and bucket capacity."

"Skid-steer loaders are a combination of workhorse and gopher at most jobsites," says Jim Hughes, brand communication manager, Case Construction Equipment. "In fact, they're often the most productive and versatile machines on a jobsite.

Throw in the fact a skid-steer loader is less expensive than other construction equipment and you've got a winning combination for many contractors."

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