Need Track Skid Steer suggestions and advice

[tradosaurus]

Also I'm sold on the Kubota roll up door. When I got stuck it made getting in and out easier

 

[searcyfarms]

well crud, thats no good, i have done that but mine was in a creek, so my suggestion for getting around that is a wheeled machine with bar tracks, i bought my set to feed hay with in the winter as it gets DEEP around here and i didnt have a 4x4 tractor - i have only been stuck once with my bar tracks in a creek as i sunk it all the way to the top of the tracks and when i came back to get it, it was over the seat i the cab it was a sink hole of some sort and i almost lost my entire machine. I have been stuck where i couldnt move but with the bucket pushing/pulling/lifting i could get myself out or hooking a chain to a tree and using the bucket to articulate myself out. Bar Tracks on a wheeled machine are unbelieveable, i have amazed myself where they will go even with the extra weight.

I my machine is 90hp and weights around 8000lbs before the tracks or 84" tooth bucket so its pushing 10K id say. I realize the Kubota is im thinking 12 to 14 so its a bit heavier but thats a drag getting stuck. I loathe the thought of wallowing around and trying to work in it with a tracked machine its very very frustrating from my experience. Try using a bar tracked machine and see what you think, I like it so much better i can work when my cousin calls n says its too wet my machine wont go. He has an ASV RT100 i think something like that its got the same perkins mine has but with a turbo.

AS for the doors and type you can have your roll up door those are scary, have one get jammed on you and try to get out!!! the only way is up/out the back window and try crawling up/out of there with the engine on fire!!!! a swing open door is there and easy to go through when the engine catches on fire, ask me how i know these things...........and yes its scary - my neighbor got stuck in a rental kubota with the roll up door and luckily it wasnt on fire and he had to crawl up/out of the back window to get out, he was trapped in it for 20 minutes before he got the back window popped out and got up/out of it. he didnt have his phone with them to call for help. I cant imagine trying to get up/out of it with teh engine on fire. Now another kubota roll up door incident, i rented an SV 75 for some demo on a neighbors burned house, i had the door up above me in the cab so i could hear someone giving me directions on maneuvering. I drive over the 6 inch curb wall and when it went over the door above me shattered and dumped glass all over me, down my neck/shirt etc.... i guess the torque/twisting of hte machine going over the curb wall caused something with the cab/door to get in a bind and it shattered it was an scary experience as i thought something fell on me - so i will stick with the swing open door i can kick the glass out and im gone!!!!! praise the lord for that - the rental place was angry with me like i did something wrong to their machine and i said yea i love glass shards raining down my neck, luckily i only had some small cuts, they made me pay for the glass/labor to the tune of 800 bucks - i never rented another machine from them or a kubota

 

[4570Man]

What the heck is that tow truck doing? Lol

He’s pulling from the top of the boom and pulled the front of the truck off the ground. If I was truck operator I’d have backed it against that big tree unless the truck has ground anchors which most 1 ton tow trucks don’t and than lowered the boom all the way down and pulled.

 

[tradosaurus]

That was as far back as the tow truck driver wanted to back up for fear of getting stuck and puncturing his tires with all the small tree "staubs" from my previous cutting. He hooked up to the back of the skid steer.
I now have bought a few sections of steel cable, hooks and shackles just in case.

 

[mopardude318]

Glad he got it out. Every operator has their way. . I might have used a snatch block to double the line pull. Hard knowing not bein there.

By the way, I'm surprised to read of the lack of traction On these CTL's. I thought the tracked skid steers were supreme when it come to traction.

 

[4570Man]

Glad he got it out. Every operator has their way. . I might have used a snatch block to double the line pull. Hard knowing not bein there.

By the way, I'm surprised to read of the lack of traction On these CTL's. I thought the tracked skid steers were supreme when it come to traction.

It is a 12000 pound machine plus the cutter that’s probably close to a ton. A wheeled machine wouldn’t have made it through either. I’ve used the same machine the op rented for about 75 hours. It will go in soft ground better than my L3800 tractor does and definitely better than my 310 backhoe does. If the op had the bucket on he probably could have pushed out of that mud hole.

 

[searcyfarms]

By the way, I'm surprised to read of the lack of traction On these CTL's. I thought the tracked skid steers were supreme when it come to traction.

in my experience the CTL will ride up on top but once you break through just like a tire breaks through you sink, i can go just was well as my cousin with his tracked machine with rubber R4 tires on mine, however..........i will tear up more with mine than he will until he breaks through the top or turns then its a moot point, now having said that it varies a little depending on the ground of course soupy mud vs sand vs clay vs topsoil - but you throw a set of bar tracks over a wheel machine and it will go just about anywhere. I also agree with a bucket on the front you may have been able to get the CTL out or hooked to a sizeable tree and pulled himself out using the bucket/cables/chains etc....

 

[4570Man]

One of my buddy’s had a rubber tire skid steer with those over the tire metal tracks. I hated those things. They were loud and squeaky, they caused even more ground damage than a skid steer usually does, you couldn’t drive it in the shop to move something around, they tore up the trailer decking, they were prone to letting the wheels slip inside especially when muddy, and his machine had a leaky tire. It was hard to tell when it was low and he broke the bead several times. The tracks were great to take on and off. Not.

 

[searcyfarms]

for sure they are not good on terrain, they are made for work not manicuring things, and they are a booger to get off/on with a flat or with all 4 tires full of air due to their weight but i can do mine easily in 10 to 15 mins per side, i dont take them off/on much and i have never had an issue with slippage inside the track, sounds like his werent adjusted right or he was running street tread inside the tracks. mine havent torn up my trailer decking at all that sounds strange. They are slick as heck on packed snow and will send you scrambling to get the bucket down to stop the machine if you do start sliding, they hold well on a side hill with dirt or going straight up/down, i run mine with no flats once in a while as well but you are putting a lot of extra strain on the undercarriage/bearings with the weight of the no flats and tracks so they have their purpose but not an overall every day use. If needed they are worth gold just like staying on top with a CTL and not tearing things up. I would love both but not practical so i chose what woudl work best for me due to my use. I am sure anyone else would rather have a CTL for their situation no doubt about it. I love CTLs way better than my wheel machine for certain things but i dont do those certain things near as much as i do with my wheel machine that does it better. Give me a mud hole and i can run circles around the CTL, give me a flat area to grade or road to build and the CTL will run circles around me and do a much better job and i wont be worn as slick and beat up from the ride of my wheel machine either.

 

[Rustyiron]

One of my buddy’s had a rubber tire skid steer with those over the tire metal tracks. I hated those things. They were loud and squeaky, they caused even more ground damage than a skid steer usually does,

You are right, but all that damage is a reflection of the traction that OTT's offer over rubber tracks that have only flotation to offer n comparison. Yes squeaky (in dry times), a chore to remove, but in the right conditions will run circles around rubber tracks and this can also be said in favor for the ctl.