Will it hurt to pull a skid steer?

[djw250]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but here goes. I have an older Bobcat skid steer loader that I've been working on trying to get going, but it currently doesn't run. I need to move it this week because my daughter is getting married and we are having the reception under my tractor shed on Saturday (does this qualify as a redneck wedding or what). Can I pull the Bobcat out of the way with my tractor without hurting anything, or is there something I need to do to prevent damage to the drive system first? I need to get it out of the way soon so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Craig Clayton]

The little I know of the subject is that the wheels are turned by hydraulic motors. I would hitch it in a way to cause the pulling action to put a upward lift on the rear wheels. If the grass was wet that would help. If you put something like a heavy grade of industrial plastic strip attached to the the sliding tires as they started to move they would ride on it.
Wet the grass and maybe a little bio green dish soap and pull.
If you were in Canada you could skid it on the FROZEN ground.
Craig Clayton

 

[RPW]

Can you pull a skidsteer? If you have enough power you can pull anything. To the question at hand not easily. As stated the wheels are connected by hydraulic motors and when the engine is not turning they are locked in place by the hydraulic fluid. There is a way on "some" SS that if you have an operator hold the laterals in the forward direction "assuming all mechanical linkage and not computer controlled" you "may" be able to pull it slowly. You can also create a couple of bypass hoses and disconnect the hydraulic lines to the motors and replace them with the created hydraulic hoses. You do not under any circumstance rotate the motors dry as it will distroy them. A simplier method is to create a skid and jack/lift up the loader and put it on the skid. You could then pull the skid much easier than the loader itself and you won't damage anything. You could also use this method to winch it up onto a trailer for longer distance moves.

Good luck.

 

[20 20]

I know that my case 1840 can NOT be moved unless a valve is turned. I would look at the hydraulic motors and see if you can figure out where the valve is. Maybe someone that knows bobcats could be helpfull, it would probably also help if you could give the model year etc....

 

[oldnslo]

Depending on how your Bob Cat is built you may have drive chains from the motor to the wheels. If you can access these chains and find the master link you can remove the chains and then move your skid loader around. They may be a real SOB to access.

NOTE: If you do this you will NOT have any brakes on the skid loader.

Roy

 

[jbooth]

On my Case 1845C there are 2 bypass valves, 1 on each of the tandems pumps that must be loosened to allow the machine to towed. It is recommended not to tow very far even when the valves are in bypass.

 

[tessiers]

most all hydraulic driven equipment I have ever dealt with has a bypass valve for the drive motors, sometimes a simple as right on the center hub, sometimes less obvious. A manual should have the info in it. For the size machine I think it will likely just skid the tires, likely you will not have the Traction or HP unless you have a large tractor, depending on traction under skid steer as well.

 

[JJZ 109]

What about jacking it up and sliding some dollies from a towing/recovery outfit under the wheels and then pulling it out?

 

[RPW]

As my by-line shows I have an older bobcat SS and it doesn't have any bypass valves. In talking to my dealer they were the ones that told me about holding the laterals to allow it to move however mine wouldn't. As far as accessing the chain case that involves dissassmembline quite abit of the machine. if you need to move it immediately probably the best options is to get a tow company with a rollback. They would have the winch power to pull it onto the bed with the least amount of damage.

 

[radman1]

As stated earlier, check for a by-pass valve. If you can't find one, I don't think dragging it a short distance is going to hurt anything but the turf. Look at it this way. Skid steer spin and dig with loads in the bucket. Should not be any worse than using a skid steer for hard digging. My 12,000 lb Geni manlift wouldn't move a couple of years ago. It did not have a by-pass. Had to drag it out of the way with tractor.