What you guys think about a track loader for snowplowing. I have been toying with this idea for a while. I have a cat 943. I was going to put rubber/poly track pads on along w a protect plow. Do you think the undercarrage will take the abuse of snow, salt and slush.any ideas?
I don't think the undercarriage will have a problem handling the conditions, but I'm wondering if this is going to be a little slow for plowing - unless you plan to use it as a loader for shifting big piles.
I bull dozer in use on a Parking lot in 95/96. They had one section of the lot where the pushed all the snow. The loaders couldn't push it any higher, so they brought in a D8 Cat dozer, right over the pavement to push it up higher. Geoff
At the Mall of America they have two D-8 Cats pushing up the snow where they haul it to (the majority of the snow there has to be hauled each time it snows). After they are done pushing up the pile, they erect a fence around it to keep kids off it. And, they don't push it up in one large pile... they have level spot 1/3 of the way up so that if someone gets into the pile and climbs to the top and tries to slide down, then can't get all the way to the bottom in one slide. The way they handle that site is an awesome story.
Tracks on bobcat We were looking into the tracks for our bobcat due to the mud in the spring and fall when landscaping. The dealer informed us we would prob have to take them off when snow removal came along because the pavement would end up cuting the life cycle on the tracks in half. So we stayed with mud tires on our bobcat and thus far have had no problem with trackion, to include last snow fall which was 3 inches of ice under 6 inchs of snow.
Just so you know nothing is harder on a undercarriage than snow, it is even worse than sand,so if you plan on using it much you could have a costly repair.A 943 under carriage is around $6000 last time I checked,when I had my 943 I had some of the same thoughts but the lines between profit and cost get close with the price of rubber pads and the possibility for having to replace an undercarrige.Also in any icy situation you will need goggles and poles because you will be going for a ride.
Diggerman - I just learned something new today. I didn't realize that snow was as hard on an undercarriage as it was, thanks to your post now I know better! 1975 GMC C-35
What makes snow hard on an undercarriage? I would think that an abrasive material, or a stony one, would be much worse.
John where do you find info about how they take care of the snow at the Mall of America? I am sure it has to be unbelievable.
I don't know exactly, my info comes from the old timers that work for me, I'll ask them.Its one thing to push up some piles of snow but actually working one for a long day in the snow is suppose to not be good,I'll do some checking.A side from the wear on an under carriage the traction problem is a big issue especially with 943 as it does not have grousers like a dozer.We used to have a tilt deck trailer to haul our tracked loader around on,you could not use them in bad weather cause when the deck tipped you had no control of the machine as it skated to the bottom.I think that much the same result would occur with an inclined parking lot. A 20,000 lb trackloader will do more damage in this instance than a sliding pickup.
Ok I found out why snow is so hard on undercarriges.It is because there is nothing to keep steel from grinding on steel.Dirt and other materials provide a custion to seperate the rails from the rollers and idlers and sprockets.
