A skidsteer loader is a piece of heavy equipment that's much smaller than other similar pieces of equipment you might find in area where there's construction and earth moving taking place. They appear similar to a front loader, which is another type of tractor, except for their size. Their small size allows them to be more maneuverable and to fit in smaller spaces than a typical front loader.

A skidsteer loader is also unique in that the left side is independent of the right so that they can turn in a much smaller area, almost in their own own footprint. That makes this loader a better choice than a typical front loader in any sort of area with limited space. Another difference between this type of equipment and a front loader is how the arms are set up.

Like a front loader, a skidsteer loader has arms attached to the front and powered by a hydraulic system.  These can be fitted with attachments which can be used for earthmoving with scoops and shovels, forks or other attachments depending on how you want to use the equipment. But the arms on this type of loader extend back on each side to about the same place as the driver's seat. The cab is enclosed to protect the driver.

A skid loader can become a fork loader by adding fork attachments. This makes it a fork loader capable of doing many of the things you would use a forklift truck for. You wouldn't want to use a fork loader like this to lift items on the forks high in the air like you can do with many types of fork lifts. They're meant to hold the items down low. Because they're not counterbalanced exactly as a forklift, you wouldn't use them to lift something onto a high shelf like you can with a forklift designed to do that. But a fork loader like this can be used outdoors to lift long flat objects and move them from place to place. Because a skidsteer loader has an internal combustion engine that uses fuel, they're only safe for use outdoors. For indoor uses requiring forks, you'd want to use a forklift truck that runs on a rechargeable battery rather than a fork loader.

A skidsteer loader can be used with the bucket for earthmoving and hauling things like dirt, gravel or asphalt. They can be used with the forks, special attachments for things like logs or even for snow removal. These loaders can use tires or they can use tracks. Typically, these loaders that use tracks are called multi-terrain loaders and they're good on a variety of surfaces because of the traction you get with the tracks.

Skidsteer loaders are a small but useful multi-purpose vehicle. With a range of different attachments you can use them for things like stump grinding, tilling, mixing cement, digging trenches and even grinding up small branches and limbs. One skidsteer loader can take the place of many other separate pieces of equipment.

Photo Credits: RICarr

Originally posted 2010-04-12 03:01:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Categories:

construction, Handy Man, Tools

Tags:

earthmoving, fork lifts, forklift truck, heavy equipment, hydraulic system, internal combustion engine, shovels, skid loader, skid steer loader, skidsteer loader