will a CTL push snow?

[Acoals]

Our machine does a lot of milling, and sweeping. If I am shouldering a couple miles of road, it's right there with me. They only got a year and a half out of the tracks that came on it.

What do you run on asphalt? Are there tracks designed specifically for that?

 

[ianjoub]

Our machine does a lot of milling, and sweeping. If I am shouldering a couple miles of road, it's right there with me. They only got a year and a half out of the tracks that came on it.

Tracks are not that hard to change. Have 2 sets. It is the same as having a set of snow tire for the car.

 

[cuttin edge]

What do you run on asphalt? Are there tracks designed specifically for that?

Just the ones that come on it

I think the ones on the machine might be wider, these are more like the ones on the excavator, same tread though. We have 2 other Bobcats with tires, but I think the talk is to get another one with tracks this summer. The guys running them like how smooth they are. No idea what model they are. I don't run them, and I don't want to run them. I know the oldest and smallest one has the foot controls for the bucket, which I hate. The other 2 run everything at your hands. The one with the tires might have the option to still run foot controls, but not sure. This style of track was useless in the snow, so they ended up with the winter tracks. They plow a lot of mall side walks with them. They do have a snow blower that works quite well, but I guess the angle blades are faster.

 

[cuttin edge]

Tracks are not that hard to change. Have 2 sets. It is the same as having a set of snow tire for the car.

Yeah, they do have 2 sets. They have winters for the wheeled Bobcats as well. A lot of guys scoff at the expense of winter tires, but if you do a lot of plowing, they are not long paying for themselves. There are winter tires for 15 loaders, from an L45 Volvo up to a 180 Volvo. They hired a guy this winter that plowed snow for 30 years, and had never ran a loader with winter tires, and he was shocked at how much of a difference they made. Plus they last forever. The tires on my L70 are the first set they bought Helio or something like that

Not my loader, but same tread. Anyway they are 13 years old, and not half worn out.

 

[Simon C]

Put a set of studs in rear tires and could push snow no problem. Picture tells how well it can push.
Simon C

 

[Canuck Digger]

I use both wheel and a track machne for snow removal. I bought a box of I grip carbide screw in studs and they work pretty good. Key was to get them long enough to they don't rip out of the track. Prob. have 60 hours on the machine of snow removal, some mulching and some road grading and 90% of the studs I put in are still in place. Minutes to install and minutes to take out if need be.

 

[1693TA]

We run something like this on the Bobcat in winter,

Makes a big difference. Take them off in summer as they wear fast on pavement. A power angle blade makes a difference to. A box is great for parking lots, but sucks on a road way.

This style of track is very popular with the farmer's I see around here with CTL's. Seldom used on pavement except small areas of feed lots which they excel working in. Never have seen any with worn out myself so cannot attest to longevity but CTL's I've delivered to large scale operations several years ago still sport the original tracks.

 

[bobatack]

Try the following test with a wheeled machine (any tire brand you wish)
Drive thru a field that has 3 to 4ft deep snow
Now try the same test with a tracked machine of your choice (track pattern is key for this one)
The wheeled machine will most likely spin out in a short distance and the tracked machine will most likely just float across the snow
just my 2 cents of experience with 1000s of hours on both type of machines

 

[cuttin edge]

Try the following test with a wheeled machine (any tire brand you wish)
Drive thru a field that has 3 to 4ft deep snow
Now try the same test with a tracked machine of your choice (track pattern is key for this one)
The wheeled machine will most likely spin out in a short distance and the tracked machine will most likely just float across the snow
just my 2 cents of experience with 1000s of hours on both type of machines

Wading deep snow and plowing are 2 different traction issues. I can drive through miles of snow in the loader with the bucket off the ground. As soon as I start plowing, and unless it's really mild out, it's gonna get slippery. Our tracked Bobcat will hardly move on a plowed surface with the original tracks. The wheeled machines have better traction in this situation regardless of tread until you go with a winter track on the track machine.

 

[Acoals]

If you have got an honest 4 feet of snow you are going to be wallowing around getting the track loader stuck too. 10,000lb CTL's don't just "float" over snow . . . lol

Unless you have a first generation Cat 277, then it might . . .

 

[KSSS]

Try the following test with a wheeled machine (any tire brand you wish)
Drive thru a field that has 3 to 4ft deep snow
Now try the same test with a tracked machine of your choice (track pattern is key for this one)
The wheeled machine will most likely spin out in a short distance and the tracked machine will most likely just float across the snow
just my 2 cents of experience with 1000s of hours on both type of machines

If you have thousands of hours on each, you know that when it comes to "pushing" snow that comparison is not based in reality.