Today’s skid steer loaders (SSLs) and compact track loaders (CTLs) each have their own unique advantages in construction, mainly due to their smaller size and resulting efficiency. However, in recent years, there has been a trend toward larger skid steers and CTLs, namely for heavy-duty applications in demolition, grading and roadwork. This article focuses on the move into the larger size range of these machines and their uses and applications, exploring the increased demand for machines this size and when and where they might reach a size cap within the market category.
Improving Productivity
According to Julie Portillo, product marketing manager at Bobcat, an increase in size also means more hydraulic power and greater cooling capacity, and that’s when the the shift can really make a difference to operators and drive productivity. “That’s the benefit of going larger: having more power, being more capable,” said Portillo. “At the end of the day, it improves their productivity as well as the operator experience, so overall they can accomplish more.”
Brock Shoemaker, product sales manager for skid steers at JCB, notes that on the productivity front, the shift in machine size also means increasing the number of jobs a contractor can complete with fewer operators on-site. “With fewer operators, you have less risk of injury, you have less on your payroll. I’m interested to see what the future holds in that regard,” he said.
Simply put, according to Emily Pagura, product marketing manager, Construction and Forestry Division at John Deere, customers today just want more. “They want more power, more attachments, more versatility, ultimately, all in search of more revenue,” she said. “The more jobs you can get done, the higher caliber at which you can complete those jobs, and the more types of jobs you can take on. Those are all going to make a business more revenue, more profit, and, at the end of the day, that’s what operators and owners care about.”
While in some cases, larger equipment does mean greater productivity, Pagura also stresses that this is not always inherently true. “There are a lot of scenarios in which those small and midsize machines are still the perfect machine for a job. Sometimes, going larger may not only not make the operation more efficient, but instead may actually make it less efficient, for instance, in the cases of burning excess fuel or overcoming tight site conditions,” she said.
What’s in Demand
Of course, the decision between SSL and CTL all depends on the customer and their specific application(s) — for which each machine can play an important but different role. At John Deere, Pagura says within the last decade, there has been a significant swing in favor of the CTL. “As a whole, in the industry, CTLs are in higher demand,” Pagura said. “That wheeled machine still absolutely has areas in which it shines. However, the tracks on a tracked machine make it so versatile in terms of the terrain that it can tackle and places it can go,” she said. Within the CTL category, Paruga says the true demand lies in the mid- and large-range CTLs, although today there are a lot of notable new features and technologies coming out on the larger models.
While CTLs continue to grow in popularity due to their high versatility, according to Portillo, Bobcat leads the industry in SSLs. “We find that SSLs are still really popular [because] they can move quicker, have higher travel speeds, and they’re still highly valued for moving material,” said Portillo. When it comes to size, she notes the company is seeing a lot of demand and growth within large-range loaders. “They’re being used to tackle some tougher tasks, tougher applications. They have more overall power, more hydraulic power, more horsepower, lift capacity, lift height — they can just do more in one machine,” said Portillo.
“A lot of operators that are using those large-frame loaders day in and day out to do heavier-duty tasks like clearing land, land management, removing trees, cutting concrete, moving heavier materials (like pallet pavers or sod) or heavy-duty snow removal — doing a lot more rigorous operation and generally tougher tasks,” she said.
Portillo adds that the demand for different size categories tends to vary as jobsite restrictions vary — stricter working requirements require smaller machines. For instance, in North America, she says smaller machines are in higher demand in urban environments and residential environments, and even more globally outside of North America. “We’re seeing a lot of large-frame loaders where you might not have any jobsite restrictions in terms of size,” said Portillo. “You don’t have to lift to a certain height to get into a trailer, or you don’t you’re not moving material. So, you might be able to sacrifice a little on speed so you get more power and hydraulic capability.
She notes the midsize loader range continues to represent a good portion of the product segment, especially for first-time buyers and for smaller fleets. “Where we see a lot more of the small-size loaders is when there are certain jobsite requirements, and they really need that loader to fit within a certain space or width or height.”
It’s important to also acknowledge that electric equipment across all size categories is increasingly in demand, especially for use in indoor demolition projects, or for contractors working with certain materials or who might not be interested in a traditional combustion engines. For contractors who value zero emissions and low-noise technologies, electric is solid fit.
Shoemaker suggests that while equipment in both the smaller and larger categories have their place, for contractors looking to do more, the growth area has been in the mid-range area, particularly in the 2,500-pound to 3,000 pound market.
“It seems like the whole sector has grown, but there’s a sweet spot in that midsize range that operators still like — it’s big enough that they can lift heavy loads and run high-flow attachments, yet it’s small enough that they can haul it around behind a pickup truck and get in backyards and get through fences, gates, etc.,” said Shoemaker.
On the large end of the spectrum for JCB is it flagship machine, the 3TS-8T Teleskid is the world’s only CTL with a telescopic boom, offering 295 foot pounds of torque, no emissions, and 3,700 pound rated operating capacity in a 12,600-pound machine.
The company’s leading midsize SSL is its 270 with Powerboom. “It has the JCB ECOMAX engine, 74 horsepower, 9,295 foot pounds of torque. It’s not going to have the extended reach of the telescopic boom, but you will still have 10 feet, six inches, and that’s a 11,000-pound machine,” said Shoemaker, adding this machine is ideal for running heavier hydraulic attachments.”
Driving the Need
The growth of large-frame loader market is being driven by the need for more power. According to Portillo, CTLs are becoming more of a workhorse on jobsites of all varieties and sizes, which is generating the expanded size offerings within this category.
“Compact loaders used to be a supplement to other larger equipment, but now they’re becoming the go-to machine on the jobsite,” said Portillo. “We’re seeing them make their way to larger jobsites to tackle tougher tasks, like land clearing, concrete cutting, moving heavier materials, where it just requires a more powerful performing machine,” she said.
According to John Deere’s Pagura, it all comes back to contractors wanting to get more done. On a construction site development side, she says, as the saying goes, “all the good ground is gone,” meaning only the hard, rocky soil remains now, so contractors are left to dig in places where a lot of dirt has to be moved to get to a flat and buildable site. “So, additional power, horsepower, breakout forces, etc., feed into that because today it’s just taking more and more power to get those types of jobs done,” she said.
Shoemaker points to the versatility and quickness of skid steers as a demand-driver for the larger-frame machines — one operator and many attachments now becomes a more productive option than juggling an entire crew and multiple machines.
He also notes that the shift in equipment size directly coincides with the expansive variety of attachment offerings now available, meaning contractors can meet the requirements of more applications with fewer machines.
“With a million different manufacturers of attachments, there are now more varieties of applications. Contractors just want one machine they can throw on a trailer and go do a number of jobs with, with a variety of attachments. Twenty years ago, that wasn’t necessarily case,” said Shoemaker.
With this variety, he says, more contractors are doing more today on machines as opposed to manual labor. “Crews are expensive and they’re hard to keep going. So if you can put one [operator] in a dedicated machine and turn [them] loose, that’s going to be way more profitable and way less of a headache for a lot of larger or midsized contractors,” he said.
Bobcat's T86 compact track loader grader features super-flow hydraulics, hydraulic power management, comfort features and exceptional cooling in harsh conditions.Bobcat
Affecting Functionality
As machines continue to get larger, they will continue to evolve to provide more power, more capable hydraulics and also improve undercarriage offerings, from lift terms to cooling capacity, which all goes hand in hand. One very notable improvement that comes with increased machine size is in the machine’s hydraulics. According to Portillo, as the industry scales up into the larger-frame loaders, these machines become more powerful and the hydraulics are more capable, which trickles down into versatility and how the attachments can be powered.
“We launched the T86, [Bobcat’s] largest CTL, with the super-flow hydraulics — an industry first. We’re the only one to offer three hydraulic flow options within one machine. And with that, we’re offering more hydraulic pressure and more hydraulic flow,” said Portillo. “You can get up to 15% more productivity out of your machine when you’re running a super-flow attachment and super-flow hydraulics. And those numbers are huge to operators,” she said.
Pagura says the hydraulic system must be designed with the machine in mind. “On our new P-Tier machines, the 330 P-Tier Skid Steer and the 331 P-Tier track loader, both have updated hydraulic systems and new valves. The 333, 334 and 335 P-Tier CTLs all have pressure compensated load sensing (PCL) hydraulic systems to adjust flow based on what the attachment on the front is demanding — completely independent of the engine speed — which is going to make it efficient and able to handle a wide variety of attachments easily,” she said.
“We’ve never done that on the skid steer or CTL before, but with these larger machines, the applications, the things people are doing with these machines really require the flexibility, the power, the efficiency that that type of hydraulic system can deliver.” Pagura also notes that along with the redesigned hydraulics, the cooling system on these newer machines have been redesigned to match the higher level of hydraulic capability and ensure the machine is running in peak form.
Along with larger machines come larger cabs and increased comfort. As such, Portillo says Bobcat has taken measures to improve the operator experience, making sure to offer ergonomic options in controls, seating and joysticks within a spacious cab, adding features like a 7-inch touch display with Bluetooth capability. “The latest technology in the cab is integrated with rearview cameras, too, to provide improved jobsite visibility,” said Portillo.
John Deere's 334 P-Tier skid steer loader is equipped with a new one-piece cab design, technology features and operating power. The machine is powered by a Yanmar 118-hp engine and comes with a 35.5-gallon fuel tank.John Deere
Size Cap Predictions
With these increases in machine size, contractors may wonder what to expect next in terms of rate operating capacities and more within a general size range. According to Bobcat’s Portillo, “From a design perspective, every time I think we’ve hit the cap, we always exceed it. We’re always innovating, and we continue to see compact loaders that are more powerful and more capable than ever before, and I don’t think that will stop anytime soon,” she said.
JCB’s Shoemaker believes the industry may be nearing the size cap in this particular machine segment, reaching a threshold that limits trailering and CDL operations. “It’s going to come down to what the application is, how big the attachment is, and then seeing how the machines follow suit,” he said.
“I don’t think the machines can get any wider, because they’re not going to get between the trailer tires that are hauling them. I don’t think they can get a ton heavier, although there might be a little more room there. Really, I see the way the skid steer market going now is toward efficiency. As manufacturers, we are tasked with putting more machine in a smaller package to get contractors on jobsites in the middle of a city or a forest — they don’t have the luxury of having a 15-foot-long machine. They need a fairly compact machine that can get around easily, but still mainly maintain the ability to run these high-demand hydraulic attachments. When you start getting too big, you can’t see behind you and you can’t get around. So safety becomes a factor as well,” said Shoemaker.
According to Pagura, there is no hard size limit to cap this segment, however, what cannot be lost is what makes compact equipment valuable, namely its maneuverability, transportability, agile capabilities and attachment versatility.
“The ability to throw this on a trailer — some of these smaller models can just be towed behind a pickup truck — in general, they’re relatively easy to transport compared to some of the their larger counterparts,” she said. “Whatever the next size is, we cannot get to a point where the machine is so large that we lose that option.”
