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The track loaders have been a real benefit for Midland by reducing flats and increasing the productivity of the attachments, such as the Bobcat six-way blades. Voigt cites increased stability, flotation and traction as major advantages. "You can do a whole lot more when it is wet with the tracks vs. the tires," he states. "We had skid steers with [over-the-tire] tracks on them, but the bolts were always breaking or they stretched and the tires still went flat."

This created a lot of downtime. "You had to take the steel track off, take the tire off, get the tire fixed or replaced and put the steel tracks back on," recalls Voigt. The dedicated tracks have changed all of that. "We have no flats."

Matching the carrier and attachments
Acres Enterprises is a large commercial landscape and snow removal contractor with 600 employees in Waconda, IL. With a fleet of approximately 200 Case, Caterpillar and New Holland skid-steer loaders, this company has vast experience with attachments.

About half of the skid steers are used in the summer for landscape services. "We have a basic setup for each construction crew," explains Mark Teegen. This includes a 1/2-yd. bucket with a tooth bar, a set of forks and a Loegering Eliminator rake. "That is the standard setup for a crew. We know if we are going to buy a skid loader for construction that we need to buy these implements with it."

There are other skid-steer attachments in the fleet, as well. "We have some specialty stuff that we use on an as-needed basis," says Teegen. This includes a Glenmac Harley Rake, a Paladin Bradco trencher attachment and Bradco post-hole augers. Items that don't get enough utilization to justify ownership, such as hydraulic hammers and high-flow skid-steer loaders, are rented.