Wheel Skid Steers Dismantled Machines

About Wheel Skid Steers

Wheel skid steers provide offer distinct advantages over track skid steers on urban jobsites and industrial environments with hard ground conditions. Surfaces like asphalt, concrete, and hard ground can wear out rubber skid-steer tracks and can be damaged by steel tracks, whereas tires are more durable on solid surfaces and won’t damage them. 

Wheel skid steers also offer increased mobility on streets, sidewalks, trails, and parking lots, where they can move nimbly around and support larger machines with excavating, grading, and site preparation tasks. In a golf course or sports field, setting, this increased mobility makes wheel skid steers ideal for snow removal, construction and renovation tasks, landscape maintenance, and hauling materials.

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Bobcat S64 Wheel Skid Steer

A Brief History

In 1960, when the Melroe Manufacturing Company introduced the world’s first four-wheel-drive skid-steer loader, the M400, it was the ultimate culmination of the “Keller Loader” developed by brothers Cyril and Louis Keller in 1957. The Kellers sold the rights to their loader to the Gwinner, North Dakota, firm in 1958 and went to work for Melroe to help develop the M60 and M200, precursors to the M400. 

In 1962, Melroe introduced the M440, notable for its 2-cylinder system integrated in the lift arms and for being the first to receive the “Bobcat” branding that would become the brand’s identity much later in 2000, when Melroe Company officially became the Bobcat Company. Leading equipment companies such as Case, Caterpillar, Gehl, Kubota, John Deere, New Holland, and others have since developed their own wheel skid-steer models.

Lift Type

Skid steers generally break down into vertical and radial lift subtypes. Vertical lift skid steers are often designed to move taller loads and carry higher loads to access spaces not easily reached by radial lift skid steers. The radial lift design, however, has fewer moving parts and tends to perform better when digging dirt or leveling ground.

Size & Power

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) breaks down skid steers into three frame categories, defined by rated operating capacity and horsepower. 

Large-frame skid steers are often equipped with engines rated for 70 horsepower (52 kilowatts) or more and have minimum rated operating capacities of 2,220 pounds (1,007 kilograms). 

The medium-frame category is defined as having a rated operating capacity between 1,750 lbs (793 kg) and 2,220 lbs and between 50 HP (37 kW) and 70 HP. 

Small skid steers have less than 1,750 lbs of rated operating capacity, typically with horsepower ranges around 50 HP.

Find The Right Skid Steer

NeedTurfEquipment.com is a great resource for finding new and used wheel skid steers from major manufacturers like Bobcat, Case, Caterpillar, Deere, Gehl, JCB, Kubota, New Holland, and many others.