Skid-Steer Supplement Extra: You Did What?

Augers, trenchers, backhoes – attachments make skid-steer loaders a virtual toolbox on wheels. The sheer versatility of these workhorse machines allows contractors to complete a span of projects with one piece of equipment, and some operators don’t hesitate to stretch past skid steers’ traditional typecast.

Michael Hennessey has seen these machines go to great depths. “You can drive a skid steer down a set of stairs and use it in a basement to clean it out or to dig out the bottom of a basement so the concrete can be poured,” pointed out the president of Hennessey Landscape Services, Plaistow, N.H. “If you have a dirt basement and you want to dig it out some more, the machine can operate in tight spaces.”

Or, lift the skid steer onto a roof with a crane, and it can spread aggregate, he added, suggesting this loftier application. Since compact utility loaders are lighter than some equipment, they can manage jobs like this without harming the structure, he noted.

On the other hand, skid steers’ applications go beyond ground work. George Forni, president, Aquatic Environments, Alamo, Calif., uses his low-ground-pressure (LGP) skid-steer loaders, commonly known as track loaders, for lake and pond remediation projects. “Our use of skid steers is somewhat unique, as nearly all of our jobs are in wet or muddy site conditions,” he explained. “We have successfully utilized LGP skid steers in several dredging applications where conventional land-based equipment could not access as a result of size or weight distribution concerns.”

In one situation, Forni cleared wet, mucky soil from the interior of a drained lake, feeding it to an excavator on the shore for removal. “The LGP skid steer accessed and maneuvered on the soft cover material [at the bottom of the dry lake] without breaking through,” he remarked, adding that this method was a dollar-saving alternative to dredging the area. The skid steer cost only $5 to $8 per cubic yard compared to dredging, which racks up bills between $50 and $75 per cubic yard of material.  “We could move the material from the lake in a more cost effective manner as opposed to conventional dredging.”

The author is Managing Editor – Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at khampshire@gie.net.