Movers & shakers: selecting a wheel loader or skid steer is easy with a few basic considerations in mind - Material Handling Equipment Focus

Recycling Today, Nov, 2002 by Deanne Toto

Assessing a recycler's need for an appropriately sized and accessorized wheel loader or skid steel doesn't have to be difficult. When evaluating a business's material handling needs, a few guidelines can help ensure selection of the right machine.

Production requirements and the size of the trucks or hoppers to be loaded are the primary considerations.

CONSIDERATIONS

Dave Wolf, wheel loader marketing manager for Case Construction, Racine, Wis., says loader selection begins with an assessment of the machine's expected operating parameters.

Wolf offers a number of questions to consider: "What type of material is going to be handled? What is the density of that material? How high does it have to be lifted? How many tons have to be moved per hour?"

George Mac Intyre, skid steer marketing manager for Case, says, "The only addition I would have for the skid steer product in particular concerns lift capacity and dump height required on the job site. You would definitely want to have a machine that could handle the materials that you're going to be lifting."

"They really need to know the general weight of material," says Kelly Moore, skid loader product manager for Gehl Co., West Bend, Wis. "Generally, that translates into how much material they can get into that bucket and what the weight is going to be." Moore adds, "That helps a company establish its real needs for the sizing of the bucket, because the bucket size will naturally correspond with the skid loader size: the bigger the bucket, the bigger the skid loader."

Xenya Mucha, John Deere, Moline, Ill., says machine selection should be based on "a combination of the cubic yards that need to be moved per hour, the weight of the material and the area in which the machines have to maneuver." She asks, "Are there certain height restrictions? Are there width restrictions?"

Mucha says that time is also a consideration. "Does the material come in all at once? Does it need to be moved immediately? Or does the material come in a steady stream, and you have an equal amount of time to keep moving the same amount of material?"

Wolf adds that one should consider whether the loader will be multi-tasking, or handling repetitive load and carry applications.

Wheel loaders provide a smoother ride because of their articulated frames and may be more suitable for carrying materials over a distance: "You don't loose as much out of the bucket," Dan Rafferty of Takeuchi, Buford, Ga., says. Skid steers result in a "herky-jerky" motion in a power turn, Rafferty says. "If you have that articulation in the middle, you can still have a fairly tight turning radius, but you have a smoother approach," he says of wheel loaders. Takeuchi manufactures a line of rubber track loaders.

Keith Rohrbacker, construction equipment product manager for Kubota Tractor Corp., Torrance, Calif., says that space confines are a major consideration for recyclers, and that customers often select compact loaders based on space limitations.

A QUESTION OF NUMBERS

These various considerations also may help a company to decide whether it wants to purchase a larger machine or two smaller ones.

"Most of the guys I talk to want the biggest machine with the biggest bucket capacity for productivity," Rohrbacker says. "With two machines, I don't want to say that's double trouble, but it is a double investment of resources."

Generally, owning and operating costs for a single, larger loader are lower than the combined cost of two smaller loaders. In addition, larger loaders have the ability to lift heavier loads should the job require it.

Wolf also suggests reviewing owning and operating costs and production volumes when determining the number of machines required. "Let the machine justify the obsolescence of two smaller machines," he says.

Mac Intyre cautions, "Going to a larger loader might not be appropriate, especially in recycling applications. The height and width of the machine is very important because of space restrictions."

Moore says, "When you go to a larger loader, naturally, you've got more power and integrity in the sizing of the loader."

"In many situations one larger loader will be more cost effective than two smaller loaders, even if the production rates are the same," Doyle Long, senior work tool consultant for Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., says. "Eliminating one operator is a significant cost saving in itself."

Mucha says that the availability and cost of skilled operators, maintenance and depreciation costs are also a consideration. "However," she says, "if you need a backup piece of equipment, you're better off with two loaders as opposed to relying on just one."

SKID STEER OR WHEEL LOADER?

Determining whether a recycler can best benefit from a skid steer or a wheel loader is related to space limitations as well as to application.

Wolf says he considers wheel loaders best suited to load and carry applications operating in open spaces. "Whereas a skid steer would be for more of a tight job site, quick turns and shorter carries," he says.