Achieving high ROI from your compact track loader

As with any equipment investment, you seek the best return in the shortest time frame with the fewest costs possible. The keys to achieving this from your compact track loaders include high machine utilization and consistent daily maintenance — keep them busy and healthy.

Compact track loaders are known for heavy-duty pushing, lifting and digging with minimal ground disturbance.

Compact track loaders are more powerful and productive than ever before, making them more than just an auxiliary piece of equipment. They are known for heavy-duty pushing, lifting and digging with minimal ground disturbance. Because of the increased flotation provided with their tracks, these loaders can work in softer ground conditions while carrying heavier loads, plus their versatility has grown exponentially with attachments.

“The more you can utilize a track loader to fit your job applications, and the more attachments you can put on it, the faster the return,” said Mike Fitzgerald, loader product specialist with Bobcat Company.

To properly measure your return on a track loader acquisition, you should evaluate the types of applications and conditions your machine performs best in, calculate increased utilization potential with attachments, and minimize your costs with consistent daily maintenance.

Capabilities expand utilization

Generally, compact track loaders have undercarriages designed to provide excellent traction on the unpaved surfaces common in new construction worksites or landscaping projects and improved maneuverability in softer ground conditions such as sand, mud and clay. Fitzgerald notes that this capability has allowed some customers to add days — even months — of additional income to their seasons.

Lifting performance is another metric that can improve ROI. Larger track loaders are engineered with a higher rated operating capacity, allowing them to handle heavier loads of aggregates and palletized materials, such as brick and blocks or bags of cement sand. If that’s what you move on a daily or weekly basis, then lifting capacities must be analyzed, Fitzgerald said.

When it comes to lift arm design, most manufacturers offer a choice between loaders with a vertical lift path and a radius lift path. A vertical lift path loader provides higher lift capacity and more reach at full lift height than a radius lift path machine. Because maximum reach is achieved at full lift height, it’s easier to clear high-sided trucks and hoppers, and perform jobs that require repeated lifting at taller heights. While a vertical path loader may have a higher initial cost, its utilization and resulting job profitability could be better for your particular operation, and these machines usually command higher resale prices.

A radius lift path loader, on the other hand, raises the load in an arc that provides maximum reach at truck bed height. A radius lift path machine excels at jobs with mid-range working heights, like dumping material over a wall, backfilling or loading and unloading flatbed trucks.

Your track loader utilization can take a dramatic jump with the use of attachments.

Attachments boost utilization

Your track loader utilization can take a dramatic jump with the use of attachments. A well-paired attachment can help grow business, improve versatility, or avoid the purchase of another piece of equipment. Some manufacturers offer more than 70 attachments for track loaders, from augers to concrete mixers to wheel saws. Fitzgerald suggested that adding attachments to enhance machine utilization can be more cost-effective than project-specific machines.

“For example, if you have a dedicated trencher that is only used 10 to 20 percent of the time, you would be better off buying a trencher attachment for your track loader. You’ll put more hours on your machine when additional attachments are available,” Fitzgerald said.

It’s also important to assess the value of high-flow hydraulics for track loaders and attachments that can benefit from an extra power boost. “If an attachment makes up a significant portion of your operational time, it increases your productivity and your overall return to have machines and attachments with high-flow hydraulics capabilities,” Fitzgerald said.

Maintenance increases uptime

High uptime and high ROI go hand-in-hand, so it’s important to take time for daily visual inspections of the machine and its components and to complete basic procedures. Most operation and maintenance manuals, and some manufacturer’s engine compartment decals, provide instruction on daily fluid-level checks such as:

          • Engine oil

          • Hydraulic oil

          • Coolants

Visual checks of attachment components such as hoses, cylinders and guards, auger flighting and teeth, cutting blades and edges can help you see if wear is developing or damage has occurred. Some attachments also require fluid-level checks and lubrication.

Visual checks of undercarriage components are equally important. Most manufacturers’ idlers and rollers are permanently sealed and lubricated; however, they — along with sprockets and tracks — may need to be replaced periodically depending on a machine’s use. The cost of rubber and steel tracks typically ranges from $3,000 to $4,500 per set and will last 1,200 to 1,600 hours. “The occasional track tensioning can be done with a common grease gun, and tracks can be replaced in less than an hour on some machines,” Fitzgerald said.

Tips for high ROI

Fitzgerald offered the following tips to help maximize compact loader utilization:

           1. Invest in a variety of attachments. Often, lower-cost attachments can take the place of dedicated machines that would cost thousands of dollars more.

           2. Consider an optional high-flow hydraulics package. It will allow you to optimize the performance of some attachments.

           3. Commit to daily routine maintenance. Performing daily fluid checks on loaders and attachments, and taking time for visual inspections of components and tracks can help you reduce downtime.

When calculating your compact track loader investment, if you keep your machine productive and well maintained, you’ll have a much better chance for a positive return.