How do skid steer loaders and backhoes work?
By: Groshan Fabiola

Skid steer loaders are machines used in different types of construction sites, and are applicable especially in tight spaces because they are small and easy maneuverable.

They are equipped with wheels and can turn in their own tracks, making them extremely valuable for applications that require a compact, agile loader. They have light weight and so, they can be towed behind a pickup truck. The skid steel loader has four wheels and its characteristic is that the left-side drive wheels are independent of the right-side drive wheels. This way, wheel speed and direction of rotation of the wheels will determine the direction the machine will turn. The skid steel loaders have a simple operating system. Inside the cabin there are two joysticks: a left hand joystick and a right hand joystick. The left hand one is made for controlling the direction. The right hand one is for controlling the loader arms and bucket. By pulling the joystick back, the arms of the machine will raise; by pushing the joystick forward, the arms will be lowered. In order to tilt the bucket up the joystick must be moved to the left. By moving it to the right the bucket will dump. All the system is powered by hydraulic pumps, meaning that there is no mechanical transmission.

The Skid steel loader is suitable for digging and moving landscaping and other building materials. Due to its numerous tools it can also grade, jackhammer cement and load trucks. Some of the special tools of the skid steer loaders are: a dirt bucket, utility grapple bucket, pallet forks, utility fork, angle blade, auger, broom, cold planer, hydraulic hammer, landscape rake and tillers, material handling arm, stump grinder trencher and a vibratory compactor. These tools make skid steel loaders quite useful because there will not be necessary 10 machines any more to complete all these functions.

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