CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT: Comfortable Surroundings

Overhead instrument panels, ergonomically designed armrests and sculpted seats. Throw in an efficient heater, defroster and air conditioning and you have a wonderful vehicle for a cross-country drive. But how about planting trees, pushing snow and backfilling holes?
 
Skid-steers have come a long way since their inception in the late 1950s, and many of the creature comforts found in today’s luxury vehicles are found in these landscape powerhouses. Many of these creature comforts have come about because skid-steer operators are spending more time in their cabs.
 
“For a long time, people said, ‘I pay my operator to do their job,’ and the comfort of the operator wasn’t as important,” says Mike Tomlinson, senior marketing product manager for Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar. “Now companies are realizing their people need to be comfortable because it’s hard to find good operators. A comfortable operator is a productive operator.”
 
With features like quick-detach couplers and attachments that perform a host of tasks, there’s little reason for an operator to leave his seat. So with operators literally in the hot seat for hours at a time, operator comfort is paramount. Comfortable landscape contractors will want to come to work each day, owners say. “Preference is important to me as well as the operator being comfortable and wanting to come to work every day,” says Patrick Healy, owner of Architerra, Boulder, Colo.
 
About 11 percent of contractors bought a skid-steer in 2006, spending, on average, more than $27,000 on each unit, according to Lawn & Landscape research, and about 14 percent expect to purchase one this year.
 
While there are plenty of ancillary features, some are deemed crucial. Heaters are priceless, says Richard Arlington, owner of Arlington Lawncare, Erie, Pa., and each of his skid-steers has one. “Every piece of equipment we use during the summer is also used for snow removal,” he says. “Heat is invaluable.”
 
In addition to heat, Arlington needs his machines equipped with an ample number of auxiliary power outlets to run the radios, strobe lights and spotlights used in snow fighting. He negotiates the power outlets into the purchase deal, he says.
 
Along with keeping contractors warm, manufacturers are offering landsacpe contractors sealed and pressurized cabs. The result is a cleaner, quieter internal environment that allows the operator to concentrate on the task at hand.
 
Comfort isn’t just a luxury any more – it’s a requirement, says Kent Pellegrini, a Caterpillar skid-steer specialist. One dealer told Pellegrini he’s offering satellite radio at the request of some landscape contractors. But some owners won’t sucumb to in-cab entertainment. “I won’t buy a skid-steer with a radio and I won’t add one to it,” Arlington says. “I want my operators paying attention when they’re in the cab, not rocking out to tunes.”
 
Features such as seat-mounted joysticks allow operators to adjust controls to their individual preferences and allow work to be done with less effort, Pellegrini says. Overhead displays have recently added a more high-tech appearance to cabs. Things like speed, attachment settings and temperature can be monitored through the displays.
 
Controls that move with the seat make an operator’s life much easier, Tomlinson says. Previous to this advancement, the seat moved independently of the controls. Now, the controls follow the operator. “If you lean forward in your seat, you won’t have to reach backward for the controls,” he says. “If you sit in there for eight to 10 hours, you feel a lot better at the end of the day.”
 
Joystick controls are light years ahead of their manual brethren, says Brad Lemke, director of new product development at ASV, Grand Rapids, Minn. “Joysticks do the same work, there’s just no effort needed,” he says. “On an older machine, you’d feel the force coming back in the levers. You literally have to use your muscles to push and if you have foot controls, you have to do the same thing with your feet. Most manufacturers have gotten away from that since people want the lower effort and comfort.”
 
Add-ons, such as cab sound insulation, can make an operator even more comfortable, Lemke says. “Fifty percent of our machines we sell go out with that,” he says. “It’s operator preference. Some people are more sensitive to sound than others and prefer to have sound insulation.”
 
A skid-steer option many contractors debate is hand vs. foot controls to operate the bucket. “It’s just a personal preference,” Arlington says.
 
While skid-steers make contractors more productive, the machines are getting faster. The advent of two-speed allows the operator to move materials from point to point at twice the normal speed. For example, if a machine’s top speed is 10 mph, it can be doubled to 20 mph with the feature. “People are becoming more aware of it, but it’s something that hasn’t really come to fruition,” Lemke says. “But once you have it, you can’t give it up. If you have two-speed, you can literally cut your transfer time down by half.”
 
Anthony Vitari, area manager for Yardmaster, Painesville, Ohio, appreciates machines that accommodate tall and short workers. An adjustable seat and hand and foot controls are crucial. “If I have a very tall person operating a skid-steer and then I have to use an employee who is much shorter, the skid-steer has to accommodate him as well,” he says.
 
While less a comfort issue and more of a productivity issue, non-inflation tires lessen worries of a productivity-killing flat. Similar to run-flat tires on automobiles, these are hard-rubber tires with holes drilled into their structure. Arlington bought them for his company’s three skid-steers because his machines were routinely getting flats on construction sites. “You still have the comfort of an air tire,” he says, “but you never have to worry about getting a flat.”
 
Hoses on skid-steers have gotten better over the years, too, Arlington says. In the past, it wasn’t uncommon to blow a hose at a job site which would shut down the machine for the day. “They’ve come up with some different ways to route the hoses to help alleviate that problem,” he says.
 Skid-steers have gotten considerably easier to maintain. Manufacturers now are placing vital and often-serviced areas, such as critical engine and service components, within reach. “My 9-year-old skid-steer is certainly more difficult to work on compared with the new ones,” Arlington says. “Manufacturers have made it so you don’t have to take apart one part of the engine to get to the other part.”

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. Testing a skid-steer through a demo is the best way to fully experience a machine’s capabilities. Many times, dealers or distributors will let a contractor demo a machine for two days or a week or more. “Any dealer is going to love to give you a demo,” Healy says. “What’s interesting is when you get all the machines lined up next to each other.”
 
Preconceived notions about a particular machine are dispelled or reinforced after it’s been tested. “I had two guys who thought one particular machine would be awesome,” Healy says. “But then they tried another machine and agreed that one was the better one for the job. You get 20 guys in a room and they all have different ideas about what they like. A lot of us get set in our ways. I let my operators make the final decision. I tell them to try our all the machines and tell us which one they like.”
 
Healy’s company sets a lot of boulders, so the skid-steer is the workhorse of his operation. Selecting the right machine for this job is a top priority. “Lifting capacity is very important to us,” he says. “We’re always looking to maximize that.”
 
Contractors considering new services benefit the most from a skid-steer demo or rental. For example, a contractor thinking of adding tree planting might demo or rent a tree spade attachment to determine if the work is profitable. “It’s absolutely the way to go,” Healy says. “It’s important to demo equipment doing a task that you do often, so the exercise isn’t a waste of time.”
 
Operators testing skid-steers and attachments should know what to expect with the machine. “My operations manager firmly believes that our dealer should let us demo a skid-steer at least for a week before we agree to buy one,” Arlington says.
 
Renting provides the most realistic test of a machine, Lemke says. “When you rent a machine, you can see how well it’s held up being a rental,” he says. “Rental machines are beat up pretty badly. So you can rent something with 1,000 hours on it and see if it’s held up or fallen apart.” Renting at $250 a day is cheap compared to buying a $50,000 machine, he adds.
 
The best way to choose a skid-steer for purchase is to concentrate on the intended job, Healy says. “The contractors need to understand what part of their machine gives them their bread and butter and concentrate on that,” he says.
 
When taking on additional work, Arlington advocates renting. “We use a lot of rented skid-steers during the winter,” he says. “As we take on more work, we rent more skid-steers and hire more people. When the work slows, we just hand the machines back to the dealer.”