Performance Evaluation: Dirt Work Limitations

we've had our ups and downs with this machine we originally bought it for one thing and one thing only and that's snowplowing brand new out of the box and cost us 64 grand we're going to talk about whether that machine was worth it or not the sledge is as simple as it comes it's kind of an old-school machine it's got a mechanical part kubrick a mechanical shifter it has zero bells and whistles which is the way I like it but that's not for everybody but of course you're also not paying for those bells and whistles you're getting the most basic of services and you're getting some quality materials in it like a dude's engine but there's a lot of other things that could be improved on this piece of equipment [Applause] now we went with a 980 nefler the compact wheel loader because it comes in at 74 horsepower with one horsepower under depth regulation which is one less thing we've got to worry about or snow it's one of our favorite pieces of equipment but I can't necessarily say the same thing if we were doing a lot of dirt work when I say simple and I say old-school it just doesn't get much simpler than this machine it's only got forward and reversed a high gear and a low gear and that simplicity doesn't lend itself to high productivity especially in dirt if you've got a load trailers or trucks it's time and time again you're gonna find yourself a little bit frustrating another area that some of you guys might find frustrating is the guys that need to rode their machines or literally drive them down the roads from one job site to the next with just a high gear and a low gear it doesn't give you very many speed options and part of the problem is is when you put this machine in high gear it doesn't have any power to actually deliver on that high gear if you have to climb a hill in high gear plan on down shifting into low gear it's that bad as long as you're on flat level ground or better yet if you can somehow have all of your jobs be downhill you're gonna be fine though [Music] pushing snow in my opinion is relatively easy as a workload it's a harsh environment but it's not tough work and that's where this machine excels we've been able to put on a 17-foot pusher and keep up with much bigger payloads so it's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog and when it comes to snow this pay loader does deliver in that neck of the woods the stock tires that come with it though are really not meant for snow removal there is more of a…