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Balanced Weight Distribution for Enhanced Flotation

10:02
30:01
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At 10:02 in

Tires or Tracks on a skid steer in Deep Snow-Can you plow with a tracked loader?

What happens here

Buck emphasizes the importance of balanced weight distribution in track loaders. He explains that ASV's design evenly spreads the machine's weight from front to rear across the entire track surface. This prevents the loader from becoming 'rear-heavy,' which is a common issue with competitor machines that causes them to sink in soft materials like deep snow or loose sand. Even weight distribution ensures maximum track contact with the ground, leading to superior flotation and consistent traction, especially crucial in challenging conditions where sinking can immobilize the equipment.

Goal: Understand how even weight distribution across tracks optimizes flotation and traction.

Tools and materials

  • ASV RT-75 Compact Track Loader ASV — Illustrating weight distribution with snow pushing

What they say

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conditions, she pretty much can't move. There's a number of factors that create for the optimal track situation. One of them is ground clearance. Another one is tread pattern in the tracks themselves. A third one that we need to cover right now is weight distribution. Getting those tracks so that they take an equal amount of weight from the rear to the front is very important. In fact, when you look at at a lot of the other competitors trip where their tracks are and their weight is, they're typically very rear heavy. A lot of the mass of the machine is over the backs of those tracks. And when you do that, you're going to have sinking conditions. I witnessed this firsthand in Florida when we were working in sugar sand where a competitor's machine literally the back of it sunk and we had to dig it out. Weight distribution is a huge factor to allow you to float. You'll see it in snow, too, you know. So, that that weight distribution's going to help you on the snow and the ice, right? Have weight heavy or So, when you engage your bucket, right? You drop it down on the concrete, you start scraping concrete. On a lot of machines with rear weight bias, you engage that bucket and the front of the track wants to come off the ground and you're just driving on the rear wheels. So, all you have is that little rear wheel providing traction. Mhm. And in a skid steer design, you've got an even weight balance and then you've also got a suspended undercarriage. This becomes your friend because as you engage that bucket in the front, this suspension actually suspends not only up to give you a smooth ride, but also down to give you traction. So, you engage the bucket, this drops down, we got a nice even weight balance on the track system, and that's what's really going to help you move some snow. So

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