Posted on August 19, 2022.

Compact track loaders have emerged as the darlings of the construction industry.

They’re versatile, productive, comparatively low cost, and easy to operate and transport. They provide excellent value even when subjected to the worst management practices.

So how do you get the most out of your CTL? How do you know when it’s time to trade up? And what features should you look for when buying a new compact track loader?

We have the answers here, along with a rundown of the latest compact track loaders on the market:

Buy new or stay put?

Unlike production machines such as wheel loaders, CTLs have widely varying utilization rates and widely varying duty cycles when serving in multiple applications. Because of this, it’s hard to know when to replace CTLs with new models.

“A lot depends on the customer,” says Buck Storlie, ASV product manager. “Some run the machine for a long time, up to 8,000 hours. Others trade in at the first major service, such as an undercarriage rebuild.”

Storlie points out that downtime from an older machine can be more costly than the acquisition of a new one. “Risk goes up with time; so much of the decision of when to buy new comes down to the customer’s risk tolerance.”

For risk-averse customers, a warranty provides peace of mind, which can also determine when to buy a new CTL.

“There is no single best answer as to when to buy new,” says Luke Gribble, solutions marketing manager, John Deere, “and with simple maintenance, CTLs can last a really long time. But a lot of customers want to stay in warranty coverage, whether standard or extended, and they set replacement cycles based on that.”

Kevin Coleman, Cat product specialist, says simply monitoring machine health can be a good way of determining when to replace a CTL. “A strong maintenance strategy ensures equipment health but also identifies emerging issues, as does fluid analysis.”

He says an intuitive operator notices and should report changes in the way the loader feels and performs. Owners should closely track ownership costs, especially maintenance costs and repair costs, “which are two separate items,” says Coleman, “even though they often get lumped together as ‘maintenance-and-repair costs’ in communication.”

Another key indicator on when it might be time to trade-in: the tracks.

Ryan Anderson, product marketing manager, New Holland Construction North America, says tracks are the most vulnerable part of an undercarriage and can indicate wear on other parts of the system.

“Tracks are expensive in themselves at $2,500 or more per side, but accelerated track wear or premature track failure is a good indicator of excessive wear or imminent failure of other components, which also gets expensive in a hurry,” he says. “Track life can be a good indicator whether it’s time to replace that machine.”

When new makes sense

New machines project a better image of the company and help in attracting and retaining operators. Coleman advises determining whether a particular CTL is a core or support machine, and make replacement decisions accordingly.

Two other considerations: CTLs tend to hold their residual value well, so there’s no sweet spot in the depreciation curve to encourage replacement. Second, if the CTL is mainly a bucket-and-forks machine, it can likely continue to serve well in that capacity for a long time.

Also, if you want equipment that can go beyond buckets and forks, or you want to use bigger buckets and forks, it makes sense to move up to a new loader.

“For contractors looking to break into a new market or type of job, a new CTL can provide significant application enhancements through increased power, productivity, fuel economy and jobsite efficiency,” says Mike Fitzgerald, Bobcat marketing manager.

He says the R Series loaders from Bobcat were designed to be stronger and more durable. As an example, the lift arms on the R Series use cast steel components that are 20% stronger than fabricated steel. Lift arm profile is also smaller, improving visibility for the operator.

Adam Devins, Wacker Neuson product manager, goes back to costs. The graph of costs should resemble a hockey stick, with a long, flat stretch of consistent costs and a sharp upslope where costs suddenly escalate with machine hours. “That inflection point will signal the time for replacement.”

Depreciation can be tracked similarly, he says. If conditions arise so that the depreciation ticks up sharply (or residual value falls steeply), “trade-in value might be the tipping point for the feasibility of purchasing a new CTL.”

Source: Equipmentworld.com