How to operate
A Bobcat Track Loader
How to Operate a Bobcat // Skid Steer Training
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everyone welcome to this episode inside
the sandbox today we're gonna show you
how to operate a skid steer so yes
you've seen a lot of our other how-to
videos we love the feedback we get thank
you guys for giving us the comments this
episode we don't have skid steers off
out at our site very often so we do have
this out here for a special event so we
thought we'd do a how-to we we did run
skid steers for many many years before
but now we don't so we brought the
Sooner in for a special event we thought
we'd do a great how-to video for you a
couple of things first we've already
done the the pre inspection on the
equipment I think that's really key is
to check out your equipment the pre-op
inspection is key we also are in a
controlled environment here so we're
gonna be doing some scoops showing you
some things but we're in a very
controlled way
[Music]
today we're running a bobcat 550 skits
to your track machine so they rough
they're about 7,000 pounds I will tell
you this from experience skid steers are
actually probably one of the most
dangerous pieces of machinery which is a
little bit scary because it's kind of
easy as you can see we rented this one a
lot of people can rent them it's
deceiving because people think because
they're smaller they're safer I would
actually argue the opposite the larger
the machine it is a lot tougher to get
you know when flip one of those things
over or do whatever they're just a
bigger base on them so when we have like
our big excavators and dozers out on our
site here those are a lot more stable
these little skid steers are really easy
if you don't know what you're doing to
get in a lot of trouble that's what I
want to do a quick how-to video I'm not
gonna go into a lot of details about
this machine other than the question I
get the most is the difference between
you'll see this machine is a tracked
machine versus a wheeled machine so if
you see the two different systems that
we have on skid steers and really it
comes down to two different pieces
typically these track systems are good
for a softer environment like our sand
or a landscape run on grass is gonna use
these because they kind of float above
the surface a wheeled machine you're
putting 7,000 pounds in for points and
they're gonna dig into the ground so
they're better for harder surfaces like
asphalt parking lot whatnot now so most
people ask well then why wouldn't you
just get the skid with the track machine
the difference comes down to cost this
undercarriage alone they're much more
expensive there's a lot more moving
parts these tracks the treads to replace
there's a lot more expensive versus a
single tire is very easy to replace on a
wheeled machine so if you don't need it
you're working on hard surfaces or
anything like that that's typically what
you want to use a wheeled machine not a
tracked machine so that's just a
high-level on that again we're gonna go
over this track machine the controls are
all the same so let's go ahead and get
in the machine okay so I'm gonna open
these now skid steers again from a
safety perspective they're actually kind
of challenging to get in and out there
are some newer machines that now have
side entry with a single arm which are
pretty cool and the reason is
there's a lot to step on here and ways
to get your foot wedged in something so
just be really careful always three
points of contact when you're getting in
and out of these machines first thing
seatbelt again you kind of see their
smaller cabs you kind of wear a skid
steer and then these most skid steers
again had this big arm for the top of
you down right there now Bobcat there's
a key there and I just wait there's
usually an indicator up on the left when
you're good to start we are good there
and we're running now skid steer like
this again cat John Deere Bobcat a lot
of them there's different control types
this one is probably the simplest
structure and this is where they all
you're driving is on your left all of
your boom and bucket control is on your
right hand those are the simplest
there's several different configurations
they can run but that's the easiest and
it also it's very similar to a wheel
loader to an excavator things like that
so now again I got seat belt on this big
thing none of this the machine won't
move at all
with this big safety arm when it's up
above your head so it's a key there is
this will normally be above you have to
pull it down in order for anything to
work outside of that with bobcat here
there's also a parking brake switch up
here on my left right there and then
there's a way to turn on the hydraulics
because I see a little lockout symbol so
this one just there's a button up here
and I see I'm green I'm good to go
everything's live right now so now with
this one there's a couple different ways
to control your throttle and again this
is very common with almost any skid
steer there is a on this one there's a
throttle knob over and you're right they
go up like that
generally most operators actually use
the one foot pedal that's in it's a
manual throttle so you'll see I set my
right foot on there so usually most
operators want to use their foot pedal
just because it saves fuels and you're
not running at a higher rpm all the time
so usually I'm gonna use my right foot
here when I need to go faster or not
again it's it's more increasing the
power to the engine which doesn't
necessarily translate to speed although
it will usually make things go faster
but that's all gonna be controlled to my
my joysticks but it does give you more
power so when you're trying to lift
material whatever you're have loaded
there you're gonna want to use your foot
pedal to give you some more power now
everything is live right now again if I
start with my right hand right hands
boom and bucket so if I pull back raises
my boom up
right hand forward brings the boom down
then if I go right hand I'm gonna bring
it back up
right hand to the right opens the bucket
right hand to the left closes the bucket
and then bring it back down now I call
this driving position which is really
important obviously you know you don't
want to be necessarily all the way down
to the ground usually the bottom will
actually drag a little bit so you want
to be a little bit above the ground here
but you also don't want to be any higher
you know get some people to driving up
higher and there's a couple of reasons
first of all you'll notice I can't see
so it's really tough to see where you're
going the other thing is we're going to
show you this though the way you get in
trouble in the skid steer it's really
with the center of gravity the higher
you have that tool in the front the more
likely are you can tip the machine so
generally you want to be low and tight
to the ground so right about here now
that's my right hand
okay there are accessory hydraulics on
here for switches you know the great
thing about this gets there like a Swiss
Army knife you know you can swap it up
with different tools on there these you
would have buttons on there to control
that left is driving again this is a
simple driving mechanism you push
forward goes forward pull back goes
backwards and then left and right
however hard you go left or right that's
how the machine is going to turn so it's
very very simple like that okay other
than that again you'll see there are
control settings up on the Bob here we
can change the configuration of how
those controls again we're running ISO
controls right now
I also call cat controls but there's
other things like that you've got all
the fuel when all your gauges are
usually up in the corner of one of the
machines sometimes there's a backup
camera sometimes there's a rearview
mirror things like that
and then down low again we're in a
climate-controlled cap which this one
all the climate controls down low there
so let's go up here I'm going to show
you real quick so now I'm just with my
left hand going forward a little bit
and again I give it my foot pedal give
it a little bit of gas a little faster
or slower
now when you come up here the key you
know right now my bucket is curled up
you know that's obviously not gonna if I
drive straight in I am NOT gonna really
get anything so this is no different
than a wheel loader you get to open that
bucket up so you kind of flying it out
so it's flat to ground then you drive
forward and I give it a little bit of
gas now this is similar to a wheel
loader we can be pulling up a little bit
while curling that bucket you're just
trying to get a really full bucket it
fully scoop in there so now once I have
it I'm gonna back up the key is don't
keep pulling up on this now with this
machine there is no auto level on this
one and what I mean by that cement when
you pull back in your right hand you'll
actually have the bucket wheel uncurl a
little bit to keep it level this one
does not and what that means is some
material is going to come right over the
back right over your cab which is not
great if you're a new operator to do
that at job site I'll show you that in a
sec but again low and tight so I'm down
below me now I back up
bring it over a little bit
[Music]
and then to dump it where it's gonna
pull right hand back now again without
that Auto level you need to be I'm going
to the right a little bit to open that
bucket up as I'm going up now you really
just need enough room to dump and have
enough room to open the bucket so you're
talking maybe four or five feet and then
I'm driving forward here slowly
right there and then I'm just going
right hand to the right and this will
dump my bucket I can also be pulling
back at the same time to dump it all the
way there's a full scoop and then at the
end you curl it all the way back up
I'm breaking it down a little bit and
then my left I'm just pulling back
Kanna can be tougher visibility and a
skid steer can be a little bit more
difficult just because you got the arms
on both sides so this is where again a
rear view camera is helpful or the
mirror but just make sure you know where
you're going with that machine
so I'll do another one here
same thing lightening a little better
this is where if I see I'm getting more
power you can see how my hydraulics have
more power right there now I'm just
gonna keep this one here really the only
time you're gonna get in trouble in a
skid steer it's again when that bucket
is up above you this is the biggest
mistake I see so right now I am fully
loaded
so you see I raise it up here the
machine you see us um spilling over the
back there
this is where your very unstable so this
is where new operators get in a lot of
trouble it is really not that difficult
to flip a skid steer and if you haven't
done it if you're a new hopper it will
scare you it's again if your seatbelt in
it is there's a way you can write
yourself there but obviously you don't
want to get in that situation period so
this is your most critical time when
you're up like this that you're very
top-heavy so you should only be inching
forward slowly and then you can dump
and then I'm bringing it back down
drive around
I'm not gonna go a ton into grading with
these again I really just want to go
over very basic controls here but the
skips here again you just basically you
can see your blade and you're generally
trying to keep it flat and then you're
just driving along the ground there
you just wanna you try to want to avoid
letting it dig all the way in
[Music]
kind of similar to a bulldozer you do
want to have some material in front of
your blade generally now what happens
here if you go too deep you'll see what
happens I can just dig it straight in
and you're gonna create a big pothole
right there so that's why you're really
got to be careful now if you are trying
to lay material down gravel whatnot
sometimes the best way raise this up so
you can actually see underneath it
gonna be cautious when you're top-heavy
but this is where I'm getting it right
up in front of me
and you can see this is where almost
shaking I do this kind of shaking with
the hand open and close you can lay a
row of material I'm not doing it great
here didn't have a
trying to avoid doing a full clump but
you can see
and while you're trying to watch going
backwards but generally you can drop
gravel if you have a nice even bucket
there you can spread it that way again
not the best up
and then the final thing is floating the
blade
this material now these machines you can
backtrack a couple different ways again
if I get that bucket all the way I can
see the edge of that and I can just pull
back on it
you obviously want to be careful you
don't ever pull that bucket all the way
in you don't want to be too close so
it's basically kind of straight at a
little bit of an angle just so you can
see the corner
just like that I come back to it
now floating the blade really two
different ways
so again almost similar to the wheel
loader even a dozer you can usually
disengage the hydraulics turn
you can disengage so there's a way to
disengage the hydraulics here it's
called flow so you set it down flat and
on the Bobcat there's a little button
here a yellow button on my right
joystick I hold that in and kind of jam
the joystick forward and now I've
disengaged hydraulics so I know you do
and sometimes I have a bucket open a
little bit
I can back straight up in the blade
itself and the boom is floating there's
no a power that so you see how I get a
nice smooth surface there and then at
the end I just pull it out a float by
pulling back just a little bit keep
backing up
right there so that's one way
the other way if you've dealing with a
really rough surface the other way you
can float the blade is with the blade
angled down so same strategy I'm gonna
put it down the ground flat same thing
hold that right yellow button go like
this and I can actually roll the blade
up again I'm just trying to be able to
see behind it you do not want to keep
rolling that in you never want to be
over a 45 degree angle but now I back
same strategy here I can actually see
behind I'm getting a little bit of dirt
behind the bucket
this is good if it's really rough and
you're really
to fill in some holes
[Music]
and then at the end here I'm just
pulling it out of float again but again
you don't I don't just want to pick it
out so if I do I'm gonna leave a big
pile of dirt so I'm gonna slowly it's
how to float now let me keep dragging it
out and slowly get rid of that material
that's there
there you go again two different
strategies for how you can float that
blade and use the back of them so so
we're gonna go ahead and park it here a
couple of things and I speak from
experience here where you don't want to
look like an idiot
make sure your buckets all the way
around again with these front most skid
steers nowadays are you access it from
the front door what I see often they'll
drive up and see if I go a little bit
further here you'll see I actually am
hitting hitting the hydraulics so you
actually need to make sure you're all
the way down it's a pretty common
mistake that I see rookies make so
you're all the way down usually you
flatten that bucket out so you're not
stepping into something that's pitch
like that then we're gonna go ahead lock
out the hydraulics put parking brake on
and then we're good to go
this goes up first
turn that on really important for three
points of contact getting out hopefully
you guys enjoy that again by no means
are we experts this is kind of what
we've learned out here we teach
customers how to use these things we'd
love to hear your comments let us know
any tips and tricks there's probably a
lot of very proficient operators out
there let us know how you learned how to
use a skid steer again thanks for tuning
in we'll see you in the next episode
[Music]
you
