How skid steer loaders work?

Although skid steer loaders are not widely used in the country, they can definitely not be considered a novelty. On the one hand, foreign manufacturers have been promoted in China for many years, on the other hand, due to the low threshold, many domestic enterprises have long been in production. Skid steer loader with unique structure and walking mode, together with a variety of functional attachments, has become a versatile player in various workplaces.

Skid steer loader transmission

As a kind of compact equipment, skid steer loader also has the characteristic of skid steering, so its transmission method is also very characteristic. Nowadays, most of the skid steer loaders use a hydraulic motor arranged on the left and right sides respectively, and drive the two wheels on that side by chain transmission. When the motor speed on both sides of the control is not the same, the corresponding two sides of the wheel speed is also different, so as to realize the steering, and even can be turned in place when reversed.

The simplest and most common skid steer drive principle

Of course, in the early days of the development of skid steer loaders, hydraulic motors were not popular enough, and at that time, drive shafts with multiple chains and gears were used to transmit power, and at the same time, a set of braking system was also required. Nowadays, the simplest transmission is a hydraulic motor directly driving a double sprocket.

In the basket is the traveling hydraulic pump, and the blue arrows point to the traveling motors on both sides.

Of course, different manufacturers have different designs, and some are slightly more complex, adding a pair of chains for speed reduction, while others use a pair of gears to achieve speed reduction. In addition, some manufacturers will also have a chain tensioning device.

Some manufacturers are equipped with a chain tensioning device, shown with two tensioning gears.

The traveling hydraulic system of skid steer loaders generally adopts a double circuit closed system, because the hydraulic circuit is closed, the vehicle stops that is braked, and does not require another traveling brake device. However, some manufacturers are also equipped with brake discs for parking brake.

When we usually say skid steer loader we usually mean wheeled chassis, but in fact the same skid steer loader with tracked chassis is also a skid steer loader. However, this kind of skid steer loader manufacturers generally also called compact or multi-terrain track loader, but in fact its structure and wheeled skid steer loader is very similar, in addition to the use of tracked walking device, its internal structure is almost the same as the wheeled, only the location of the hydraulic motor is slightly changed, of course, no longer need chain.

In short, the skid steer loader structure is simple, the transmission system is also relatively simple, while the performance and function is not simple. However, constrained by the cost of hydraulic parts, as well as the lack of diversity of generics, skid steer loaders in the domestic promotion will take time.