Tracked Bobcat proves a Nice mud-beater
01 April 2000
Bobcat's new 864 tracked skid-steer loader was tested out on site in Nice, France, by technical writer Nick Johnson, who compiled this report.
Bobcat launched its compact tracked 864 skid-steer loader at Conexpo exhibition in Las Vegas, US, last year, at a time when skid-steer loader sales were expected to be about 80,000 worldwide (with just over 60,000 of that total going to North America).
Bobcat claims to supply 51 per cent of all skid-steer loaders sold worldwide at present and it intends to maintain and strengthen this dominant position through the addition of its new tracked models and by development of its more conventional machines.
Bobcat Europe managing director Gui Keuppens forecasts that the worldwide market for skid steers will hit 100,000 in 2002. He is also very enthusiastic about the European and Middle East prospects for the 864.
What will help establish the 864 is its ability to carry all different attachments already proven for use on Bobcat's rubber-tyred 800 series. And Bobcat recently broadened its in-house attachment production capability by acquiring three attachment producers in the US: Palm Industries (angle blades and brooms, planers and vibratory rollers), Erskin Manufacturing (mainly snowblowers and ejector buckets) and E-Z Implements (tree planters).
At the very wet demonstration area in Nice there were three 864s on show, each equipped with a different attachment. One unit had a Brushcat rotary brushcutter, the second had a standard front loader and the third a six-way dozer blade.
The 864 can be fitted with either 305-mm or 457-mm-wide special rubber tracks which are reinforced with integral steel bars. These tracks distribute the machine's weight over a larger area to provide much better traction and flotation in soft, wet or sandy conditions.
Available in standard (68.0 litre/min) or high flow (105.9 litre/min) versions, the 864 crawler loader has a rated operating capacity of 907 kg. Like its rubber-tyred 863 counterpart, the machine is equipped with a 54.8 kW (73.5 hp) Deutz BF4M1011F turbo-charged diesel engine which drives two high-torque hydrostatic motors.
When complete with 305-mm-wide tracks, bucket, full fuel tank and operator, the 1,849-mm-wide 864 weighs in at 3,719 kg in standard flow specification or 3,742 kg as the high flow H version. The resulting ground bearing pressure is 385 gm/sq cm and this can be reduced to a mere 270 gm/sq cm when the wider 457 mm tracks are fitted. By comparison, an averaged-sized man exerts a ground pressure of 500-700 gm/sq cm.
The 320-mm track provides better traction for general digging and excavating applications whilst the 450-mm track provides for excellent flotation in soft ground. However, these low ground bearing pressures will also prove advantageous in demolition applications where machines need to work on suspended slabs.
Moreover, since the 864 is equipped with dedicated rubber tracks, it will not mark paved surfaces and therefore is ideal for travel over and use on public roads. Unlike traditional crawler loaders with steel tracks, the 864 offers exceptional manoeuvrability and fast cycle times with a maximum travel speed of 10.7 km/h. For road work the machine will sit nice and flat and thereby be a good stable power source for a larger planer such as the 1-m-wide unit produced by Simex in Italy.
In Nice, however, it was the ability to conquer wet, muddy ground that the new 864 was able to demonstrate so well. In conditions that made conventional wheeled skid steers almost uncontrollable, the 864 just kept going and it conquered the worst parts of the site where its conventional counterparts failed to reach. Thus the unit proved conclusively its maker's assertion that this Bobcat will extend the ability of a skid steer to work when ground conditions are particularly wet and unfavourable.
In operation, I found that the tracked 864 was well able to plough through the deep mud. The machine had impressive traction and pushing power and a surprising turn of speed. The ability to turn within its own length gives the unit excellent manoeuvrability but care needs to be taken when reversing at speed due to the somewhat restricted rearward vision due to the twin side mounted loader arm support towers. The ground clearance seemed more than adequate for the bad ground conditions and having the drive sprockets elevated above the mire must have been a big bonus.
The buckets intended for use on the 864 range from 0.402 cu m for heavy earthmoving and construction applications to 0.858 cu m for light materials. However the attachment on Bob-Tach quick-change system which particularly impressed me on the 864 was the 2,023-mm-wide six-way dozer blade, which can be hydraulically angled +/-30 degrees as well as oscillated through +/-10 degrees.
Designed for earthmoving, backfilling and heavy-duty landscaping, this blade makes good use of all the 864's traction and pushing capabilities. Since the blade can be raised up on the loader arms I found that I could bank up the wet material into walls much easier than I could have with a conventional dozer.
The machines I drove had the standard Bobcat hand and foot controls but for operators who prefer hands-only controls there is now the option of Bobcat's new drive-by-wire advanced hand controls (AHC) option.
Two of the 864s at Nice had the established Bobcat skid steer cab but the third had the new-generation design being introduced across the company's entire skid steer line.
Distinguished by integrated triangular front work lights and more rounded lines, the new cab offers a larger front opening for easier front entry and exit from the machine. Inside the cab there is increased head clearance and a new, full suspension seat that is fully adjustable to the operator's weight and size. Another improvement is a new rear-pivot seat bar, which is easier to pull down or push up and provides more room for larger operators.
The latest instrument panels and gauges are arranged in two groups at the front of the cab, one in the top left hand corner and the other in the top right. The left-hand instrumentation is the same on all models whilst on the right there can be a standard system or an optional advanced control panel with additional features, including a new keyless ignition system designed to deter theft.
With the new keyless ignition, a Bobcat loader can only be started using a password comprising a unique code with up to 10 digits. The optional advanced instrumentation system also offers multiple levels of passwords allowing the operator to lock out certain functions, such as high-flow hydraulics, an especially useful feature in the plant hire industry.
