[johnkeegan]

Tricky, It does probably relate to price but also (speaking for myself) to a certain amount of ignorance. When I initially purchased a skidsteer I didn't realize how useless it is in mud and how disasterous it is to lawns. My next time around I would definately go with a real track loader.
Bear with me while I give you a brief description of my probably all-to-common history of skidsteer purchasing.....My first machine was a Bobcat S175. After 2 years of not being able to lift those 3K lb. pallets and destroying too many lawns, I decided to upgrade. Plus I really needed 2 machines, one to leave at the jobsite and one at the yard or second site. So I got an A300 (all-wheel steering) with turf tires to elimate the lawn destruction and an S250 for the yard and to use on sites that didn't need lawn access. But I still really had no machine for the real muddy (or even partially muddy) sites. So I got the tracks for my S250.
In the meantime, I also purchased the ASV RC30 (a true track machine--the tracks on Caterpillar are their design). That little machine can go on lawn (2.5 PSI ground pressure!) and will NEVER get stuck, has tremendous traction and rides VERY smoothly, like a snake slithering along.
....So-o-o, now I understand why the real track machines are worth it. I just needed to find out for myself. Yes putting the tracks over the wheels is OK but it's definately not the same as having a real track machine, especially if you doing real excavating and grading. And by the time you add in the cost of adding the over-the-wheel tracks ($4-5K) and either replacing the pads every few hundreds hours ($1K+) or the production hours lost swithcing the tracks on and off...I feel it would make more sense just to buy the real thing, especially once you factor in the higher resale on it (something most people overlook when initially pruchasing). So how much is it REALLY costing for true track machine vs. a sidsteer with tracks-over-the-wheels.