A year and a half ago, parent company Toro made a splash at The Rental Show unveiling its prototype 2,000-pound operating capacity Dingo TXL 2000 compact utility loader. Now Toro’s Ditch Witch brand has upped the game with its 51-horsepower, 3,100-pound capacity SK3000, unveiled at the ICUEE show this week.
“We have a whole line of stand-on skid steers that have done really well and we wanted to look at ride-on skid steer machines and whether we could mount those capabilities on a stand-on skid steer,” says Chris Thompson, Ditch Witch compact equipment manager. “This gives you the benefits a skid steer plus the ability to easily get on and off.”
(Note: The compact utility loader machine category can also be referred to as mini skid steers, mini track loaders and stand-on skid steers.)
How did Ditch Witch get to a 3,100-pound ROC? “A lot of it has to do with center of gravity,” Thompson explains. As to opposed to a skid steer or compact track loader with a cab, space is more compressed on the CUL. Ditch Witch also added weight via welded-on steel panels to the back of the machine.
Also adding weight are the steel fuel tanks, which also increases durability in tougher applications.
In addition, the tracks were redesigned. “Before we had more of an open design, but with the weight of the machine now at 7,600 pounds, we needed to support the rollers better,” Thompson explains. The company now uses a capture roller design to both protect them and take the weight off the rollers.
