Handling the Material Handler

With the dog days of summer just around the corner, the time is ripe for pouring that new driveway or backyard patio and spreading mulch around your flower and tree beds. But, what is the point of all that hard work if backbreaking,
manual labor has you confined to the couch for the next month? Fear not! A compact material handler or power buggy will make quick work of pouring a thousand pounds of concrete, moving 10 yards of mulch and hauling heavy debris away from the jobsite.

While power buggy operation is fairly simple, there are a few tricks of the trade when dumping material with a power buggy. First, you have to get a feel for the controls. While it may take a day or two to become comfortable with skid steer controls, an adventurous do-it-yourselfer will have the power buggy controls down in a matter of hours. Usually, a power buggy’s controls are laid out on the control panel with easy-to-understand illustrations, but to make the operation even simpler, many manufacturers make the throttle and brake controls floor pedals to keep your hands free for directional and dumping controls.

When first starting out, the most important thing to be aware of is that the buggy will turn in the opposite direction that you steer. For instance, if you steer the buggy’s handlebars right, the buggy will turn left and vice versa. Additionally, it is also important to become comfortable with the buggy’s speed and remember to always slow down when turning — you don’t want the load to shift and tip the buggy.

“The majority of power buggies have a parallel drive
circuit and during a turn, the hydraulic flow is doubled in one tire and there is no flow to the other,” says Ed Varel, Stone Construction Equipment Inc. engineering project manager. “It turns on an axis and it turns very fast.”

Once you have the basics down, you can try some
more advanced maneuvers that are sure to make material movement easier. You can use inertia to your advantage when dropping your material by starting to tip the bucket while moving forward. When you reach the point where you want to dump the material, stop and the forward movement of the material will continue through the dump. As you begin to dump the material, reverse the buggy for a better-distributed spread that will ease the manual labor of spreading and speed up your operations. Another popular technique is “feather dumping.”

“Feather dumping means to jiggle or bump the
dump handle to jiggle the aggregate out of the bucket in smaller amounts — instead of dumping a huge pile,” says John Gibbons, technical sales manager for the TEREX Light Construction Division. “It allows you to lay a smoother, more consistent level of material on the ground. Imagine shaking fertilizer out of a bucket verse dumping
it all at once.”

Yet, not all projects are outside; once again, the power buggy comes to the rescue. Given the power buggy’s small stature, it will get the material into nearly any nook and cranny. If you have to get through a door frame to pour concrete inside a structure, the buggy’s outer tires can be removed within a matter of minutes, giving you access to virtually anywhere. Remember to cut your carrying capacity in half before you remove the tires as you now have less area for the weight of the load to be distributed.

With the prospect of getting all your chores done in a single weekend, it’s easy to get excited and want to take your power buggy everywhere, but remember — the power buggy is not an all-terrain vehicle and should only be
operated on level paths.

“Plan ahead. Make sure the path you are taking is level and there are no holes or obstacles,” says Russ Warner, light compaction and concrete product marketing manager for Ingersoll Rand. “If you are operating it on a golf course, don’t plan on taking any side slopes or hills that would cause the load to shift.”

From Tricks to Trade

Before running out to the dealer or rental shop, you should know what you are getting into. Buggies are generally rated by bucket size. The three most common sizes are 12-, 16- and 21-cu ft buckets. The most popular is by far the 16-cu ft bucket with a 13-hp engine that has a high carrying capacity, but it is still small enough to get through a doorway. Besides bucket size, you’ll also want to decide on a bucket type.

Concrete cleanup is a cinch with a polymer bucket. Warner recommends that you apply a form release agent to the bucket before you start hauling concrete. Once the job is finished, all you have to do is hose down the bucket.

If you rewarded yourself with a tall glass of iced tea after a job well done and you notice some concrete dried to the bucket while you relaxed, gently hit the side of the bucket with a rubber mallet or the palm of your hand and the
concrete will crumble right off.

Although a poly bucket sounds great, make sure you keep your task in mind. If you’re working with extremely hot asphalt, which could melt a poly bucket, or in debris removal, which could puncture a poly bucket, you will want to opt for steel. However, most power buggies have the ability to swap buckets to offer the best of both worlds.

The carrying capabilities don’t end with the bucket. Power buggies can be equipped with a stake bed or flat bed, transforming it into a mini-pickup. Stake bed buggies are perfect for hauling bricks, lumber or any material that is too cumbersome to fit within a buggy bucket. You might start to wonder if a power buggy has more in common
with a truck than a skid steer, as it is also available with a
dump-truck-like bucket that has steel side walls at 90 degrees and a rear hatch for dumping.

Another aspect to consider is the buggy’s dump angle and bucket height. Warner recommends finding the most aggressive dump angle available, which will make dumping the material smoother. However, you will want to be cognizant of the bucket height (the distance between the bucket and the ground). Many times, in residential projects, you have to get around a curb or planting, so you will want a fairly high bucket dump height, according to Varel.

Although, Gibbons warns that “The higher the dump height, the higher the chance for slop and splash out when pouring concrete or liquid materials.” So, if you are operating a buggy with a higher bucket height, be mindful of how fast you dump the material.

Despite its simplicities, buggies are available with options other than buckets. You have the choice between pneumatic tires for better traction or foam-filled tires that are better for rugged construction sites. There is also the choice between an electric start and a recoil start.

“An electric start is more popular in colder climates, pulling a cord on a 13-hp engine with a parasitic hydraulic load isn’t convenient,” says Warner.

Like all equipment, power buggies require daily
maintenance. Varel recommends that you check the oil levels, fuel levels and air filter before starting work due to debris on the jobsite. Of course, you’ll also want to watch your hydraulic fluid and keep any lubed components slick. Also, be sure to check if the buggy meets the standards set by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for stability to ensure a safer workday.

Compact equipment doesn’t like to be pigeonholed
into one field of work. Skid steers and mini excavators are constantly breaking new ground and the power buggy is no exception. While these tiny tugboats have matured in the concrete market, according to Warner, power buggies are also breaking into the landscaping and demolition industries. The power buggy has adapted over the years to exceed expectations to let you get more work done, so you can enjoy those lazy, summer afternoons.

Jason Morgan is assistant editor of Compact Equipment.