Six months ago, I published a blog here questioning whether it is appropriate to call a CAT 229D a Skid Steer Loader. This question arose from hearing many workers, reviewers / owners on YouTube nonchalantly calling both machines with wheels and machines with tracks skid loaders.  It just didnt seem to matter to them that Caterpillar s official website clearly classifies the CAT 299 machine as a Compact Track Loader. It appears that many people have no problem with using the term skid steer loader and compact track loader interchangeably even though Caterpillar never does.

A quick image search on the internet showed that despite having tracks, the CAT299 D3 machines below are identified as SKID STEER LOADER or SKID STEER by the people responsible for uploading them to the internet.

Lets consider again why these machines should not be called skid steer loaders.

Firstly, as shown in the images below, taken from official CAT brochures, the 299D machine is unequivocally identified by the manufacturer as a Compact Track Loader.

That CAT classified and continues to advertise this machine as a Compact Track Loader should be sufficient evidence for any reasonable person to adopt the same name. Would a world-renowned manufacturer like Caterpillar misname a machine they manufacture?

By way of contrast, consider the manufacturers designation of the CAT 272 machine below. Note that it is unequivocally designated as a Skid Steer Loader.

Secondly, while being equipped with either tracks or with wheels makes it very easy to visually distinguish between Compact Track Loaders (CTLs) and Skid Steer Loaders (SSLs), its important to ask what the manufacture is emphasizing by using different designations.   For example, it is pretty common knowledge that tracks would give the CTLs more stability and allow them to perform many tasks in mud, sand, and snow better than SSLs with the same or similar specs.

I invite you to click here if you are interested in viewing the other models of CAT Compact Track Loaders. Please note that the salient feature of these machines is that they all have tracks.

I also invite you to click here if you are interested in viewing the other models in the CAT Skid Steer Loader line.

In closing, I urge you to not take my word for it. Listen to your colleagues, watch some YouTube videos, look through the articles in trader on CTLs and SSLs. In the final analysis, its unlikely that by continuing to call a compact track loader a skid loader that you will cause the stock markets around the world to crash or a nuclear war to break out.  On the other hand, by identifying CTLs and SSLs correctly you just might look better informed.