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First off, props to @pfbz for asking if it was tracked, certainly the most pointed question, that, I struggled with responding to as I could not come up with a suitably whitty response that would not give it away, and @Greg2010 who posted the most accurate picture with the snow cat, to whit, I was able to come up with a suitable evasive response and avoid giving up anything further.
So here it is, a Cat 299 with a 95hp 3.4l diesel, hi flo hydraulics, sweeper, and 100" snow bucket - the 991/6 will most certainly be jealous... maybe.
Why? You ask... well, in recent years, we have been getting not only more snowfall here on the westcoast, but it is sticking around for much longer and turning into ice before the warmth returns. At our complex, we have been at the whim of our property management companies snow removal contractor, who last year, over the course of one weekend, charged us $43k to remove snow and salt. As you may imagine, I pretty much flipped out on the PM company because they had signed a contract with these guys that essentially allowed them carte blanche to bill whatever, and penalize us should we cancel the contract. Not at all acceptable to me, or the other members of the strata.
So, I did a little math - it became clear that our best bet was to take this job in house; one of my guys has a lot of loader experience, and I was able to locate the low hour 299 in Ontario, a couple buckets and a bonus sweeper unit for about $71k (no Xona 980 upgrade for the 996 this year ...), and figured the equipment should pay for itself within two calendar years, and it also afforded the opportunity to lay my hands on something I have always wanted - a tracked loader to plow snow 'n stuff - you may note that the pipeline, oil and gas kid in me is alive and well, not happy it's yellow, but Cat's do not come in any other colour.
Thanks to all who played along - some of the suggestions were pretty amusing, some were atrocious, and I was really quite surprised that it took as long as it did before @pfbz mentioned 'tracks' not 'the track'... I was worried there, went so far as to look into organizing bourbon delivery in Colorado, because once the '2 of the 3' numbers were out, I figured it was not going to be long until someone did the math... good times!
01-09-2023, 12:47 PM
...), and figured the equipment should pay for itself within two calendar years, and it also afforded the opportunity to lay my hands on something I have always wanted - a tracked loader to plow snow 'n stuff - you may note that the pipeline, oil and gas kid in me is alive and well, not happy it's yellow, but Cat's do not come in any other colour.
