Short and simple, Dell Anderson saw a need. His son, Erick, was struggling with problems slipping on snow and ice with his skid steer rubber track system. Anderson put his brainpower to work and two days later had developed and created the finished product; a steel clamp-on track device to solve slippage problems called TrakBites.

One Friday evening, Dell Anderson drafted a plan to produce steel clamp-on cleats, faxed it overnight to his mechanical engineer in Shanghai, China, and by Sunday the first prototype was built. The manufacturer e-mailed photographs of it to Anderson by Sunday evening. On Monday, he e-mailed the photos and description to Bobcat, and by Tuesday had six built. His phone was ringing off the hook. Anderson immediately ordered 1,000 from a casting manufacturer that built track pads for excavators and dozers, knowing the steel strength must equal or surpass that of the machine tracks.

“I invent a lot,” Dell said. “I had a brain fart and damn near blew an ear off!”

“Let’s give the guy options, like the guy who has tires with chains,” he said. “[With] rubber track system’s capabilities, people will realize they can use their machines 100 percent of the time.”

With a market share of 37,000 machines per year and rapidly gaining, Bobcat currently has 30 percent of the market share in machines using rubber track systems. Typically, winter creates user problems rendering machines season specific. By mounting TrakBites clamp-on steel cleats, in less than a half hour, a person can transform his machine into one with wide tracks and flotation.

Through the patented design made from the same steel as dozers and excavators, the result is a machine that grabs the ground at different levels. Each bar is only 3-in.-wide (7.6 cm), and like a tire, sections grab the ground and squeeze like a clamp providing traction.

Erick tested the product extensively in all conditions and they discovered he and his father created a winning product bound to take the skid steer world by storm. With more than 100 hours of diverse field-testing, Dell said he was confident to proudly display TrakBites on over 200 Bobcat showroom floors throughout the nation.

Ideally, Anderson said he hoped to see TrakBites becoming an optional add-on, sold dealer direct to Bobcat dealers worldwide and he hoped to have all Bobcat skid steer owners able to use their $50,000 investment year round.

No stranger to invention, Anderson introduced the patented “Yukon Jack” landscape fork bucket in 1990.

For more information, call 218/838-2669 or visit www.attachm.com.

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