Slopegroomer.com

It was brought up in the pipe cutting thread, but I though it might be worthy of a separate discussion.

What are your thoughts and opinions, yoke vs. sticks, for various tasks?

I've spent most of my time with a yoke, and am comfortable with it. But I personally prefer sticks. I find independent track control to be very helpful. Mechanical linkage is a plus in my book. I've worked in IT long enough to know that as soon as you put a computer in control, you'll have problems!

I can accomplish the same tasks regardless of steering control, but I feel that I can be more precise and more effective with sticks.

I am biased here but I can see both sides of the issue. The question really comes down to what you are doing.

If you are fleet grooming on trails and/or dozing out trails that haven't been groomed in a while I think that a yoke (the wheel) is the way to go. Running the yoke requires running the machine with the foot throttle - that is the biggest single downside to the yoke in most peoples mind. However, running the foot throttle also gives you the ability to back off the throttle when the tracks start to spin. If you think of driving your truck the first thing you do when the tires spin is back of the throttle to regain traction. Also, the wheel is many, many times more comfortable to run, once you get used to it. Last but not least, running the machine with a foot throttle saves fuel - big time. When you set the engine RPM's at 1400 all night you burn a lot more fuel on your down pass than you would running it with your foot.

Steering with sticks makes it easier to be precise for sure, that's why terrain park operators prefer them for the most part. Although I have seen many operators around the world that build parks with a steering wheel and have no trouble whatsoever. Fortunately the Germans build machines with both types of controls, it is always good to have choices.

I've always been a stick man. I prefer the crotch sticks over the left handed sticks. When you do a lot of pushing crotch sticks mean that there is a lot less twisting to do when backing up. My left side ribs have been cramping up on a regular basis since I have been grooming this year. Also for some reason the sticks in our PB 400 are very stiff. That extra effort to move them really adds up in a 12 hour shift. One drawback to crotch sticks is that occasionally ski pants would get caught on them when sitting down into the seat. I've stalled the engine on many BR 400+'s that way. Just my .02.

I have to say that the bomb me with the twinxt leg sticks is my favorite cat I've ever driven! They all suck if ya sit in them long enough though, don't they?!