Opinion
A Look at Utah’s Heavy Equipment and the Final Drives That Power Them
The state of Utah is a land of beautiful, rugged extremes. From the high-alpine peaks of the Wasatch Range and the red-rock deserts of Moab to the Zion canyons, the one thing our landscape is not is flat or simple.
This unique and demanding terrain requires a special class of machinery to build, maintain, and grow our state. You can’t just run a standard, wheeled vehicle up an icy ski slope or in the soft, sandy soil of a new desert subdivision. You need power, you need stability, and above all, you need traction.
This is where tracked equipment becomes the undisputed workhorse of the Utah economy. And the unsung hero of every single one of these machines is a component you might never see: the final drive motor.
This compact, high-torque hydraulic motor is the “gearbox” that connects the engine’s power to the tracks, giving the machine the “grunt” it needs to move. When this critical component fails, your entire quarter-million-dollar machine is dead in the water. For a contractor, having a reliable source for high-quality final drive motors isn’t just a maintenance plan; it’s an essential lifeline to prevent catastrophic, profit-killing downtime.
These motors are the muscle in Utah’s most essential equipment. Here’s a look at the key machines that simply couldn’t do their jobs without them.
1. The Excavator
The Job: Digging foundations for new tech headquarters in Lehi, trenching for utilities in Daybreak, and sculpting landscapes in Park City.
The Machine: The mini-excavator and the mid-sized excavator are the most common sights on any Utah construction site. The state’s construction industry is a major economic driver, and these machines are its backbone.
Why the Final Drive is Critical: An excavator’s magic is in its “zero-turn” capability and its stability. The two independent final drives (one for each track) are what allow the operator to “counter-rotate”—spinning the machine 360 degrees in its own footprint. This is absolutely essential for working in the tight, confined spaces of a new housing development or a busy road project. The final drives also provide the locomotive torque the machine needs to climb a steep grade or pull itself out of a muddy excavation pit.
2. The Snowcat
The Job: Pushing, grooming, and moving mountains of snow at Utah’s world-class ski resorts like Alta, Snowbird, and Park City.
The Machine: The snowcat, or “groomer,” is a high-altitude, specialized machine designed for one of the most extreme environments on earth.
Why the Final Drive is Critical: This is the ultimate test of a final drive’s power. A snowcat’s job is to climb a 45-degree, icy ski slope in the middle of the night, in sub-zero temperatures, all while pushing or pulling thousands of pounds of snow. The machine relies on its two massive, wide-track final drive motors to provide the incredible, low-end torque needed to do this. A standard wheeled vehicle would simply spin out and slide to the bottom. The final drives are what give the snowcat its seemingly impossible “go-anywhere” climbing ability.
3. The Compact Track Loader (CTL)
The Job: The “Swiss Army Knife” of the job site. You’ll see them doing landscape grading, moving pallets of sod, clearing snow from sidewalks, and hauling debris.
The Machine: The Compact Track Loader (often just called a “Bobcat,” though that’s a brand name) has rapidly overtaken its wheeled “skid steer” cousin in popularity across Utah.
Why the Final Drive is Critical: The answer is traction and low ground pressure. Utah’s varied soil—from soft spring mud to dusty summer sand—is a nightmare for heavy wheels, which just dig in and get stuck. A CTL, powered by its two final drives, “floats” over this soft ground, spreading its weight out. This gives it superior traction, more pushing power, and the ability to work on a finished lawn without completely destroying the turf.
4. The Bulldozer
The Job: This is the heavy-hitter. Bulldozers are used for large-scale earthmoving, from cutting new roads through canyons and building pads for massive warehouses to working on the terraced levels of an open-pit mine like Bingham Canyon.
The Machine: The bulldozer, or “dozer,” is the iconic symbol of power and traction.
Why the Final Drive is Critical: A dozer’s entire purpose is to push. Its power is not about speed; it’s about pure, relentless torque. The final drive motors are the massive, high-torque, “low-gear” components that translate the engine’s horsepower into the unstoppable pushing force needed to move a literal ton of rock and earth. In Utah’s rocky, unforgiving soil, this is the machine that does the work no other piece of equipment can.
5. The Asphalt Paver
The Job: Laying down the smooth, fresh asphalt on the I-15 expansion, a new suburban street, or a commercial parking lot.
The Machine: The asphalt paver is a large, complex machine that slowly moves along a prepped roadbed, laying and smoothing a mat of hot asphalt.
Why the Final Drive is Critical: An asphalt paver’s job is all about slow, consistent, and smooth motion. If the machine were to lurch, slip, or jerk, it would ruin the entire mat of asphalt, costing a fortune and hours of remedial work. The paver’s hydraulic final drive motors are what allow for this incredibly precise, “creep” speed. They provide a perfectly smooth, non-slip, and consistent forward motion, ensuring a flawless surface every time.
From the ski slopes of the Wasatch to the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, these tracked machines are the quiet heroes of Utah’s economy. And at the heart of every single one of them are their final drive motors. They are the unseen muscle that gives these machines the power to tame our state’s rugged, beautiful, and demanding landscape.
