Editing Skid-steer loader (section)

===Radial lift===

The original skid-steer loader arms were designed using a hinge near the top of the loader frame towers at the rear of the machine. When the loader arms were raised the mechanism would pivot the loader arm up into the air in an arc that would swing up over the top of the operator. This is known as a radial lift loader.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-05-20|title=The Difference Between a Radial Lift vs Vertical Lift Skid Steer Loader?|url=https://duranterentals.com/difference-between-a-radial-lift-vs-vertical-lift-skid-steer-loader/|access-date=2020-09-30|website=Rent Construction Equipment in NY, NJ, CT {{!}} Durante Rentals {{!}} Call 1-800-DURANTE|language=en-US}}</ref> This design is simple to manufacture and lower cost. Radial lift loaders start with the bucket close to the machine when the arms are fully down and start moving up and forward away from the machine as the arms are raised. This provides greater forward reach at mid-point in the lift for dumping at around four to five feet, but less stability at the middle of their lift arc (because the bucket is so much further forward). As the loader arms continue to raise past mid-height the bucket begins to move back closer to the machine and becomes more stable at full lift height, but also has far less forward reach at full height.

Radial lift machines are lower cost and tend to be preferred for users who do a lot of work at lower height of lift arms, such as digging and spreading materials at low heights.  Radial lift designs have very good lift capacity/stability when the loader arms are all the way down and become less stable (lower lift capacity) as the arms reach mid-point and the bucket is furthest forward. Static stability increases as the arms continue to rise, but raised loads are inherently less stable and safe for all machine types. One downside of radial lift design is that when fully-raised the bucket is back closer to the machine, so it has relatively poor reach when trying to load trucks or hoppers or spreaders. In addition, the bucket is almost over the operator's head and spillage over the back of the bucket can end up on top of the machine or in the operator's lap. Another downside of radial lift machines is that the large frame towers to which the loader arms are attached tend to restrict an operator's visibility to the rear and back corners of the machine. The radial arm is still the most common design and preferred by many users, but almost all manufacturers that started with radial lift designs began also producing "vertical lift" designs as well.