Ground Pressure Guide

Quick answer: what matters is not just the machine’s total weight but how it lands — wheels concentrate weight on small contact patches while tracks spread it. A ground-bearing concrete slab takes most electric scissors comfortably; suspended slabs, mezzanines and soft ground need the floor’s design load or ground condition confirmed first.

The one rule that matters

On any suspended slab, mezzanine or raised floor: do not proceed on machine weight alone. The design load must be confirmed by the builder or a structural engineer — in writing — before the machine goes on it. We ask about this on every hire because retrofitting a propped slab after the fact is a very expensive way to learn it.

Common questions

Why do tracked machines exist if wheels are fine on slab?

Tracks are for everything that is not slab: lawns, pavers, gravel, filled ground and wet sites. They spread the load, climb better and leave less damage behind.

Can I put plywood under the wheels?

Track mats or plywood help protect decorative and soft surfaces from marking, but they do not make an overloaded floor safe — they spread scuffs, not structural load.