January Featured Winner

Eric Austin
Austin's Landscape Construction, Inc.
Yorba Linda, Calif.

“Bobcat unleashed me when my girlfriend and I rented a Bobcat® 453 skid-steer loader in 1998. She wanted to grade and clear the backyard at a house she had purchased as a rental property. I went to the local rental store and rented the Bobcat loader and a trailer. I was going to school to become a paralegal at the time and was working as a tow-truck driver. I had seen Bobcat skid-steer loaders and knew what they were, but I had never used one. I got in that little thing and within two hours I had everything graded, a pile of trash ready to be taken away, and I even dug a hole for a spa to be installed. I loved it — it was easy to operate and the work that it could perform was amazing. I couldn't get over how much power it had and what it could do for being so small.

“I started working as a paralegal after I got my degree and hated it. I like being outside and always saw myself in the construction field in one way or another. One day, I got up from my desk and gave the office manager my two-weeks’ notice. The office staff could not believe that I would leave the cushy, indoor dress-nice lifestyle for a manual-labor, outdoor job. I started doing debris removal. I was starting from the ground up and figured demolition and removal was a good place to start. I had recently sold my condo and had some money in the bank. I bought a two-axle dump trailer and found a used Bobcat 453, like the one I had rented, for $5,000. I paid cash for it in April 2002. Since then, I have probably paid the thing off 50 times over. I used it for everything I possibly could because it was just me. The 453 alllowed me to do grading, demolition, small tree disposal, concrete removal, and more. ‘Work smarter, not harder’ should be the motto for skid-steer loaders. It was the best investment I have ever made.

Eric Austin

“I became a landscape contractor in 2005 and started Austin Landscaping. I was able to get a loan from the SBA and bought a used Bobcat 320 mini excavator. I thought I loved my 453 loader, but when I started digging trenches and breaking concrete, grading, demolition, etc., I fell in love all over again with that 320. I now use the mini excavator more than anything else I have. It is awesome. I can’t tell you how many times I have rolled on to a commercial project to dig a trench in a small area. People just point and laugh because it is so little compared to what they are used to seeing, and I just shrug it off. I figure, ‘Hey, I am making $110 per hour with a four-hour minimum,’ so I can laugh all the way to the bank. It never fails — by the time the trench is completed, the jaws drop. They all, without exception, say to me, ‘Man, when you first showed up with that little thing, I thought, look at the Tonka toy this guy has. What is he going to do for us? That thing is good for sprinklers, maybe, but come on! But now that I have seen what it can do and how much time and labor it saved us. I am impressed and will call you for all my tight spot digging from now on.’ I just smile and say, ‘Here is my business card, and yeah, it really is an incredible machine.’

“I have a breaker attachment for the mini excavator and I love it. I can break on one side while the skid-steer loader removes the spoil. I take out driveways and patios, pool decks, etc., and I do it all by myself with my mini excavator and Bobcat 453 loader, or my newest addition, the Bobcat S150 loader that I got in 2006.

I paid off the mini excavator in two years and got another loan for my S150 loader. I have started marketing to paving companies and construction companies to use me as an owner-operator for their jobs. I now own Austin’s Landscape Construction, Inc., and I am a concrete contractor and a landscape contractor. I use all my Bobcat machines as much as possible. They allow me to only use one laborer, if that. Most of the time I just do demolition and site prep myself, while my two guys are moving forward doing setup. The equipment allows me to handle bigger jobs and still save on labor costs. And the time saved is incomparable.

“I finish jobs ahead of schedule all the time thanks to my equipment. I envision my business in the future being a couple of guys for installation and myself. I will use my Bobcat machines and a dump truck for excavation and demolition. I can operate the equipment even when I get to retirement age. I see more and more companies finally going to skid-steer loaders and mini excavators. I can realistically do everything a backhoe can do. I have to have two pieces of equipment, but the cost is the same if you think about it. A mini excavator can dump anywhere within a 360-degree area; they are great machines. Backhoes are limited to side-to-side. I have a friend and neighbor who does utility work for a big company here in Southern California. He would always bust my chops about my equipment, because he operates backhoes and big loaders. Well, last year he hired me to redo his landscaping and hardscaping. Now the response from him is, ‘Those things really are amazing.’ And even he will admit that his backhoe would be of no use at all in many situations: They are too big and heavy and are limited in maneuverability.

“I truly do love Bobcat machines. When I drive past my local Bobcat dealer, I feel like a little kid in a candy store. I'll say, ‘Look at that. Man, what I could do if I had that Bobcat equipment.’ My girlfriend usually says, ‘Focus on paying off the one you have right now!’ I just chuckle … I am the real deal, the customer that Bobcat machines were created for. They are the best, and I won’t own anything else. I don’t care to even think about owning anything else. The equipment that I have is all used, because I can’t afford a new Bobcat machine. But think about this: I have created a small business after using a product one time for a couple of hours, and now I can do the work of ten men by myself. I have earned a good income for myself after quitting a job that could have lasted the rest of my life. I am creating a future business for myself that will allow me to eventually retire. I have done all of these things with Bobcat machines that were years old and in some cases had over 1000 hours on them. They are still getting the jobs done without any major repairs or problems. How many businesses can say that about their products? What a testament to an idea that a farmer had a long time ago. The one thing I regret about Bobcat machines is that I didn’t invent them.”

Other January Monthly Winners