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Week 5 Winners

Tom Hirsch
Hirsh-E-Treats, Inc.
Janesville, Wis.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“A little background; I work for my brother, who is a builder, and I own a Dairy Queen. My brother had all of the equipment to do home-building excavation and snow plowing. Any chance I got, I would help run the machines. My brother and his employees always did all of my plowing. I always wondered why the guys complained when they had to plow my parking lot with a truck. I was forced to plow with a truck for a year when my brother suddenly sold his equipment, and I realized what they were talking about. I have a very broken-up lot with nowhere close to put snow. I decided to get a skid-steer.

“My father-in-law owned a Bobcat® machine. He had a burial vault company; he used his Bobcat machine to move ingredients for the concrete, and he really liked the Bobcat brand. So, in 2005 I went to Bobcat of Janesville. I really liked the way I was treated at the store and was impressed with the products. My salesman, Jesse, was very helpful then and now. I purchased a new 2005 Bobcat S130 skid-steer loader. The first year I only used the bucket. In the winter of 2006, I began plowing the parking lot of the motel next door. This winter, Jesse sold me a Bobcat plow. Then, he had me try out a snowblower — which I bought. The piles were getting too high with the plow; I knocked them down with the snowblower and don't plan to see them again.

“In 2006, we did a remodel on our store and parking lot. I rented a Bobcat trencher to trench in some conduit for a future drive-through reader board. I backfilled the frost wall for an addition. I even saved money on freight because I was able to unload a new ice cream machine when it was delivered in February of 2007. By the way, I use my Bobcat machine quite often to move dirt, smooth gravel drives, clean streets, move and load pallets of landscape mulch, lift pallets of lumber and perform many other odd jobs for my brother. I also do plenty of neighborhood projects, including leveling for above-ground pools, setting stone retaining walls and moving piles of dirt and snow.

“I get a lot of people joking about the Dairy Queen with the Bobcat machine, but it’s been very handy in many situations. I am currently waiting to check out an S205 loader. Jesse ordered one and customized it so I could try the machine I really wanted. My current Bobcat machine does the job, but I am planning to expand the excavating end of my business.”


Bill Zett
Laurel Highlands Landscaping, LLC
Englewood, Fla.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“In 2005, I purchased a Bobcat® S205 loader from Pristow’s Outdoor Power Equipment in Johnstown, Pa. I originally bought the machine to expand my lawn business into the installation end of the industry. In late 2005, I sold my lawn care and snow removal business in Pennsylvania and relocated my business to Sarasota, Fla.

“Equipped with my Bobcat loader, two trailers and two trucks, I ventured into site work for the construction industry, which was booming at the time. In early 2006 the building industry came to a crawl. Many of my established competitors have since gone out of business. This is mainly due to the overhead associated with large equipment. I didn’t have that problem with my Bobcat S205. Owning such a versatile machine has allowed us to cover many facets of the industry. We do landclearing, culvert pipes, cuts and fills, paving stones, landscape installation and demolition.

“We built our business on our S205 skid-steer loader. The machine has literally saved my business and livelihood in these hard economic times. After 1,100 hours I still have had no mechanical failures to speak of. I consider my S205, affectionately named ‘Nipper,’ part of the family. I cannot stress enough how having this machine grew my business.”


Larry Jones
Larry Jones & Associates
Douglasville, Ga.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“I was there near the beginning of this whole business. I am fortunate and blessed that Bobcat Company has been a part of my life for over 45 years. My father, Jim Jones, was a struggling equipment journeyman in the early 1960s in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. He worked hard to raise three children and get by. All that changed dramatically in 1962. Ed Raichart, who represented a small North Dakota company called Melroe Manufacturing, suggested to my dad’s supervisor at Portman Equipment Co. that my father could really help develop the market for the Bobcat® loader line in the Cincinnati market. Bobcat M200 and M444 loaders became a familiar sight in our driveway in the early mornings and late evenings. My dad worked long, hard hours. At the age of eight, I began to understand those ‘little white machines’ would forever be a part of our family.

“In many ways, my father blazed new paths that many salesmen, dealers and Bobcat owners take for granted today. He was Bobcat’s top salesman in the United States eight times. Melroe flew my parents to destinations like Biloxi, Honolulu, Phoenix, Lisbon, Portugal and London, all in celebration of Bobcat and its worldwide success. Melroe made training films that included my dad, who had other dealer personnel and salesmen come to ride and observe with him. He pioneered new attachments like the first D100 backhoes, grapples, sweepers and other exotic implements that consistently pushed the envelope of what a Bobcat machine did, and what it was evolving into.

“ … Bobcat sent my two sisters and me to college. It provided a much higher standard of living for my family. We weren’t the only ones after Dad took a dealership opportunity in Birmingham, Ala. In 1974, our dealership won three Dealer of the Year awards. This spawned the careers of several Bobcat salesmen who also provided for their families, including Dave Blevins, who in 1975 was Bobcat’s top salesman of the year.

“Bobcat also gave me an opportunity in this industry. I worked with many of Bobcat’s current personnel at the beginning of their careers; men like Paul Anderson, Doug Freitag, Al Green and many others. I saw the true development of all generations of Bobcat machines, from the early clutch-drive machines … to Bobcat's entry into the wheel loader market with the 2000 and 1600 models. I was proud to sell the world’s largest skid-steer loader, the 970 series. Nothing even approached it in size and horsepower at the time! In my youth, I challenged larger traditional wheel loaders at their tasks; I’d take the ‘Big Bob’ head to head with them, and win! That was the whole Bobcat spirit at the time. The people who loved Bobcat machines were fanatics about it. The people who built this industry nationwide and worldwide didn't accept the idea that Bobcat wasn’t big enough or mainstream enough to compete. Bobcat didn’t just compete, but changed the way construction and industry functioned to this day …”


Susan Shott
Street Smart Dog Training
Harvard, Ill.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“Unleash me? Now that’s a scary thought. Since I’m a little old lady, you guys might want to reconsider. But here’s my story anyway. About seven years ago, when I finally bought my house in the country, my fence guy came roaring up in a Bobcat® track loader and my heart went zing. I liked the fence guy too, but it turned out he was married. But the Bobcat track loader … Wow! I watched it rumble over terrain that would have popped out my tires. It cheerfully heaved up dirt, stones, trees and everything else — all in the dead of winter. It never got stuck. It never even thought about getting stuck. I kept waiting for it to screw up and it never did.

“‘I want one,’ I told my friends. ‘Yeah, right,’ they laughed; ‘What the heck would you do with it?’ ‘Uproot something,’ I replied. Now, after seven years in the country, I know exactly how a Bobcat machine would unleash me — especially after days like today, when I limped inside after plowing snow with my little green tractor. Bless its little heart, my tractor means well and sincerely tries its best. But it’s no match for serious work, and it spent nearly half of its time getting stuck. As for moving stones or trees, the poor thing would faint at the thought.

“Bobcat machines don’t faint. They laugh at a challenge, flex their brawny biceps and roar off, full speed ahead. If I had a Bobcat machine, even a little old lady like me could easily move snow, dirt, rocks, brush, and trees … I have five rural acres, and all kinds of stuff just needs doing out in the country. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s this: The right tool is everything. And a Bobcat track loader is the right tool to unleash me.”


Clint Taylor
Trustworthy Services, LLC
Lacombe, La.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“In 2004, my senior year of high school, I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase a Bobcat® S185 skid-steer loader with multiple attachments. I have found many ways to utilize that machine, such as planting trees with the auger, preparing yards for sod with the soil conditioner and then laying the sod. I use the S185 to move the pallets of sod around. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the grapple bucket served as the most valuable attachment. The durability and dependability of my Bobcat machine helped me make it through the reconstruction and cleanup that we have undergone in Louisiana since Katrina.

“In December of 2007, I purchased a Bobcat 334 excavator. This machine has made a world of difference in the work that is now available. We use the machine to get into areas that still contain debris from Katrina. The hydraulic thumb has been very valuable in the cleanup work. Most of my work has been provided by the Carmelite Nuns of Lacombe, La. They know that I go to college and work, so they are willing to work with my schedule and pace. I owe both the Carmelite Nuns and Sid Duhon of Duhon Equipment a debt of gratitude for working with me and helping my business progress.”