Bobcat Equipment is the Link to Success
Bobcat loader owner David Thompson depends on his 773 to keep up with fence installation needs.
Over the years, entrepreneurs have found new ways of completing routine tasks or improving a job previously done with manual labor and tools, and replacing them with efficient Bobcat® equipment. Today, Bobcat Company uses the term “unleashed” to refer to these brave self-starters who took a leap of faith. Many have succeeded, thanks in part to their investment in Bobcat machines and attachments.
A good example is in the fence industry where David Thompson and his family have made a name for themselves in the Kansas City area, building chain-link fences and installing security systems.
David Thompson and his wife purchased Acme Fence Company in 1977. Today David’s son Mark successfully runs the company, although David still helps on a regular basis. Back in 1977, Thompson initially outsourced portions of the fence installation process that were completed with a skid-steer loader. In the early 1980s, Thompson decided that Acme would quit outsourcing and added a Bobcat 642 loader to the company’s equipment fleet.
“The T300 works well, especially in tight areas around new homes, because I can easily see the bucket’s cutting edge.“
In the early 1990s the company replaced the 642 with a brand-new 742B from K.C. Bobcat. Today the company owns a 773 skid-steer loader, an auger, pallet fork and bucket attachments. “We depend on the Bobcat loader and auger to dig a lot of holes for our commercial and industrial fence business,” Thompson says. “We also use it on occasion to move concrete, grading, and lifting and carrying supplies with the pallet fork. It’s been a marvelous machine.
“I’ve been in the fence industry for 48 years, and Bobcat equipment has been a mainstay for us for many years. We have come a long way since the days of hand diggers and Ford tractors.”
Levi (left) and Dick Leonard operate their father-son construction company with help from their Bobcat T300 and attachments.
Thompson says that the need for enhanced security systems at Kansas City commercial and industrial facilities has helped the company to succeed for more than 30 years. A dependable Bobcat skid-steer loader with attachments is used day in and day out to ensure that Thompson’s installation crews are finishing projects on time.
“The Melroes were truly gentlemen, and had an eye for quality, as evidenced by purchasing our aluminum, which was expensive in those days,” Thompson says.
FATHER-SON DUO BUILDS COMPANY WITH BOBCAT EQUIPMENT
Starting a business takes a lot of determination, hard work, capital and a little luck. Dick and Levi Leonard have combined all of these factors and added Bobcat equipment to create a prosperous father and son excavating company.
Dick Leonard gained experience working nights and weekends before getting his business going. In 1991, Leonard quit his full-time job to start Leonard’s Backhoe Service in Ellsworth, Wis. Levi joined his dad when time allowed and the two worked together, digging foundations for new home construction and excavating pole building sites.
After graduating from high school, Levi joined his father full-time and the two formed a partnership. “Things have been going good ever since,” Dick Leonard says. “My dad used to operate bulldozers and dig basements, and that’s what got me interested in starting my own business.” Now Dick is passing on that enthusiasm to his son, who he says is the primary Bobcat equipment operator.
Leonard’s first Bobcat loader was an 843. He graduated to the 873 before settling on the S300 skid-steer loader. Working in the wet mud and sand meant lost days and adding metal tracks to the rubber tire machines was time-consuming and just plain messy. That’s when the Leonards decided to purchase their first Bobcat compact track loader, a T300 from Lano Equipment, Anoka, Minn.
Levi Leonard says the T300 is perfect for his application because of its size, power and weight.
“The flotation and traction I get from the T300 exceeded my expectations,” Levi Leonard says. “In addition to excavating, backfilling and loading our trucks, we do a lot of finish grading with the T300 and bucket attachment.”
The Leonards previously used a dedicated dozer, which cost almost three times as much as the T300, until they realized they could grade much more easily with the Bobcat machine and attachment.
Creature Comforts Make All the Difference
For Levi, the T300 is his mobile office for 8 to 10 hours a day, which is why the Leonards decided to purchase the machine with the enclosed cab option with air conditioning. “The enclosed cab is great during the dry summer months because it keeps the dust off of me,” Levi says. “I also enjoy sitting in the T300 because it is so much smoother than our larger equipment.” Part of this smoothness comes from the suspension seat in the Bobcat T300.
“It handled itself with such speed and accuracy that it was able to finish jobs in half the time my clients thought the jobs would take.”
“Another reason I prefer the Bobcat T300 is because of the Power Bob-Tach™ option,” he says. “It saves us a lot of time because we’re regularly switching from our pallet fork to our bucket.”
FORMER LOGGING SPECIALIST BECOMES BOBCAT OWNER-OPERATOR
It’s evident that today’s workers have a tendency to “job hop” from career to career much more often than their parents and grandparents did. And sometimes a career change is just what someone needs to get them excited about working again. That’s where Bobcat equipment owner-operator Kevin Haugan fits in.
Kevin Haugan is paving a new way for his career in the construction industry with a Bobcat T190.
“When the logging industry fell apart in northern British Columbia, I knew it was time for a career change,” Haugan says. “My number one reason for leaving the logging industry was being away from my family. I went back to school to get my journeyman carpentry ticket, but I needed something to replace the logging wages my family and I had been used to. That’s when I decided to purchase a Bobcat T190 compact track loader, attachments and dump trailer. Things exploded after that!”
Williams Machinery in Prince George, British Columbia, sold Haugan a new T190 with a 709 backhoe attachment, soil conditioner, pallet fork, auger and combination bucket. “I’ve done a lot of commercial and residential landscaping, but I don’t like to limit myself,” he says. “I’ve done commercial digs for concrete forms, electrical digs for burying new lines, and plumbing digs.”
A compact track loader was a must for Haugan, who gained experience operating equipment in the logging industry. “I had the first compact track loader in town,” he says. “People couldn’t get enough of it. I could tread lightly on my clients’ lawns without leaving a mark. I could float through wet terrain where other wheeled loaders couldn’t go.”
One option in particular that Haugan enjoys is the Speed Management feature. “The feature allows me to turn down the machine speed so I’m not going full speed in reverse — I’m going at a nice, smooth pace. This is very handy when I’m packing heavy material close to someone’s house. You don’t want to accidentally wreck the siding.”
You can read more inspiring stories like these on the Unleashed page.