Bobcat Customers are Unleashed

“How Bobcat Unleashed Me” Contest Entries Pour in With Fascinating Stories

In January, Bobcat launched a contest called “How Bobcat Unleashed Me” to encourage Bobcat enthusiasts to submit their success stories for a chance to win a grand prize of $75,000 in Bobcat equipment. Winners will be announced in the Fall issue. The contest ended on May 30, 2008. We decided to reprint snippets from some of the more interesting entries in this issue of WorkSaver magazine. You can read the entire entries online as well as all of the weekly and monthly winners at www.bobcat.com/contest.

Mark McComas

Magnum Marine, Inc. – Stevensville, Md.

“Two years ago, I purchased a Bobcat® 430 compact excavator. Being involved in strictly marine construction, I felt it would see very limited use, like when I had to backfill a bulkhead or move a little dirt. I had purchased the one-year-old machine at the local Bobcat dealership. Toby in sales found out that we were moving poles by hand. The installation of a hydraulic clamp on our excavator made that intensive manual labor a thing of the past. Now, the machine picks up the poles, neatly and accurately drops them into the water, and does it ten times faster.”

Susan Shott

Street Smart Dog Training – Harvard, Ill.

“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 compact 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 ould 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.”

Jason Bot

BotCon Contracting Limited – Langenburg, Saskatchewan, Canada

“Our company specializes in concrete construction and demolition in the potash mining industry of southern Saskatchewan. Until 2001, we used drum mixers to pour concrete underground. We fed 90-pound bags of gravel and bags of cement into the mixers by hand. This was very dirty, labor-intensive work. We have since switched to bags of gravel that are hauled by a rented Bobcat S185 skid-steer loader and fed into a mixer with a Bobcat 553 and a Bobcat S100. We use Bobcat hydraulic demolition hammers to demolish concrete and potash, which saves a lot of labor.”

Mitch Roley

All Equine Arenas – Littleton, Colo.

“On most ranches that I’ve worked, there is limited access to many areas because of gates. I found that the Bobcat T300 compact track loader could move through a lot of tight areas and over multiple terrains. The ease and speed of changing the attachments, from the bucket to an auger or vibrating roller, makes me look and feel very efficient. I was working on a job outside of Vail, Colo., and needed 24-inch holes for my round pen posts. I attached the auger and started drilling. The ground was really hard and on the very first hole, I hit a basketball-sized rock. With other tractors I’ve rented, I would’ve backed the bit out since there’s no way the machine would pull it. With the T300, I just lifted and that bad boy popped right out. Needless to say, I was impressed. “After 26 holes, I had enough large rocks to build a nice retaining wall the customer also needed. The power is very surprising to most custumers, and I have been asked how such a compact unit can lift and push so much weight around. I always seem to say the same thing: ‘Well, it’s a Bobcat machine.’”

Ryan Walsh

Mandarin Enterprises, LLC – Staten Island, N.Y.

“While I was in college, I purchased a Bobcat 440B skid-steer loader with a bucket and plow. Overnight, I was in the snow removal business. After my first snow season, I began getting calls from my snow customers to do light excavation work. As a result, Mandarin Enterprises was born. I began doing bigger and bigger work. In 2001, I purchased a Bobcat 773 from Garden State Bobcat in New Jersey. This enabled me to do bigger excavation work and service more snow customers. “As my business evolved, I started to do more demolition work. I purchased a 2006 Bobcat 463 skidsteer loader with bucket and plow. I also purchased a 1999 Bobcat 763. I equipped both the 773 and 763 with solid tires and grapple buckets. These two Bobcat machines are an integral part of my demolition operation. With them, I can go into buildings and basements, and on roofs, and demolish anything I come across. “If it wasn’t for Bobcat Company’s workhorse equipment and its dependability, reliability and sheer power, my business would not have grown to $2.5 million annually — and it’s still growing.”