Design Build Landscaper Relies on Bobcat Equipment to Make Creative Projects Profitable
Paul Miskovsky has operated Miskovsky Landscaping for 20 years.
People hire us because they want something original and interesting with an artistic flair,” says Paul Miskovsky, owner of Miskovsky Landscaping, Falmouth,Mass., who works mostly on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. “The challenge is to balance our client’s desire for art with our need to make
money. Our variety of Bobcat® equipment enables us to do that.”
The unique performance built into each and every one of these machines is only part of the story.
“We know we can rely on our Bobcat machines,” says Miskovsky, a 1984 commercial floriculture graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Stockbridge. “When we need them, they are ready to run. If and when there are snags, our dealer, Great Rock Tractor (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) stands right behind us with service that’s second to none. Bobcat Company also supports its products with technical support.”
Miskovsky has owned Bobcat loaders for 15 years. Today his equipment lineup includes:
Two skid-steer loaders
The 553 loader saves time and labor in small spaces, including moving through gates to work in close-quarters for setting plants, backfilling retaining walls as well as moving trees and pallets of plants inside the company’s greenhouse. Miskovsky uses a powerful 963 loader for pick and carry applications, offloading heavy pallets from trucks and hydraulic breaking.
Three compact track loaders
“Our track loaders have added to our abilities by allowing us to work on slopes, sand dunes, muddy areas and other places where we can’t use skidsteer loaders,” he says. “The T190 is ideal for maneuvering quickly in tight spaces. The new T250 and T300 offer more power to lift, grade and load. They have outstanding digging capabilities.”
Two compact excavators
Miskovsky and his five-person crew use a 322 excavator for working in confined areas and a 341 when lots of power and long reach are required. Each machine is equipped with a hydraulic clamp for handling rocks, brush and other odd-shaped objects.
A variety of attachments
Miskovsky’s inventory of Bobcat attachments includes pallet forks for each loader, tooth buckets, a large light material bucket, tree spade, dozer blade, landscape rake, auger and hydraulic breaker. “We have used the breaker to take apart front steps and rocks too large to move,” he says. “One time we used it to break up a very large boulder and ended up
with two beautiful stone seats that we set right on a site overlooking the ocean.”
All of Miskovsky’s Bobcat machines are equipped with suspension seats. The two excavators have enclosed cabs with heat and the compact track loaders also have enclosed cabs with heat and air conditioning. Miskovsky says having air conditioning in his track loaders prolongs his concentration while working at difficult sites as well as on really hot days.
Miskovsky Landscaping relies on Bobcat equipment for jobs ranging from transporting a spiral topiary to placing stone in a waterfall project.
Miskovsky tries to use the machine that is best suited for a job. For example, while building 2,000 to 2,500-sq.-ft. display gardens at the New England Flower Show and the Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show, he used the T190 in the garden spaces and the 553, 963 and T300 for delivering supplies. Since 1999 he has received 43 awards including “best of show” awards in Boston and “best of show” in Rhode Island two out of three years and says, “I could never have done it without those awesome Bobcat machines.
“All the gardens in the shows are built on bark mulch so you need a machine that will float over this material, yet have the ability to lift and maneuver plants and objects without digging and moving your kickboards,” he says. “The Bobcat compact track loaders do the trick.”
In the real world, Miskovsky and his crew usually use several different machines together on the same site to form an efficient Bobcat System.
At times the Bobcat equipment is called upon to combine power and maneuverability with precise operation in very tight spots. In 2003, Miskovsky and his crew completed one of their year-long projects that cost nearly half a million dollars. The project entailed re-building a 21⁄4-acre residential site that included constructing a 60-ft. multi-drop waterfall
into a newly excavated slope. They used 275 tons of native and imported stone for the retaining walls, walkways, freestanding walls and accent stones. Plus, they did large scale plantings.
“My talented crew accomplished that major project with four Bobcat loaders and two excavators,” says Miskovsky. “That garden has been featured in magazine and newspaper articles, as well as being the site of several garden tours.”
In these and many other ways, Bobcat equipment has proven a key element of Miskovsky Landscaping’s success over the years.
“Bobcat equipment has brought my business to a higher level by enabling us to be more creative and more efficient,” he says. “Little new land is being sold in our area for development. So we are called on to do more in less space on existing sites. Our Bobcat equipment allows us to work in areas where other equipment can’t operate. I’m a total believer in all these wonderful white machines.”