All-Wheel Steer Loader Passes Severe Application Test

Mike Fitzgerald, Bobcat loader product specialist (left), checks the AWS loader with Dean Truax, BFI site operations manager

Recycling plant tests durability of new technology

Bobcat Company designs and tests products to meet a wide variety of customer applications. A design may be tested and refined at Bobcat engineering facilities many times before it is sent out for actual field testing at a customer’s worksite. Only after successfully completing internal and outside field tests are products released for production and then sold to customers.

As an example, the technology used in the Bobcat® all-wheel steer (AWS) loader is the product of such innovation. How that technology performs in the real world is the product of this extensive testing program.

One of the test sites for the AWS concept was the BFI Waste Services recycling plant in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., a place where all equipment is put to the ultimate test—long hours, running on concrete, in dusty and dirty conditions.

In August, 2001, a Bobcat A220 loader was delivered to the BFI plant where both commercial and residential recyclable materials from the sevencounty metro area (Minneapolis-St. Paul) are processed six days a week. The goal of Bobcat product and engineering personnel: Find out how the new technology would hold up in this severe work environment.

“When the machine arrived my concern was how long would all this new Bobcat technology last,” says Dean Truax, BFI site operations manager. “I thought we would be calling Bobcat Company to report worn out parts and breakdowns.”

Truax had been using Bobcat loaders at his plant since 1990 so he was familiar with the durability and reliability of the company’s skid-steer models. But AWS was something new.

“We used the AWS machine just like our other loaders,” says Truax. “Operating two shifts a day, the loader handled about 200 tons of material per day. We worked it hard.”

Bobcat AWS loader handled 200 tons of material a day at BFI recycling plant.

The first thing Truax noticed was that the AWS unit was holding up well because it was not constantly skidding on concrete. The concrete floor in the transfer area was not wearing out and neither were the tires.

“The standard tires on our 863 skidsteer loaders had to be replaced at about 350 to 400 hours,”says Truax.“The same tires on the AWS machine lasted for 600 to 700 hours. That’s a real savings.”

The AWS loader received regular preventive maintenance at the BFI facility, but no special treatment. Still the machine experienced little downtime, notes Truax.

“I was surprised,” he says. “I knew Bobcat equipment was the best in the business, but I figured this new type of loader was likely to have some problems. On the AWS machine everything stayed tight. In fact, the AWS unit performed exceptionally well for 5,000 hours.”

Mike Fitzgerald, Bobcat loader product specialist, has been monitoring the AWS machine at the BFI plant.

“We initially planned to leave the loader at the site for 1,000 hours,” he recalls. “At 1,000 hours the machine was still working well and our engineering department was gaining valuable information. A decision was made to continue the test. Then the 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000-hour marks also passed as the test continued.”

During the test Bobcat engineers told BFI maintenance personnel not to lubricate some points that should have been greased just to see what would happen. The loader kept on delivering high-performance results. Only normal maintenance and service items were addressed.

“There were no problems with the new technologies—the joystick controls, hydraulic steering systems, electrically-controlled hydrostatic drive pump, steering and universal joints,” says Fitzgerald. “All these functions performed exceptionally well.”

After 5,000 hours Truax was sorry to see the AWS loader returned to the Bobcat factory for further testing and evaluation.

“Over the past 14 years we have made suggestions to Bobcat Company on how to improve its products,” says Truax. “Based on our input—and that of other customers in real-life situations—they continue to build better loaders. I know the AWS loader is a better machine today based on the 5,000 hours we put on it. Customer testing and feedback is one reason the Bobcat brand is the leader in the compact equipment business.”