Work-Saving Performance Makes Skid-Steer Loaders Top Ranch Hands

Digger (left) and Feral (right) Wild and Adam Anderson

Ever since a pair of Bobcat® skid-steer loaders arrived at the Wild Bros. Cattle Co., work around the Dodd City, Texas, ranch just hasn’t been the same. That’s just fine with Digger Wild, his brother, Feral, and their cousin, Adam Anderson.

“We bought the machines because they can do so many things,” says Digger. “They’ve made a whole lot of jobs, a whole lot easier. We used to use shovels and a good pair of gloves for much of our work.”

Digger and Feral bought a 73 hp 873 loader, with a rated operating capacity of 2,400 lb., four years ago. Last year they added a 75 hp, 2,500-lb. operating capacity S250 loader, equipped with enclosed heated and air conditioned cab.

In addition to being extremely versatile, the Bobcat equipment is easy to transport—no small advantage since some pastures and hay fields of the north Texas cow-calf operation range up to 60 miles apart. “We can road a tractor, but it’s a lot easier to transport the two loaders and attachments on a trailer,” Digger says.

The brothers purchased their skidsteer loaders to replace a tractor for handling large round bales of hay and a dozer and large front-end loader for cleaning sediment from stock ponds.

“The hydrostatic drive of the skidsteer loaders is much faster than the slow-shifting tractor we were using,” Digger explains. “For what we use them for, the Bobcat machines do just as good a job as a large loader and are more convenient to operate and easier to transport.”

The loaders have since proved their value in many other areas—from feeding cattle in winter and unloading pallets of feed and seed to hauling gravel and filling in washouts with dirt. Using 9- and 13-in. diameter bits with the Bobcat auger attachment, the machines make easy work of building and repairing fences. Pallet forks are used to transport new fence posts.

The skid-steer loaders also speed up the process of clearing old fence rows and pastures of saplings and brush. “Before, we used chains saws and machetes,” Diggers says. “Now we use one loader to cut the trees down and the other to pile them up. That’s eliminated most of the hand labor.”

Many beef producers don’t realize just how the power, speed and wide choice of attachments of Bobcat skidsteer loaders pay off on a ranch, the Wild brothers note. “We use those machines however we can,” Digger says. “We’ve been real pleased with the amount of time and work they have saved us.”