Loader Keeps Motorcyclists Racing
Lee Theis
When you have only about five hours to move and shape 600 to 1,000 cu. yd. of dirt in a relatively small area, you need a machine that’s fast and nimble. And because a lot of people are counting on you, you also need a dependable machine. That’s why Lee Theis relies on his Bobcat® skid-steer loader.
Theis owns Motokazie.com, a motor sports production company that promotes amateur motorcycle racing events. The Belle Plaine, Minn., firm stages two types of races—the more technical supercross, which features short, tight tracks with lots of jumps, and the motocross, which is held on much larger tracks with big hills and faster speeds. In addition to conducting a racing school and organized practices and running motocross races at several permanent tracks, the company builds temporary tracks for supercross racing.
Last year the company produced about 100 separate events, including 43 supercross races in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Individual races attract several hundred racers from beginners to pros, ranging in age from about 4-to 50-years-old, who compete in 16 different classes.
Supercross races are usually held in front of the grandstand at county fairs where several thousand spectators may be on hand to enjoy the action. Theis and his crew have the morning and afternoon to build the track and set up gates, fences and banners before the evening’s races. He uses his 863 loader with bucket to build berms, bumps and jumps. He may work with as much as 100 to 200 cu. yd. of dirt to construct a 6-ft.-high jump, which helps launch racers 70 ft. through the air. The loader also smoothes out ruts that develop during races.
“The loader has the power we need to move dirt quickly and efficiently,” Theis says.
The machine is also used with other Bobcat attachments. Pallet forks are handy for unloading and carrying equipment and supplies such as fencing material. A tiller breaks up any hard-packed ground to improve traction for the racers. To be prepared for wet working conditions, Theis keeps steel tracks on his loader.
“The loader has more than 1,200 hours on it and we’ve never had any problems with it,” Theis says. “It’s been a solid, dependable machine.”
The 25-year-old Theis, who also races motorcycles professionally in his off-season, has been around Bobcat equipment for much of his life. His father owned a Bobcat loader in his construction business. Theis is also a partner with Chad Sparks in C & L Outdoor Services, a landscaping company. C & L owns a Bobcat S185 loader with the Power Bob-Tach™ attachment mounting system and enclosed cab with heat and air conditioning.
Whether landscaping or building racetracks, Theis and his crews couldn’t work nearly as productively as they do without a skid-steer loader, especially one built by Bobcat Company. “I’ve never owned any other brand,” he says. “They’re the best.”