All-Wheel Steer Loaders: Practical Alternative for Bridge Contractor

A300 with angle broom attachment

With 55 years of experience in the business, the people at Harper Structures, Inc., Archbold, Ohio, know bridges—how to build them, how to repair them and how to do it cost-effectively. That means, among other things, not turning big loaders and loader backhoes into expensive wheelbarrows and forklifts.

For the past couple of years, Harper Structures, one of northwestern Ohio’s premier bridge construction firms, has been eliminating the use of bigger equipment for cleanup, moving materials and other routine jobs. The original plan was for the company to switch over to skid-steer loaders. Then they discovered a machine with features that make it even more practical for this type of work.

“Once we saw how well the Bobcat® A300 all-wheel steer (AWS) loader performed in this application, we were sold,” says Mel Williams, project manager. So sold that the company purchased three of the units from Bobcat of Toledo.

Eight Harper Structures crews share the machines, which are equipped with buckets, sweepers, pallet forks and hydraulic breakers.

“This equipment is so cost-effective that we can leave it at a jobsite without it being a financial burden,” says Williams. “As a result, it is available whenever needed and, because it is so versatile, it is used often.”

By being stationed at a bridge project, the A300 is kept plenty busy. Whenever a truck arrives, it is used with the pallet fork attachment to unload materials. Barrier walls need to be picked up and moved regularly. That’s an easy job for the A300. Keeping the jobsite neat and clean is just a matter of hooking up the Bobcat sweeper attachment. Need to take out some old concrete? The A300 and hydraulic breaker can do it quickly and efficiently.

Nothing is worse, in Williams’ mind, than coming up on a new white bridge deck and seeing black marks all over it where equipment has been twisting and turning.

“The A300 took care of that problem,” he says. “By operating the loader in the all-wheel steer mode there is no surface damage. That saves us money because we have far less repair work. Plus, the tire wear is so much better than with other equipment.”

As a result of the success of the A300s, Harper Structures eliminated some of the bigger, more expensive machines. “The Bobcat all-wheel steer loader can do all the same work,” says Williams, “and a whole lot more for much less money.”