Mini Track Loader Cuts Labor & Equipment Costs for Landscaper

“It’s a small machine with a ton of uses and makes every job—from picking up construction site trash to digging trenches—so much easier. It has more than enough power for our needs and fits us perfectly.”

That’s how Dan Sanger, who owns Atlantis Enterprises, Windsor, Colo., describes the benefits of the latest addition to his crew—a Bobcat® MT50 mini track loader. The rugged, versatile machine saves time and work doing landscaping and irrigation installation projects on residential and smaller commercial sites.

Sanger bought his MT50 from Colorado Machinery to eliminate the time and bother of renting equipment, such as a dedicated trencher, and to cut his seasonal labor costs. “It has certainly done that,” he says. “We’re not wasting time transporting equipment back and forth between the rental store and we can do more work with fewer employees.”

In shopping for a small loader, several of the MT50’s features appealed to Sanger:

• A 18.8 hp diesel engine which offers more power than the gasoline engines on similar-size wheel loaders.
• Adedicated track system for working on lawns and in wet and muddy conditions with minimal ground disturbance compared to a wheel machine.
• A substantially lower price than other brands.
• A Bobcat dealer, located much closer than the dealer of another brand he considered, to service and support the MT50.
• A number of compatible attachments. Sanger owns a Bobcat bucket, auger, pallet forks and trencher. He rents a tiller.

With a 500-lb. rated operating capacity, the MT50 proved its value during a one-day demonstration. An operator used it with an auger and 30-in. bit to dig holes for 20 trees, then switched to a set of pallet forks to unload and transport 8-ft.-tall balled-and-burlapped trees to the jobsite.

“It would have taken three or four guys using hand shovels and carts at least a full day to complete that job,” Sanger says.

“The beauty of the machine is its ability to fit through gates and work in tight areas,” he adds. “We’ve used it to transplant trees in between buildings and sidewalks where there was no room for a skid-steer loader.”

His MT50 isn’t afraid of work, either. On one 4,000-sq.-ft. front yard project, the MT50, equipped with a bucket, excavated the existing turf. Then, using the trencher attachment, it dug more than 1,000 ft. of trench for irrigation main lines and laterals. Later, the MT50 hauled in and spread compost with a bucket and then tilled it in using the tiller attachment.

“The MT50 worked really well on that job,” Sanger says.

Cost-effectiveness is another strong feature of the mini track loader. When Sanger was renting equipment, he had to keep it working almost continually to justify the cost. “With the MT50 we can afford to take it to a jobsite, even if we don’t use it the entire time,” Sanger says. “It’s a lot nicer that way.”

He and his crew also like the ease of servicing, operating and transporting the machine. They haul the MT50 and all its attachments on a trailer behind a pickup truck.

“All in all,” says Sanger, “we’re very impressed with our MT50.”