Landscape Contractor Uses Attachments to Boost Profits
Marc DelliQuadri
DelliQuadri Lawn Maintenance and Landscaping Contractors, Girard, Ohio, had some compelling reasons to replace tractors with skid-steer loaders.
“The loaders are much more versatile and Bobcat® equipment speeds up work and increases profits,” says Marc DelliQuadri, who currently owns two Bobcat 873 loaders and occasionally rents a Bobcat 331 excavator.
The reliable, well-built loaders and excavator provide the muscle, while a variety of attachments provide the ability to quickly and effortlessly complete a wide range of jobs.
Rent, Then Buy
DelliQuadri purchased most of his Bobcat attachments after first renting them to evaluate their value. As his business and the need for these attachments has grown, he’s been able to justify buying the tools.
“After trying several other brands it was the high level of service provided by our dealer (Bobcat of Youngstown) that attracted us to Bobcat equipment,” he says. “We were also impressed by the wide variety of attachments they have available for rent. Some dealers might offer only one or two different rental attachments.”
DelliQuadri’s Bobcat attachments include a tooth bucket for excavating, a light material bucket, which saves a lot of time loading mulch into trucks, and a set of pallet forks. The forks make fast, easy work of handling pallets of sod or blocks. They also prove handy for other jobs such as lifting a straw blower onto a truck, carrying trees and stacking equipment on shelves to free up floor space around the shop.
His Bobcat industrial grapple saves time and labor carrying logs and piles of leaves and brush. DelliQuadri and his crew use a Bobcat landscape rake to prepare a seedbed faster and easier than with hand rakes and a rakeequipped tractor. The landscape rake scrapes the ground, rakes and collects rocks and clods and then dumps the debris where desired.
“Our new guys have no idea how hard it is to put in a lawn without a Bobcat loader and landscape rake,” he says. “It gives a nice, finished product and can save us four hours on a 10,000-sq.-ft. yard.”
Not only do DelliQuadri’s 8-ft.-wide Bobcat snow blade and loader work faster than a truckmounted blade in tight areas, they also eliminate the transmission problems trucks develop when used for snow removal work.
From time to time DelliQuadri rents other Bobcat attachments. One is the hydraulic breaker to break up driveways. Another is the vibratory roller for compacting areas when installing parking lots and driveways. An auger drills holes for fence posts and trees much faster and easier than doing it by hand with shovels, while a Bobcat angle broom saves time and labor cleaning up around work sites and parking lots.
Over-the-tire steel tracks add to the efficiency and money-making opportunities of his loaders.
“The tracks increase traction on slopes and when we clear land,” he says. “Also, the extra flotation lets us keep working when soft ground or mud might otherwise stop us or, at least, slow us down. These tracks are one more way we increase the versatility of our Bobcat loaders.”