Attachments Keep Landscaper Working

Tim Barnard

Bobcat® attachments are essential to the success of landscape contractor Tim Barnard (photo below), owner of Barnard’s Landscape Co., Inc., Marietta, Ga.

Auger. Barnard’s crew uses 24- and 36-in. augers to dig holes for planting trees. In two minutes, one operator can drill a hole that would take a halfhour to dig by hand.

Brushcat® rotary cutter. To make subdivision property more attractive to prospective buyers, Barnard uses this rugged attachment to spruce up areas as large as 10 acres. Compared to a sickle mower, which Barnard used to rent, the Brushcat attachment can reduce a two-day job to about 6 hours or less. “It also enables us to take on work we couldn’t do before,” he says.

Tooth buckets. His crews use sturdy 66- and 72-in. buckets to save time in a variety of excavating, hauling and loading work.

Industrial grapple bucket. Built for tough duty, this tool makes quick, easy work of moving debris, such as logs, tree limbs and Sheetrock. This attachment can finish a two-hour job in five minutes because it eliminates the need to hand-wrestle the material.

Landscape rake. This multi-purpose work-saver takes the place of three laborers with hand rakes pushing material, cutting and filling landscapes, and removing clods and rocks, Barnard says. He figures it saves a crew an entire day compared to finishing an average yard by hand.

Pallet forks. This attachment takes the time and work out of carrying sod or moving pallets of bricks and blocks left around by other contractors.