Best Choice Excavator Delivers Top Performance
Left to right: Butch, Dave, Al and Pete Harris.
Three years ago, when the owners of Harris Brothers Excavating purchased
their first compact excavator, they wanted to make sure they got the most machine for their money. They demoed a half dozen different brands, thoroughly checking them out.
The choice for this Charlotte, Mich., excavating company was a Bobcat® 334. Was it the right decision? “I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one,” says
Dave Harris. “It was the best choice. We’ve been very satisfied with the
machine.”
Dave and his brother Butch run the family business which their father started 43 years ago. Today the firm also includes Dave’s two sons, Al and Pete, and four employees. Using compact equipment as well as a tractorloader-backhoe, a dozer and a large excavator, they offer a wide range of excavating services.
In terms of power, performance and workmanship, reports Al, the 334 was a much better value than the other compact excavators they tried.
“It has the quickest cycle time—twice as fast as another brand with similar engine power,” he says. “We like the control pattern selector lever, too. Several of us operate the machine and we have different control preferences. The lever allows us to easily choose the one we like.”
The arm rests are another convenient feature. “Balancing your wrists on the arm rests gives you better control of the joystick than if your arm and hands are just floating in the air,” says Al.
Strong support from their dealer, Bobcat of Lansing, has further confirmed the Harris’ choice of the Bobcat unit. “When you buy a piece of equipment, you’re also buying service,” Dave notes. “We’ve received very reliable service from our dealer.”
The 334 excavator provides a digging depth of 11 ft., 2 in., and a reach of 16 ft., 11 in. That long reach saves time by minimizing the need to reposition when working. “We wanted the long reach for cleaning ditches and loading our 10-yard dump truck,” states Dave.
The compact size of the 7,568-lb. excavator is another big feature. “If I had to choose between that machine and our 44,000-lb. excavator, I’d keep our 334 because it’s so much easier to use on residential jobs,” says Dave.
The 334 also outworks a tractorloader-backhoe in close quarters, according to Dave. “If we’re digging a trench for a sewer line with our 334, we can start digging at the house, then swing right around to load a truck behind the excavator as we work our way to the street. Once the pipe is in, we can stay in the same tracks with the 334 to backfill the trench. It’s slicker than slick.”
The 334 is also a versatile worker. For trenching the company uses the excavator with 12-, 16- and 36-in. Bobcat trenching buckets. Other Bobcat attachments include an auger for drilling holes for posts and building poles; a hydraulic breaker for tearing out asphalt, concrete and breaking through frozen ground; and a hydraulic thumb for picking up logs and other objects. The maneuverability of the 334 allows it to work in yards without the risk of hitting shrubs or porches and the light-treading rubber tracks allow the machine to cross turf, drain fields and curbs with little, if any, damage to the surface, Dave says.
That’s proven good for business in more ways than one. “Eliminating yard repair work and the time for a lawn to grow back helps us get jobs,” he adds.
As Harris Brothers Excavating has found, the 334 excavator is the right choice for efficiently working where access is limited. “The amount of work we can do with that machine,” Dave says, “is incredible.”