Five Loaders Ease Workload for Landscape Materials Supplier
Herman Roerick depends on five skid-steer loaders to make work easier around his large wholesale nursery.
The versatility, efficiency and dependability of Bobcat® skidsteer loaders have been paying dividends for Central Landscape Supply, St. Cloud, Minn., ever since the company was formed in 1991.
“We didn’t consider any other brand of skid-steer loader when we started the business,” says Herman Roerick, president of the wholesale firm which grows trees and distributes them and other landscape materials to customers throughout the U.S. “They’re a good all-around machine for us. They’re very maneuverable and easy to transport and we just don’t have downtime with them. We’ve stayed with Bobcat because we’ve had good luck with the machine and because our dealer (Arnold’s Equipment) has provided very good service.”
Central Landscape Supply buys a new Bobcat skid-steer loader every year or two to replace an older model. In the spring, when the workload peaks, the company also rents several additional Bobcat skid-steer loaders to help out.
The current fleet includes a 773, 7753, two 763s and an 873. The 773 is used in the wholesale yard where the vertical lift path comes in handy for loading and unloading materials. The vertical lift path makes the job easier. So does the Power Bob-Tach™, which makes changing attachments a snap.
Equipped with various attachments, the loaders save time and labor in the 75-acre nursery, which grows about 35,000 trees annually, and the wholesale yard, which stocks about 5,000 different products.
In the field, the machines are used with a Bobcat tiller attachment to control weeds and an auger to dig holes for planting trees. “The digger attachment is a huge labor saver,” Roerick notes. “We can dig a hole as deep as 3 ft. by 3-4 ft.-wide in just a few minutes. We also use it in our holding area to carry balled and burlapped trees and to heel them into sand.”
In the wholesale yard, the loaders place bulk topsoil, rock and wood mulch into customer trucks. Pallet forks make quick, easy work of unloading packages of peat moss, shipments of retaining wall blocks, as well as other materials.
“Unlike our forklifts, our loaders can operate on soft, paved or rough surfaces,” Roerick says.
Two of the loaders are equipped with rubber tracks year-round for working in sandy soils in the wholesale yard without sinking and for working on lawns without tearing up turf.
The value of the multi-purpose machines extends to the winter when they are used to clear snow from the road and parking areas. In addition to reducing labor costs, the skid-steer loaders also help enhance the business revenue picture—the machines and attachments are rented out to local landscape contractors.
As Central Landscape Supply’s experience illustrates, Bobcat skidsteer loaders are a smart choice for working productively and profitably in the landscape industry.