Track Loaders Simplify Landscaping Work
Doug Prcin
With more than 100 employees, including 11 landscape and erosion control crews, Doug Prcin, president of Texas Environmental Management, Inc., Justin, Tex., likes to avoid complications. “Our whole operation is based around simplicity,” he explains. That’s why he and his crews rely on a fleet of 11 Bobcat® compact track loaders for almost all of their construction needs. The work includes commercial and residential developments and highway projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
At one time, the company operated a variety of equipment, including farm tractors, rough terrain forklifts, skid-steer loaders, a small track loader and bulldozer. Getting the right piece of equipment to the right job at the right time became a logistical nightmare. Downtime caused by flat tires was another big headache.
In the mid-1990s, the company began transitioning to rubber-track compact loaders to simplify transportation and maintenance needs, while minimizing disruption on soft ground and other sensitive surfaces. After disappointing results with the performance and reliability of one brand of compact track loader, Prcin tried a Bobcat 864 (now the model T200). Today the company owns ten T200s plus a T300 compact track loader—one loader for each crew, along with a specially-designed dovetail, flatbed truck to haul it and several attachments.
“Depending on the attachments we send out with the loader, a crew could lay sod one day, install silt fence the next, seed grass the day after that, followed by installing a chain link fence or planting trees,” Prcin says. “We can do all that without changing the loader or the truck unit. What’s more, we can transport all the equipment using trucks that don’t require a commercial driver’s license and we avoid the higher costs of bigger trucks. It’s a very convenient way for us to move our equipment around town, whether we’re doing a 2-acre job or a 20-acre project.”
Combining strong tractive effort and pushing ability along with superior flotation and a 2,000-lb. rated operating capacity, the sturdy 73 hp turbo-charged T200s have proven to be a good choice for the company. “Because of the size of our jobs, we need a lot of power,” says Prcin. “The more powerful T300 (81 hp, 3,000-lb. rated operating capacity) is an even better machine for our operation.”
His crews use the compact track loaders for jobs ranging from handling pallets or big rolls of sod and spreading 3,000 cu. yd. of topsoil on a job to grading 10- and 15-acre sites.
The machines are good for business in other ways, too, Prcin notes. Their reliable operation and durability helps crews maximize productivity. The quality built into each machine also pays dividends. “Because of the attractive financing programs available from our Bobcat dealers (Bobcat of Fort Worth and Bobcat of Denton) and the high resale value of the machines, we can afford to update with new Bobcat equipment on a regular basis,” he says. “Our crews are proud of the machines and enjoy operating them. That helps us keep good employees.”
Prcin also credits his Bobcat dealers for the company’s success in moving to a single type of construction equipment. “The service we’ve received has been incredible,” he says. “Over the years I’ve worked with a number of equipment dealers, but none has been able to keep us going like our Bobcat dealers.”
With support like that and the versatility, productivity and efficiency of Bobcat equipment, Texas Environmental Management is in an excellent position to continue leading the way in providing first-rate service to its growing list of customers.