Unleashed contest winners announced
Sixteen individuals recognized for their extraordinary entries and inspiring stories
Gregory Stone
After reviewing thousands of entries in the How Bobcat Unleashed Me contest, Bobcat Company selected Rock Stream, N.Y., resident Gregory Stone as the grand-prize winner. Stone has received a $75,000 Bobcat gift certificate, which he redeemed for an S205 and attachment package.
Stone wasn’t always the compact equipment enthusiast he is today. In fact, for more than 18 years, he owned and operated a custom cabinet and millwork company that he started from scratch. He took a business that began in his garage and expanded it to build high-end retail fixtures, exotic furnishings and various fittings for vineyards in the area.
“I worked with many vineyards around Finger Lakes, N.Y., manufacturing wine-tasting bars, and I rehabbed two wineries,” he says.
But the carpentry work that Stone did day in and day out wasn’t his true passion. He wanted to own a piece of excavating equipment to serve a market that he felt was untapped in the area. A friend finally persuaded Stone to meet with Jim LaPlante at Bobcat of the Twin Tiers.
“Jim was very good about explaining the opportunities of a Bobcat skid-steer loader, and the potential of different revenue streams and services I could perform with attachments,” Stone says. Stone bought a used Bobcat 763 skid-steer loader and backhoe attachment upon LaPlante’s recommendation, and began Excavation Details.
Bobcat equipment solves drainage problems
Today about 50 percent of Stone’s business comes from vineyard owners who hire him and his Bobcat equipment for drainage installations or repairs.
“There are miles and miles of drainage systems underneath the vineyards, representing 150 years of different methods and materials,” Stone says. “Repairing a broken drainage line used to be a pick and shovel proposition for the grower.” Stone replaced shovels and hand-digging with his 763 and backhoe attachment.
“When the vines are mature, you have about 6 to 7 feet of room between the rows,” he says. That’s just enough room for him to dig new drainage lines with various buckets on his backhoe attachment. Stone’s method of repairing lines has brought much happiness to vineyard owners, who for years searched for a new method to improve the drainage without damaging the vines.
Pictured left to right: Bobcat sales specialist Jim LaPlante, Gregory Stone, Kelly Stone (wife) and Bobcat District Manager Jim Lundgren.
Compact equipment drives opportunities
Outside of his vineyard business, Stone works with homeowners and new home builders in Elmira, N.Y., to perform numerous tasks for them, including excavating, grading, landscaping and utility installations — all with his Bobcat loader and attachments, of course. Most new lots are one-third of an acre or smaller according to Stone, which translates to big business for his compact loader. “Compact equipment is the answer for the housing market in this area,” he says. “I keep winning builders over, one at a time, with specialized services.”
Although Stone hasn’t purchased additional loaders as his business increased, he has grown his sales through buying or renting attachments.
“I consider each attachment to be a revenue stream,” he says. “Because I live in a rural area, I don’t have the opportunity to be 100 percent specialized. I meet customers with unique needs, and with an attachment rental, I can solve their particular challenges.”
Winnings will create good foundation
Stone purchased a new Bobcat S205 skid-steer loader with a portion of his winnings. The remainder went toward a new backhoe attachment with new buckets, a pallet fork, an auger and a trencher.
Stone says the winnings will provide a good foundation for him.
“I feel that I have been truly blessed by my Bobcat experience,” he says. “How many opportunities does a person get in a lifetime to start a truly needed service and have it turn out well?”
From Stone’s entry:
“My machine had belonged to a landscaping company in Syracuse that used it to load road salt in the winter. It had blistered paint and some black and blues from the cowboys that piloted her over the years. The backhoe attachment was a late-model and in great shape; the whole deal was love at first sight. It just looked like freedom and a new adventure parked there in the vineyard on that first morning. We have had a lot of fun together ever since.
“I’m one of the few lucky dogs in the world. I’ve gone from hopelessness and despair to having a job that is so much fun I’m amazed when people give me money — and good money at that. ‘Be Your Own Boss’ — Find an opportunity not being served, get a Bobcat machine, and unleash yourself. Have I been unleashed? You betcha — in ways that I can never truly explain to another human being. Thank you, Bobcat.”
Read Gregory Stone’s full entry at www.bobcat.com/grandprize and watch him drive off with his prize.
Unleashed contest second-place Winners
Five second-place prize winners were selected, and each has received a $1,000 gift certificate, good for Bobcat products or attachments at designated Bobcat dealerships. The five second-place winners include the following individuals.
Michael Lowes
1. Michael Lowes; Lowes’ Landscaping Cuba, Mo.
Lowes learned the ins and outs of Bobcat compact equipment when he served in the U.S. military in Iraq. He spent hours in the machines and learned just how versatile they can be. When Lowes came home from his tour of duty, he resumed working with his family’s landscaping company. The family recently added a T250 compact track loader to help build retaining walls and complete finish-grading tasks.
From Michael’s entry: “In a small family business, owner loyalty means a lot. My sons show great interest in the Bobcat machine. The future of Lowes’ Landscaping will grow along with a Bobcat machine. The Bobcat skid-steer loader has continued to unleash me. Over and over, it has proven its worth.”
2. Eric Austin; Austin’s Landscape Construction Inc.; Yorba Linda, Calif.
Eric Austin
In 1998, Austin got a taste of compact equipment when he rented a skid-steer loader to help his girlfriend with a landscaping project. That experience stuck with him and eventually Austin left his paralegal desk job to become a landscape contractor in Southern California. Today he owns a Bobcat 320 compact excavator, a 453 skid-steer loader and numerous attachments.
From Eric’s entry: “I truly do love Bobcat machines. When I drive past my local Bobcat dealer, I feel like a little kid in a candy store. I’ll say, ‘Look at that. Man, what I could do if I had that Bobcat machine’ ... I am the real deal, the customer that Bobcat machines were created for. They are the best, and I won’t own anything else. I don’t care to even think about owning anything else.”
3. Terry Reed; Four Seasons Construction Whitehall, Mont.
Terry Reed
Reed left behind a grueling job at a gold mine in Montana to pursue a career as a compact equipment owner-operator. He took the experience he gained operating a Bobcat 863 skid-steer loader at the mine and applied that knowledge to a new business endeavor — a 773 loader operator. What started as a part-time job turned into full-time employment and a rewarding new career for Reed.
From Terry’s entry: “I drove to our closest Bobcat dealer, Kamp Implement in Belgrade, Mont., and purchased a new 2002 Bobcat 773. The finance rate through Bobcat was extremely good and my payments were very affordable. I drove off the lot that day a new man with a new plan. The spark of a dream was ignited: I would start my own little side business and stop working all the long, unappreciated overtime hours I had been working for the past six years. I had high hopes that I would be able to take some time off to watch my kids play in a ball game or two. I was excited!”
4. Bob Pedatella; Kodiak Landscape Design Haskell, N.J.
Bob Pedatella
For nearly 14 years, Pedatella has been operating his successful landscaping company, Kodiak Landscape Design, with yearround applications for his Bobcat equipment. In the spring, summer and fall, Pedatella uses his Bobcat equipment for loading, grading, installing topsoil, cleaning up, installing trees and carrying materials, just to name a few tasks. Once winter arrives, Pedatella puts his Bobcat compact loaders and attachments to use, plowing snow.
From Bob’s entry: “As my company grew, so did my Bobcat purchases. The greatest benefit of owning a Bobcat machine is that it is a year-round machine. In winter, I use it to plow snow for the community as well as commercially. Not only does it move the snow, but it can clean curb-to-curb. It maneuvers in spaces that will not allow a truck to pass, such as driveways and sidewalks. I use it to log tree farms so as not to disturb private woods. In the spring, summer and fall, I use it to load leaves, grade and install topsoil on baseball fields, follow milling machines for cleanup, install trees and haul materials. The capabilities are endless.”
5. Ray Benoit Jr.; Eagle 88 Enterprises Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada
Ray Benoit Jr.
Ray Benoit Jr. and his family operate Eagle 88 Enterprises in some of the most extreme weather conditions in the Northwest Territories in Canada, where winter temperatures can reach minus 40 degrees F. The family operates several Bobcat compact loaders and attachments to complete land-clearing tasks, such as road construction for the new Mackenzie Valley pipeline. The family’s motto — “No Time for Down Time” — shows just how much they depend on reliable Bobcat compact machines and attachments for continued success.
From Ray’s entry: “Our fleet of Bobcat machines has really unleashed the potential of our small family-run enterprise, where cost management is vital. Being this far north, parts are a minimum of 48 hours away by truck. We rely on these great units to work day in and day out and make us stand above the rest. We use the power of our Bobcat machines to clear the lines for power companies on icy winter roads and keep the lights on in remote northern communities.”
Read their full entries online at www.bobcat.com/contest.
Third-place winners
Ten third-place prize winners each have received an authentic Bobcat jacket. The ten third-place winners are:
- Robert Ott; C&C Excavating LLC; La Crescent, Minn.
- Joe Emigh; Utica, Pa.
- Otto Trebing; Tanglewood-Destiny; Roopville, Ga.
- Dennis Goecke II; Tipp City, Ohio
- Josh Ginther; Ginther Farms; Abingdon, Ill.
- Jethro Montgomery; Turf Concepts LLC; Elida, Ohio
- Marvyn Pickering; Porcupine Plain; Saskatchewan, Canada
- Devin Scheel; Firm CRS; Draper, Utah
- Marion Perret; Trans-Speed International; Jefferson, La.
- Richard Meffert; Raeford, N.C.