Once Solely Known for Recreation, Attachments Turn Utility Vehicles Into Work Machines
2300 with mower attachment
A trend has been taking shape in the utility vehicle market over the last five to 10 years. The machines have slowly transformed from being strictly recreational vehicles for transporting people and supplies to also becoming work machines. With the help of invaluable attachments, such as mowers, snow blades, buckets, brooms and sprayers, utility vehicles are being used more often for work rather than recreation.
Utility vehicles have long been popular pieces of equipment for people in construction, buildings and grounds, landscaping and personal property maintenance markets. In the past, utility vehicle owners in these markets used winches and front or rear receiver hitches to operate attachments on the machines. Luckily, manufacturers have taken notice of customers' desire to do more with their utility vehicles. So today, they are producing utility vehicles that take attachments to the next level.
Attachment Basics
The good news is that if you already own a utility vehicle, it's not hard to transform it into your jobsite's new workhorse. There are several winch accessory and front or rear receiver hitch kits available on the market for utility vehicles. These kits make it relatively easy for owners to connect push-, pull- and lift-type attachments.
Of all the attachments available for utility vehicles (the exact number varies by manufacturer), snow blade and mower attachments are the most popular among owners, says Mike Amerman, attachment product representative for Bobcat Company. Both the snow blade and mower cross several markets. For example, construction companies might utilize the mower attachment in the spring to keep grass on jobsites under control or to clear snow around work areas in the winter. For those in the buildings and grounds market, a snow blade and mower are considered necessities. Many municipalities and universities use their utility vehicles with the snow blade and mower attachments to supplement larger equipment. While a grounds maintenance employee clears large parking lots with a skid-steer loader and snowblower attachment, another worker might use the utility vehicle with a snow blade attachment to plow snow from sidewalks.
A utility vehicle attachment that's often overlooked by operators is the sprayer attachment, notes Amerman. Bobcat® utility vehicle owners can choose a 50-gallon sprayer attachment, which fits in the machine’s cargo box and has a 10-foot spring-loaded boom with 30 psi of spraying pressure. The sprayer attachment provides the best of both worlds because it comes with a spray wand for quickly tackling small jobs that require spot spraying. For large area coverage, all the operator must do is attach the tank and boom and turn on the attachment.
Though these attachments make utility vehicles extremely versatile, they have their limitations, Amerman says. When it comes to push-, pull- and lift-type attachments, their strength is restrictive. Amerman says utility vehicle operators shouldn’t expect to lift several thousand pounds of dirt, rocks or other material with a winch-mounted bucket attachment. Instead, he says, utility vehicle attachments should be used to perform light-duty tasks.
Making Them Stronger
Knowing that contractors are always wanting to push their machines to do more, some manufacturers have begun to step up to the challenge.
A recently introduced utility vehicle by Bobcat features the one-of-a-kind RapidLink™ attachment system that can lift loads up to 500 pounds as high as 2 feet. The attachment system, which comes with the Bobcat 2300 utility vehicle, enables operators to perform a wider range of tasks, Amerman says. The unique RapidLink attachment arm operates five specially designed attachments, including a bucket, mower, pallet fork, snow blade and push broom. With these attachments, utility vehicle owners can mow, sweep and move a greater amount of material faster. For example, Amerman says those in sports field management and outdoor recreational markets use the push broom to groom baseball infields and beachfronts by dragging the attachment across the areas while traveling in reverse.
The RapidLink attachment system is not available separately. Amerman says it's only available on the Bobcat 2300 utility vehicle, which costs about $15,000. The five available utility vehicle attachments range in cost from about $370 to $2,250.
So how do you know if utility vehicle attachments are right for you? And if they are, how do you decide which attachments to purchase? Well first, Amerman suggests that operators determine whether they use their utility vehicle more for work rather than recreation. For example, if a bridge contractor mainly uses his utility vehicle for transporting workers and tools, then he might benefit from purchasing a push broom attachment to aid in cleanup. As with any equipment purchase, the efficiency or productivity that the attachment provides should outweigh its cost.
For many operators who place an attachment on their utility vehicle for the first time, safety becomes an even greater concern. Amerman advises utility vehicle owners to always be aware of what's around them when driving or operating the machine with an attachment. And as always, they should wear their seat belts and familiarize themselves with the vehicle and attachment's owner's manuals.
In the coming years, Amerman says people shouldn't be surprised if they see more attachment options for utility vehicles. As customers demand more power and versatility of what was once known as "recreational" vehicles, manufacturers will answer the call. They may never take the place of a compact utility loader or skid-steer loader, but gone are the days when they were only expected to transport people and things.