All-Wheel Steer Loader: More Work in Less Time

David Garner

A Bobcat® all-wheel steer loader is allowing the groundskeeping staff at an Ann Arbor, Mich., hospital to do more work in less time while getting the most out of the equipment budget.

Maintaining the 341-acre campus at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital is a big job for David Garner, lead grounds-keeper, and his crew of four. They have to quickly clear snow from a mile of roadway, 13 miles of sidewalks and 10,000 parking spots. The rest of the year they're busy with a wide variety of jobs, including repairing turf damaged by large snow removal and construction equipment to landscaping and material handling work.

The Bobcat A300 loader, purchased from Diuble Equipment, is used with the 100-in. snow bucket and 8-ft. snow blade to speed snow removal from handicap parking spots and other tight spaces.

After the snow season ends they equip the loader with a Bobcat backhoe attachment and a 15-in. bucket. That allows them to save a lot of time digging up irrigation lines in limited access areas and repairing winter frost damage without tearing up existing turf.

Garner's crew also uses the A300 for rough grading the ground before doing the fine work. They also help other departments by using it with a set of Bobcat pallet forks to unload materials.

The Bob-Tach™ attachment mounting system enables operators to mount and unhook attachments quickly. That, Garner says, allows his crew to install or remove the backhoe attachment in just two minutes. By contrast, his operators used to spend as much as four hours mounting a backhoe attachment on previous equipment.

"Our other machines would sit all summer because they were too heavy or too big for a project," Garner says. "The A300 is used all the time."

Bobcat A300 Loader

Simply push a switch and you can use the new K-Series A300 as an all-wheel steer loader to turn smoothly, saving wear and tear on turf and tires, or as a skid-steer loader to maneuver quickly and easily in tight areas. Its many features include a vertical lift path for easy truck loading and standard joystick controls for smooth, low-effort, all-hand control operation and exclusive Speed Management for full hydraulic attachment performance at slow speeds.

3,000-lb. (1361-kg) rated operating capacity
Vertical lift path
10-ft., 9-in. (3.3-m) lift height
20.7 GPM auxiliary hydraulic flow
37 GPM high-flow option
81 hp (60.4 kW) turbo diesel engine
8,673-lb. (3810-kg) operating weight