Two Men and a Loader

Michael Melchiono and Roland Dube

At the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, maintaining the grounds of the 55-acre campus is a big job and it's done by a two-person crew. In the past year it's become much easier with the arrival of an A300 all-wheel steer loader.

"Our new Bobcat® loader has allowed us to accomplish more work in less time, and do it more safely," says Roland Dube, grounds foreman of the 900-student college located in Buzzards Bay, Mass. "It is a fantastic machine."

Dube and Michael Melchiono maintain the grounds from the gate to the ship (the four-year school is one of five U.S. maritime colleges), doing jobs from planting trees to moving summer camp equipment.

"We previously used an old tractor," says Dube. "It was far from being the ideal equipment. The work was difficult and time-consuming. And if you ran into something, the cab had a tendency to fall off. Believe me, the A300 makes a world of difference."

The A300 makes "a world of difference" at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Once he got the approval to replace the old tractor, Dube looked at different options. During the evaluation process he discovered that Bobcat of Cape Cod, his local dealer, had an all-wheel steer unit.

"We tried it for five minutes and decided this was the perfect machine for our needs," says Dube.

The A300 and backhoe attachment are used for digging trenches, removing stumps and digging holes for trees. The pallet fork attachment is constantly moving supplies and equipment around the campus.

"Previously the people delivering materials either had to drive across our fields, resulting in ruts, or unloaded on the street and we had to move everything ourselves," says Dube. "With the A300 we can pick up pallet loads and take them anywhere without damaging the grass. We no longer spend our time repairing ruts."

They do, however, spend time battling very windy conditions due to the waterfront location of the college.

"In the winter we can clean the sidewalks and one hour later they will be completely drifted over," says Dube. "Compared to our experience with tractors, the A300 allows us to remove snow in a more comfortable environment, and do it faster and more efficiently. Actually, 'fast and efficient' describes what the loader does the year around."