Dependable Compact Track Loaders Work All Year in Nursery and Landscaping Business

John Barker says it is amazing what Bobcat compact track loaders can do.

Ever since Greenthumb Nursery and Landscaping, Waterloo, Ill., opened for business nearly 15 years ago, it has owned and operated only one brand of compact equipment.

"We've had Bobcat® equipment from day one," says John Barker. "It keeps running and my dealer provides good service. That's what it's all about. No matter what type of equipment I buy, if it works for me, I don't change. If our machines were ever down for a week, we'd be devastated."

Barker manages the business. His son, also named John, is the third generation of his family to work the land where the nursery is located-a farm which was homesteaded in the 1900s. The business includes retail and wholesale nursery operations and a residential and commercial landscape construction service.

Saving work

The Barkers have Bobcat T200 and T250 compact track loaders and a wide range of attachments. One loader usually works around the nursery while the other tackles the landscaping projects.

Barker lists some of the ways the machines use attachments to save time and labor: a smooth-edge bucket for loading mulch at the nursery; a dozer blade for grading; a tooth bucket for loading topsoil, backfilling with rock and final grading work; a backhoe for digging retaining wall bases; pallet forks for carrying concrete blocks and a tiller for preparing seedbeds. The loaders are also used with other attachments for laying larger rolls of sod, clearing snow for customers and digging about 600 or so nursery trees each season. "My son, who does almost all the tree digging, can remove a tree every six minutes," Barker says.

In addition to enjoying the year-round comfort of the enclosed, heated and air conditioned cabs, Barker likes the convenience of the hydraulic Power BobTach™ system. "Since we may change attachments 25 times a day, that feature is really nice," he says.

Saving turf

Barker is sold on the flotation advantages of his compact rubber track loaders. As he points out, the ability of the T200 and T250 to keep going in wet conditions or soft soils extends the work season. The rubber tracks also minimize damage to turf.

"It's amazing what our track machines can do," he says. "They don't tear up the ground. When we used skid-steer loaders to dig up trees in the spring, we'd have to spend a lot of time repairing tire ruts in the grass between the rows of trees. I really like the tracks when laying sod, too. And we no longer have any flat tires."

Saving time and money

"We use our Bobcat loaders seven days a week, 365 days a year, often from daylight to dark," Barker says. "We don't have any problems with them. They get used, but they're not abused, and we service them properly."

Smart operation also reflects the care this father-son team gives their equipment. For example, they don't spin the loaders around in circles on blacktop. "We've got 2,000 hours of operation on one set of original tracks and they still have about half their life left," Barker says.

Their dealer, Bobcat of St. Louis in Fairview Heights, Ill., also plays a role in keeping the Barkers up and running. "When one of our loaders broke down a while back, our dealer brought us another track machine to use while ours was being repaired," Barker says. "We didn't lose more than two hours of work. I was impressed."

He's done some comparison and ranks Bobcat loaders better than other brands in terms of hydraulic power, protection of critical components, ease of cab entry and exit and visibility from the cab.

"Over the years, I've tested a bunch of different compact loaders, but I've stayed with Bobcat," Barker says. "They've always been excellent for us."