Loaders, Attachments Handle Variety of Work
D.K. Potter
Contractor D.K. Potter operates his demolition, excavation and container services company around this premise: “We do business to do business again.”
What that means to the owner of Potter, Inc. Construction Co., Waxahachie, Tex., is delivering such outstanding work that his customers keep calling him back to do more. “Service is what makes us successful,” he says. “If we tell the builder we are going to be on the jobsite at 7:30, I expect our crew to be there at 7:15. Being reliable is the key to our company, and part of our reliability is Bobcat® equipment.”
Potter owns eight Bobcat loaders—a T300, three S220s, S185 and three 773s, purchased from Bobcat of Dallas, along with several attachments, including an auger, two 84-in. angle brooms, two 72-in. sweepers and six grapple buckets.
“When I started this business six years ago I asked others in the industry
what equipment to purchase,” says Potter. “I found out that Bobcat Company has built loaders longer than anyone else, and were the choice of most people I talked with. You pay for what you get and when you buy Bobcat equipment you get a lot for your money. Other loaders cannot do what Bobcat machines can do.”
Potter and his 30 employees use the Bobcat equipment every day in all facets of his business:
Demolition.
Potter works for three municipalities to take down condemned houses (3,000 sq. ft. or less). “Working in tight spaces, the T300 with grapple bucket is the ideal demo machine,” he says. “It’s small enough to fit, but has plenty of power to do the job.”
The company also does apartment building demolition. “We take them right down to the ground and get the property ready for a new building,” says Potter.
His firm also removes golf course paths. “The T300 with a grapple bucket is perfect for this type of project,” says Potter. “In fact, we got a major golf course job because we had a compact track loader.”
Jobsite cleanup.
Working for 15 of the largest builders in the Dallas area, the company does cleanup work in 70 subdivisions containing more than 3,000 houses.
“We visit the sites five times during construction,” says Potter. “For
frame, brick and Sheetrock cleanup we use our compact track loader and
for our two final cleans we use a skid-steer loader. The Bobcat angle
broom and sweeper attachments do a great job.”
The T300 has turned out to be an excellent cleanup machine. Potter says his area “has a three to four month rainy season, which used to shut us down because it’s difficult to pick up debris in muddy yards. Now the T300 keeps us working 12 months a year.”
Erosion control and sweeping.
In another 42 subdivisions (4,200 houses), Potter Construction handles weekly maintenance chores. “We do erosion control by building and maintaining a silt fence perimeter so soil doesn’t run off into the street or other property,” says Potter. “At the same time we clean the streets with
our S220 (enclosed cab) with either the sweeper or angle broom.”
Excavation. In addition to tearing down and cleaning up existing structures, Potter also provides excavation services. When the demolition debris is removed, then the company, using one of its Bobcat loaders and a bucket, prepares the ground for new construction. “Once we are on the site, it’s much easier for the owner to hire us to excavate, grade and build the pad for the new building,” says Potter. “The versatility of this equipment allows us to do more work at many of our jobsites.”
Potter started as a home builder, but when he saw how much money the cleanup company was charging, he decided to move into that business.
He purchased a Bobcat loader and grapple bucket and began doing cleanup obs. “I was amazed at how much work I could do with just one loader and an attachment. As I saw opportunities for different types of work, I kept adding Bobcat loaders and attachments.
“I found out all the work a Bobcat loader can do,” continues Potter. “Of course, there are some weight limitations, but our loaders can do just about any job we encounter. It’s really special equipment.”