Homebuilder Takes Command with S300 Skid-Steer Loader

Steven LeVesseur uses the Bobcat trencher attachment to provide utility services to the houses he builds.

When custom homebuilder Steven LeVesseur is operating his S300 skid-steer
loader he enjoys full control—not only of the largest skid steer model in the Bobcat® line, but also of his work schedule.

Aided by the speed, power and versatility of this impressive machine, he calls the shots—from lifting and carrying construction materials to digging trenches.

As owner of Steven LeVesseur Construction, Forest Lake, Minn., he finds plenty of ways to save time and labor with his S300, purchased from Tri State Bobcat, Lino Lakes, Minn.

“It’s just so very convenient,” he says. “The small jobs get done instantly. If I need to move a pile of dirt or spread topsoil, I hop in the
machine and in a few minutes I’m done. It’s the same with cutting out a
driveway. I can do it myself without having to wait for an excavating contractor. It’s the handiest tool I own.”

His five Bobcat attachments allow him to make the most of his S300’s capabilities. He uses the bucket for grading lawns and excavating culverts.
With its vertical lift path, long reach and 10.5-ft. lift height, loading
tall dump trucks is a snap.

Steven LeVesseur

The S300’s 81 hp, turbo-charged diesel engine and 3,000-lb. rated operating capacity also make easy work of carrying loads of concrete blocks with the pallet fork attachment. “The machine carries those blocks around like nobody’s business,” LeVesseur says. “If the excavating contractor can’t get here, it easily carries a bucket of wet sand for backfilling foundations.”

An auger attachment quickly drills holes for deck piers, and in winter the snow bucket offers a speedy way to clear the driveway and other areas around his shop.

It was after the local power company quit digging trenches for electrical
service from the street to the meter box on a house that LeVesseur bought
the Bobcat trencher. “It will even cut through frozen ground,” he says. “It
takes a little longer, but we have the extra time in the winter. Also, I don’t have to pay a trenching contractor the extra frost charge. That, in itself, represents quite a money savings.”

As LeVesseur will tell you, his S300 has proven an indispensable tool for his business by adding to his efficiency, productivity and—perhaps most importantly—independence from others.

“As a homebuilder,” he says, “I couldn’t get by without it.”