University Counts on Utility Work Machines 365 Days a Year

Mike Young

Grounds maintenance never takes a vacation at the University of Toledo, and
neither do four Toolcat™ 5600 utility work machines.

“We keep them busy 365 days a year,” says Mike Young, grounds manager at the northwestern Ohio college. “We are always finding new jobs for these machines.”

Young’s department has a long history of providing outstanding service. Everyone expects it.

“The 5600s are helping us maintain that level of service,” says Young. “As the campus population continues to grow—nearly 20,000 students, plus faculty and staff—we are faced with doing more work with fewer resources. The number of buildings, sidewalks, parking lots—in fact, the entire area—has increased by about 30 percent the last 8 years. The Toolcat units allow us to work smarter and more efficiently. The person sitting behind the wheel is now more productive.”

That’s more productive, as in comparison to how things were done before the 5600s were purchased from Bobcat of Toledo.

“We had summer equipment—lawn mowing-type machines—that we would convert into wintertime snow removal units with plows, brooms and cabs,” says Young. “That equipment wasn’t designed for sidewalk snow removal. Plus, we had a lot of mechanics’ time when switching from one season to another. At times we didn’t know if we should set up for cutting grass or plowing snow.”

The Toolcat utility work machines solved that problem and many others as well. Now Young and his 14-person department have equipment they can count on the year-round.

The four Toolcat 5600 utility work machines owned by the University of Toledo are ready for work around the campus.

Most of the time the 5600s are used in dozens of grounds maintence projects, from hauling mulch to picking up trash to moving people around the 600-acre campus.

During the snow season the machines get a real workout clearing 25 miles of sidewalks with V-blade and angle broom attachments. When the snow is deep the crews immediately switch to the snowblowers. Along with clearing and widening sidewalks, the Toolcat machines and snowblower attachments are used to throw snow over the sides of each level of two parking structures.

“People expect sidewalks to be clear of snow by 7:30,” says Young. “With the 5600s we can accomplish a lot of work in a short amount of time. Regardless of the season, or the job, we are definitely doing more work with less equipment.”