Why Sweat the Hard Jobs?

Sizzling heat. Drenching rains. Sweltering humidity. Blowing dirt. Each can turn an otherwise decent day of operating compact equipment into a hard, grueling experience—unless you're enjoying the climate-controlled comfort of a Bobcat® enclosed, air conditioned cab.

Bobcat machines equipped with this option extend your comfort to the rest of the year with a heater that keeps you warm despite the biting wind and cold of a frigid winter day.

The enclosed, air conditioned cab is available on most models of Bobcat skid-steer, compact track and all-wheel steer loaders, excavators and Toolcat™ utility work machines. It's standard on the Bobcat 442 excavator and the Versa-Handler® telescopic tool carrier.

Improved operator comfort is just one way that air conditioning pays off. A comfortable work environment can boost revenues by increasing productivity. It can also help attract and keep top-notch operators.

In fact, more and more owners of compact machines appreciate the value of air conditioning in improving their profit potential.

Often, air conditioning on Bobcat equipment is included as part of the optional Gold Package, which—on loaders—also features a heater, deluxe instrumentation, suspension seat and the Power BobTach™ attachment mounting system.

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Tucker Landscape Construction, Anderson, S.C., installs landscapes year round on residential and commercial projects. The air conditioned and heated cabs of the company's two T300 compact track loaders keep operators comfortable and productive regardless of the season, says owner Mike Tucker.

Even more important for him than temperature control is the ability to keep working in rainy and dusty conditions. "We do quite a bit of work in the rain," Tucker says. "When it's dry, it's dusty. If you're hauling a big load of mulch or topsoil, the wind can blow it all around. By providing a controlled climate, the enclosed cab allows you to focus on getting the work done instead of worrying about staying cool, warm, dry or clean. An enclosed cab enables us to work when conditions are least favorable. That gives us a competitive edge. It allows us to do more work and it helps us keep good operators."

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Is an air conditioned cab a smart choice? "Absolutely," responds Leonard Trahan. "It's well worth it to me."

If you can imagine trying to work during a hot, muggy Louisiana summer, you'll appreciate why he's equipped his Bobcat T300 compact track loader with an enclosed, air conditioned cab. As owner of L. Trahan Dump Truck Services, Houma, La., he makes his living hauling and spreading sand used in preparing residential and commercial building sites for concrete. Some days he uses his T300 to lift, carry, dump and spread more than 400 cu. yds of sand. Often, the sand blows wherever the wind takes it.

As he points out, a bucket of sand raised in front of a loader is exposed to the wind. When he used to operate a machine without an enclosed cab, the blowing sand was a nuisance. "Now it doesn't bother me."

He also likes the cab's refreshing cool air and warm temperatures as the seasons change. "I'm getting older and I need all the comfort I can get," he says.

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Tanner Sprinkler System, LLC, Autaugaville, Ala., operates each of its two Bobcat air conditioned compact track loaders (T190 and T300) about 1,200 hours a year.

"We run them about eight hours a day year round," says owner Terry Tanner. "If you're going to stay in them all day, you need to be as comfortable as possible. We can work in rain, dust and cold.

"I have bad allergies and the enclosed cab helps keep me healthy. The air conditioning keeps you plenty cool and the heater is excellent."

For Tanner, the cost of an enclosed, air conditioned cab isn't a significant expense. "If you finance the machine purchase," he says, "air conditioning doesn't make that much difference in your payment."

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Skilled equipment operators are scarce in his part of South Carolina, says Steve Vanderlip. That's why his company, S.D. Vanderlip Grading and Landscaping, Clover, S.C., has been outfitting its big construction machines with air conditioning for the past decade and its Bobcat loaders for the past five years. His current Bobcat lineup includes an 863 skid-steer loader and a T190 and two T300 compact track loaders.

"The biggest thing for us is keeping quality employees," Vanderlip says. "Providing machines that are comfortable to operate is one way to do that."

Investing in an enclosed, air conditioned cab just makes good business sense, he points out.

"I wouldn't consider buying a machine without it anymore," Vanderlip says. "In view of the price of a new compact track loader, the extra cost is minimal."

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Dick Garmon, who owns Garmon and Son Grading, Charlotte, N.C., likes staying cool in the summer and warm in the winter when he's operating his air conditioned and heated Bobcat T190 compact track loader. But, even more, he likes the way the enclosed cab protects him.

Before buying his first air conditioned Bobcat loader five years ago, a dry summer day on the job often left him hot, sweaty and dirty.

Now, he not only stays clean, but he's more productive.

"I stay more refreshed and I'm able to work a longer day and do a better job," Garmon says. "I live in my T190. In the summer I may work 12 to 14 hours a day. I couldn't do that before. I'd be just too beat and worn out. The enclosed cab also lets me work in the rain if I need to."

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Doug Lurding, Louisville, Ky., has been operating air conditioned Bobcat loaders for the past five years. He currently has a Bobcat T190 and T300.

Lurding frequently uses his machines with a Bobcat landscape rake on residential excavating and grading projects.

He compares the difference in the level of comfort between an air conditioned cab and one that isn't to the difference between night and day. "In the summer, about the only time I get out of my T190 is for lunch," he says.

The heater, he adds, is just as nice in winter when he's using his machine on snow removal jobs.

"Air conditioning and heating turns a miserable day into one in which you're willing to work a few extra hours," Lurding says.