Week 17 Winners

Robert Ott C&C Excavating LLC La Crescent, Minn.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“At the age of 27, I am the part owner of a small excavating and snowplowing business. At the age of 12, my father purchased our family’s first Bobcat® machine — a used 742 skid-steer loader with over 4,000 hours on it. Knowing the reputation of Bobcat, my father did not hesitate to purchase the 742, despite the high number of hours. This one piece of equipment changed the way we cut firewood, landscaped, moved snow, and any did other labor-intensive job. Ever since then, I’ve known that a Bobcat machine would be a must-own piece of equipment when I became a homeowner.

“We continued to find uses for the 742 until we traded it in for a new machine. With over 8,000 hours on it, my father traded it in for a brand-new S185 and received a thousand dollars more than he paid for it. Bobcat’s reputation holds its value. The Gold Package S185 had all the comforts of home. It mixed the roughness and toughness of Bobcat with the luxuries of a high-end vehicle. Since its purchase, it has flawlessly performed every daunting task we have thrown at it. We have invested in many attachments for it, such as a Bobcat backhoe, snow blade, log splitter, and over-the-tire track system.

“In August 2007, the region of southeast Minnesota where I live received 16 inches of rain in eight hours. The storm caused massive landslides throughout the area, including around my home. I had two landslides on my property. One took out my septic system and placed 10 feet of mud on my driveway, the only access to my house. The second landslide placed 6 feet of mud against my garage, and flipped over and moved my LP tank 50 feet across the parking area behind my garage. It was clear that I needed a piece of equipment that was reliable and could move a lot of dirt in a short period of time. My father showed up with his Bobcat machine and we started cleaning out the mud, one bucket at a time. After over 40 hours of continuous work, we were able to access the driveway and open the doors to the garage.

“The next challenge was that the landslide that covered the driveway had taken out the entire drain field. Another challenge was that my house is built on the side of a hill, with no access road to the backyard where the septic system was placed. We started the task of building an access road up the 100-foot slope to my backyard. We used the S185 with tracks to build the access road in three days. Then we used the S185 with the backhoe attachment to dig the trenches for the new lines for the drain field. As a second-generation Bobcat equipment owner, I have learned that a Bobcat machine is reliable and ready for any challenge placed before it.”

Pamela J. Long Mai-Zel Dragonwicke Arabians Dragoon, Ariz.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“I am a Bobcat super-fan, liberated and unleashed both at home and at work. When my dad died in 1979, I wondered how on Earth a single old maid like me could keep up with the maintenance of 25 acres and 25 Arabian horses. My cousin advised me to buy a Bobcat® skid-steer loader. Taking his advice, I bought a small Bobcat 310 with a bucket and utility forks. I use my Bobcat almost every day to clean stalls, corrals and pastures, load my manure spreader, turn compost piles, carry hay bales, and lift them up into the barn loft. I use it to maintain my driveway; recapture gravel that washes downhill; pull fence posts; move tons of snow, dirt and brush; and lift, move, and carry heavy objects — including everything from barn doors, fencing materials, and feed barrels, to appliances and furniture. I once used it to pick up the front of the horse trailer after its nose wheel broke off.

“When I moved to Arizona, I loaded over a hundred boxes of stuff into my barn for storage. In December, I moved my pumphouse off its concrete pad to pull and replace the pump in my well. Last November, I loaded a hot tub into my pickup. I used it yesterday to remove concrete blocks skirting my old house trailer. Years ago, I even cleared an acre of prickly pear cactus for a friend. I did it in just one hour and saved her hundreds of dollars! She said it looked like the bucket was an extension of my hands. It’s that and much more. My Bobcat 310 is a back-saver and a miracle machine. I have a difficult time keeping it at home, because friends borrow it or ask me to do jobs for them. After nearly 30 years, it is still going strong and unleashing me to get jobs done for myself and others. I couldn't imagine being without it.

“When I retired from the Arizona Air National Guard, my new job at Fort Huachuca involved grounds maintenance for a C-130 unit that trains aircrews from all over the world. My boss, Jim Simpson, delivered an old Bobcat 743, which I used to move mountains of construction dirt and rocks, to mow through acres of tangled brush in the desert, and to move and load brush, trash, rocks, and old fencing. The 743 was a giant step up from my 310. I was happy and never dreamed things could get better. But things did get better. Last month, my boss brought me a new Bobcat A300! Although it took a couple of days to wean myself from almost 30 years of Bobcat toe and heel operations and skid-steering, I quickly mastered the joysticks and all-wheel drive and fell in love with it. Despite strong spring winds and extreme Arizona temperatures, I am moving more dirt faster and bigger rocks more easily, and mowing in supreme comfort with all-wheel drive and a closed-in cab.”

Otto Trebing Tanglewood-Destiny Roopville, Ga.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“My Bobcat® T190 compact track loader is saving my young back. I am my mother’s principal farmhand, with help from three younger sisters. We have 16 acres of rough, hilly, second-growth woodlands. We have been clearing land, attempting to install terraces, and breaking red clay into arable farm soil — all by hand. My mother feels 16 steep acres do not justify a tractor, because there is so little room to use a farm tractor safely. Our main source of heat is a wood stove. When I purchased my T190, I found I could speed up firewood creation because I could drag trees closer to the splitter. I no longer need to cut wood to 18-inch lengths where the tree had grown and then move them up to the splitter with a wheelbarrow. Turning a 20-foot-tall oak into firewood now takes a couple of days instead of a couple of weeks.

“Now that I have my T190, I spend less time doing hard work. Clearing for a fence line and hanging the wire is now a matter of hours instead of weeks. Hay rounds, each 800 to 900 pounds, can be moved in minutes instead of hours. Installing terraces to protect planted fields and the driveway is now much easier. Tree stumps can be pulled instead of worked around until they rot. When my sister slid her van in mud and ended up hung on a tree stump, I was able to lift the vehicle safely off the stump and push it back up onto firm earth. A normal tow truck would have pulled the bumper off.

“Because my T190 has tracks rather than tires, I have been able to move other pieces of equipment to where they are needed. This means I can move a portable generator anywhere on the farm and make use of it. Gravel may now be moved much more easily with the T190 than by hand with a wheelbarrow. I am currently clearing land for a large barn and using the earth to level the driveway. This is a project I expected to take three to six months by hand.

“Our farm has a 1-mile long private drive. There is no county or state maintenance on this drive. Using my T190, I have been able to start some basic improvements on this private drive by reopening drainage ditches, filling potholes, spreading gravel, and removing fallen trees. In the near future, I plan to dig ponds, complete the terraces for the gardens, set up safe horse-riding paths, and make any other improvements to the land we need. On top of all the other bonuses, my neighbors have asked me to do work on their land now. So, my T190 is paying for itself and improving community feeling! On a hilly farm, this small, tracked T190 with an enclosed cab is an excellent answer to many of my former problems and my future plans.”

Chad Boyer Miles Construction Services La Vista, Neb.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“It wasn’t until the summer of 2003 that I realized the true power of a Bobcat® skid-steer loader. My father and I were driving home from a long day tearing out some concrete with a pry bar and a sledge hammer when we passed by a construction site where another contractor was removing large panels of concrete and lifting them into his dump truck. We just watched this guy do work that would have taken us an hour in the time we were stopped at the traffic light. We knew then and there that if we wanted to compete, we needed the equipment to turn our jobs around so they could be more profitable.

“My father always talked about buying a Bobcat skid-steer loader, but never went through with it because a new machine seemed so expensive. We came to find out that the only thing that was expensive was the time we were spending on these jobs. The next morning, before we went the jobsite, we stopped by the Bobcat dealership and demoed an S185. We took it to the jobsite and were able to do things that we just could not imagine. We were removing concrete in hours that normally would take us days. That evening, we purchased the machine.

“From that point on, jobs that used to take weeks were taking days, and jobs that used to take days were taking hours. Simply amazing! It was almost like we just found out about a secret that others have known about for years. We were truly unleashed by Bobcat. By the next year, we were expanding our business by taking on new jobs that we just flat out couldn’t have done before owning the S185. In the 15 years that I worked with my father, we had never experienced this type of excitement with the business. We were building 100-foot retaining walls in a day. We were tearing out and replacing driveways in as little as two days. Things were just too good.

“In August of 2006, everything changed. My father suffered a massive heart attack and passed away at the age of 55. I was lost: My teacher, my best friend — my father — was gone. No longer did I have someone to answer my questions. I was on my own. To add to the distress, losing my father put my mother in a financial bind, so I was forced to sell the S185 to help her out. I was back to square one and tempted to give up, but I didn’t. I felt the power of Bobcat, and knew it would only be a matter of time before I owned one again. It took me until January 2008 to save up enough money to buy a used 2001 Bobcat 773. It wasn’t our S185, but it would do the job. I reopened my dad’s construction company in February of this year and have been keeping busy every since. Thanks, Bobcat!”

John Martin Lawn Enforcement LLC Whitewater, Wis.

Bobcat Unleashed Me
“I own and operate a small, one-man lawn-maintenance and landscaping business. About five years ago, I went through a small transition in my business. I decided that mowing lawns was just not cutting it for me anymore. After 16 years of mowing, I decided enough was enough. I gradually let my mowing jobs die down and in their place I took on more landscaping, retaining walls, and patios. These jobs were much more fun and let me use my creative instincts when installing them. However, it didn't take long for me to realize that I couldn’t do all this by hand. It killed me physically. One problem I faced was where to put a skid-steer loader if I bought one. My home at that time had a small, one-car garage on a 60-foot by 120-foot lot.

“One day, I ran across an ad for a mini loader. It wasn't a Bobcat® machine, but it got me wondering if Bobcat had a mini loader. I know Bobcat has a good reputation, and their large skid-steer loaders are easier to maintain than other brands. I went to their Web site and sure enough, I was looking at the MT50, the first of Bobcat's mini track loaders. That spring, I came home with one. Woohoo! Of course, I had to try it out right away when I got home, so I decided to widen the driveway on my little tiny lot.

“During that first year, I nearly doubled my sales figure from the previous year just because of the mini loader — and that was only with the bucket attachment! The mini loader was a great choice for me because of its compact size and light weight. Not only could I do jobs that a full size skid-steer loader could do, given a little more time; but I could also do jobs that a full size skid-steer loader couldn’t do. Every year since, I have purchased a new attachment. Now, I have forks, an auger, a backhoe, a tiller, and just last year I added a dozer blade for clearing snow. This little tool is like three or four employees in one compact unit. It's never late, it doesn't complain, and it is ready at a moment’s notice.

“Hand shoveling is almost a thing of the past: With the use of the many attachments available, I can choose what will work best for the job I’m doing. That first year with the mini loader, I was preparing sites for seeding using the teeth of the bucket and back-dragging soil that was like concrete. Never again will I have to do this. I bought the tiller attachment which tills the top 4 to 5 inches of soil into a perfect seed bed. It provides more even seed germination, a higher-quality lawn in a much shorter time, and a very happy customer.”