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Summer 2004

Operator-Friendly S185 Saves Work on Dairy Farm



Paul, Clarence and Harvey

Whether moving snow or dumping manure, the S185 loader pays off for Wisconsin dairy farmers Paul and Clarence Pluss and Harvey Disch.


Apair of mid-size Bobcat® S185 loaders have proven to be the ideal machines for handling chores at Hillside Dairy, Albany, Wis. That’s because they offer:

  • 1,850-lb. rated operating capacity to make light work of lifting heavy hay bales.
  • Vertical lift path for ease of loading feed into a large mixer. Paul Pluss, his father Clarence, and partner Harvey Disch own and operate the S185s and an 873 on their 200-cow dairy farm.
Top Performance for 33 Years

The S185s are the latest in a line of Bobcat skid-steer loaders that have performed reliably for 33 years, Paul notes. “We just haven’t had many problems with our loaders,” he says. “Normally, we keep a machine 3,000 to 4,000 hours before we trade it off. One of our Bobcat loaders, a 22-year old 731, had more than 6,000 hours on it when we traded.” Operator-Friendly S185 Saves Work on Dairy Farm Whether moving snow or dumping manure, the S185 loader pays off for Wisconsin dairy farmers Paul and Clarence Pluss and Harvey Disch.

The S185s are used daily on jobs ranging from cleaning out manure and spreading sand in stalls to drilling fence posts. The loaders have been outfitted to make operation easy and comfortable year round. Each loader has a factory-installed Advanced Control System. It allows the different operators a personal choice of controlling lift and tilt functions using either hand or foot controls.

Each S185 also has an enclosed cab with factory-installed air conditioning and heating. “In the summer it’s nice to have the air conditioned cab when loading big bales of hay and it keeps out all the dust and chaff,” Paul says. “In the winter it’s unbelievable how fast the cab heats up.”

His favorite option, however, is the Power Bob-Tach™ attachment mounting system. It allows the operator to hook and unhook attachments with the push of a switch in the cab. “It’s the best thing to come out in a long time,” Paul says.