Working fast, making money

Plumbing contractor relies on six Bobcat compact excavators to reach production goals

Bobcat compact excavators helped Ben Taylor take his plumbing business to new heights in Tennessee.

A dozen years ago, plumbing contractors in the Knoxville, Tenn., area found themselves and their tractor loader backhoes (TLB) stuck in mud. Springtime rains continued day after day for months. Homebuilding was booming and there was plenty of work, but no way to get it done.

At that time, Ben Taylor’s company was three years old. He had 14 employees, a long list of jobs, and a TLB; and like the others, everything was on hold while the rain continued.

Taylor, however, had an idea: He rented a Bobcat® compact excavator and began tracking through the mud. “I was making money while everyone else was sitting at home unable to work,” he recalls.

Within a week he purchased a 331 excavator. As builders discovered that Taylor was the only contractor able to get on jobsites, his crew and their excavator were in great demand.

“Nothing with four wheels was moving for months,” says Taylor. “The Bobcat excavator enabled us to work in very difficult conditions. Buying it was one of the turning points for my business. At that particular time in the history of our company, if we would not have been able to work, the results could have been very traumatic.”

Today, Taylor has 80 to 90 employees at his full-service plumbing company, the Pipe Doctor. He has six Bobcat excavators and a 753 skid-steer loader, all purchased from Bobcat of Knoxville. Taylor explains that each of the excavators has a specific use:

The Bobcat excavator enabled us to work in very difficult conditions. Buying it was one of the turning points for my business.

316: “We use this handy machine for remodeling jobs inside commercial buildings. It allows us to eliminate a couple of laborers. We use the 316 to break up the original concrete floor, remove chunks of concrete, and then dig for the new plumbing.

“We purchased the 316 for a job at a large housing project. Each building consisted of four individual units (234 total units) where the plumbing had to be changed. We tried to do it with picks and shovels, and completed only one unit per day. With the 316 we finished off eight units a day.”

323: “This excavator goes out every day with our slab crew. What used to take two days of hand digging now takes less than one day with the 323.”

331: “The 331 is used only on service calls — water and sewer line repairs and replacements. This is a fast, responsive machine, which is good since we bid jobs per lineal foot. Being able to work efficiently is important when you are locked into a price.”

334: “The extra reach provided by our pair of 334 excavators is ideal for installing water and sewer lines in new home construction. We often have to do sewer taps so the extended reach feature is very handy.” Note: The 334 is now known as the 331 long-arm option.

335: “One of our crews installs and repairs commercial sewer lines. This powerful digging machine is just what they need.”

All of Taylor’s Bobcat excavators are used for digging. “Most of our jobs are bid by the lineal foot, so if we cannot get the ground excavated in a timely manner, then we are losing money,” he says. “Our Bobcat excavators allow us to meet our goals — work fast, do a good job, and make money.”

Visit www.bobcat.com/excavator to learn more about the advantages of Bobcat compact excavators.