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Bobcatalog 2009

Tight quarters call for Bobcat mini track loaders

Louisiana contractor puts MT55 loaders and attachments to work in home foundation repairs

Warren Davie

A Bobcat MT55 complements Warren Davie's larger Bobcat loaders and attachments.

For Kenner, La., businessman Warren Davie, Bobcat® mini track loaders are an essential part of his foundation repair and home leveling, raising and moving business. A Bobcat MT55 mini track loader is used on nearly every jobsite to replace hand digging and carrying building materials.

Davie has been involved in this industry for more than 13 years. He says his local Bobcat dealership, Duhon Machinery, gave him the tools he needed to get his business off the ground. "I took some of the money I made working in Alaska on the fishing boats, and I came to this area in the early 1990s to start my business," Davie says. "Duhon Machinery got me started with a Bobcat compact excavator and a 743 skid-steer loader. Bobcat equipment has been an integral part of my business from the beginning."

Davie Shoring stays busy with more than 800 projects a year. The company is responsible for repairing foundations, lifting slab homes three to four feet and building a block wall around the outside of the foundation. In New Orleans, Davie's crews raise homes as much as 10 to 12 feet to protect them from flooding.

Mini loader advantages

Faced with limited room to travel between homes and work on small lots, Davie opted to downsize from his compact excavators and skid-steer loaders to Bobcat MT55 loaders because of their narrow frames, while still retaining the attachment abilities he needed to excavate, carry, lift, and transport material. The MT55 is just 41.4 inches wide and 96.4 inches long, and can be paired with more than 20 attachments. That suits Davie's crews well for getting between homes and creating trenches around the outside of homes.

"The MT55 can get into tight spaces with attachments to remove dirt that previously was done by hand," he says. "We use a bucket, pallet fork, trencher and landplane on our MT55. I plan to buy more of the MT55 loaders because of the nature of our business."

Davie says another reason he likes the MT55 is the ride-on platform that gives him excellent visibility to the attachment and his surroundings. "The Bobcat mini track loaders are the easiest to operate," he says. "I've tried a lot of other brands. They had too many handles to move. All of my employees like the Bobcat MT55 loader better."

To learn more about Bobcat mini track loaders visit the mini track loader page.

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