Like most landscape companies today, Clyde Haase’s business, Haase Landscape, Spokane, Wash., has spent many peak seasons short of labor.
While patiently searching for much-needed employees last summer, Haase stumbled upon the perfect replacement for a worker, a wheel barrel and a shovel: the compact utility loader.
“I knew it was a pricey piece of equipment,” Haase said of the approximately $16,000 to $20,000 machine. “But the more I looked at it, the more I realized it would probably save me money in the long run because of its benefits.”
While Haase wouldn’t give up his full-size skid-steer loader for what some people are calling a “mini” version, he said it is an asset to his equipment fleet because it does what a full-size machine cannot do: squeeze into small spaces and turn the operator into a laborer within seconds.
Currently, Toro Sitework Systems, Kanga Loaders USA and Leon Manufac-turing’s Ramrod Division dominate the sales of the compact utility loader market, but this market is growing in popularity as manufacturers continue to produce similar machines and more landscape contractors consider it their next machine purchase of preference.
NAME-CALLING. “It’s not a skid-steer,” said Pat Cappucci, marketing manager, Toro Sitework Systems, Minneapolis, Minn., of the compact utility loader. “The wheels turn and the machine skids, but that’s not properly classifying it based on lift capacity, operating capacity, tip-up capacity and, primarily, hydraulic capacity.”
The operating capacity of a full-size skid-steer loader is typically one-half of its tip-up capacity, Cappucci said. It is made for lifting 2,000- to 2,500-pound pallets of sod and high caliper trees and it is built to do this quickly.
“Anything can haul dirt,” said Lee Calla-way, marketing manager, Case Corp., Racine, Wis. “The question is, ‘How fast do you need it hauled?’ A good skid-steer loader should be strong enough to hold a 4- to 6-inch caliper tree in its tree spade at full reach and still have quality lift capacity while moving at speeds up to 11 miles per hour.”
Even the smaller skid-steers with lift capacities around 885 to 900 pounds vs. the 3,000- to 3,650-pound lift capacity of the full-size skid steer are built to do some pretty serious lifting, said Peter Mabee, product and marketing manager, Thomas Equipment Ltd., New Brunswick, Canada.
Generally, compact utility loaders have a width of somewhere between 32 and 41 inches and a maximum lift capacity of approximately 550 pounds.
“They can squeeze into some areas that the full-size skid-steer loader can’t, and they can still accept all of the attachments of the larger machines,” Mabee pointed out.
AN EXPERIMENT IN HYDRAULICS. The compact utility loader, Cappucci said, was designed to run hydraulic attachments and to increase the productivity of a work crew.
Some compact utility loaders operate on a “controlled” dual-hydraulic system, Cappucci pointed out, for the maximum application of usable power.
“If the machine has two hydraulic pumps, you can control the amount of hydraulic flow and where it’s going,” Cappucci said. “If you don’t need the extra power for the hydraulic attachment, then you should be able to direct more power toward the wheels so the machine moves faster.”
The compact utility loader, essentially, becomes a “power unit” for the driver, said Don Reed, marketing manager, Leon Manufacturing’s Ramrod Division, Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada.
“At first, the machine was looked at as a toy,” Reed explained. “Contractors would say, ‘That’s nice, but I’ve got my Bob-Cat.’ But spaces got smaller and contractors wanted a machine to replace manual labor.”
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For landscape contractors who cannot afford a compact utility loader just yet or cannot warrant the purchase because of the lack of time they think they will use it, renting is always an option. Many equipment rental companies have noticed the popularity of the machine, while at the same time taking note of its price tag, said Jack Bloss, owner, Bloss Sales and Rental, Tulsa, Okla. “It’s basically a new machine because people don’t know all about it yet, and it’s definitely new to equipment renters,” Bloss said. Ninety percent of the people Bloss rents to are landscape contractors. He bought the compact utility loader in March and has since rented it 55 times. While the machine itself, depending on the amount of attachments sold with it, costs between $16,000 and $20,000, Bloss can rent the basic machine with a bucket for $140 every 24 hours or the full package, including auger, for up to $200 every 24 hours. “Most of our rentals are one- to two-day rentals,” Bloss noted. “I think it’s been a successful addition to the equipment we rent thus far and I think it will continue to do well. As labor gets harder and harder to find, there will be a greater need for machinery to do the work.” –Nicole Wisniewski |
MECHANIZED LABOR. Let the compact utility loader do the backbreaking work for you, said Alan Porter, president, Kanga Loaders USA, Bixby, Okla.
“The primary functions of a compact loader virtually eliminate wheelbarrows, shovels and rakes,” Porter said.
It takes the place of workers using their own back strength to dig holes, trench, auger and level, agreed Wesley Hadsell, owner, HadcoServices, Bartlesville, Okla.
“I haven’t had a back injury at my company since I bought my first one three years ago,” Hadsell remarked. “I used to have one to two back injuries annually.”
The compact utility loader has also shortened the time required for jobs previously done manually, Hadsell enthused.
“The machine replaces three laborers,” he enthused. “It can dig a hole in three minutes, instead of the 30 to 40 minutes it used to take three of my laborers.”
As opposed to the person working a full-size skid-steer, who is seated in a cabin-like cage compartment, the one who operates a compact utility loader is always one step away from assisting with or moving to another job, Hadsell added.
“My laborers are never more than 3 feet away from their work when they use this machine,” he said. “The operator of a large skid-steer is stuck in the machine directing traffic because it is difficult for him or her to crawl in and out frequently.”
Because a worker is standing on the back of a compact utility loader, he or she also has full visibility, Cappucci added.
“You’re in reverse about 60 percent of the time, especially when trenching and leveling, so you need visability,” he noted.
The stand-on concept, first introduced on compact loaders in 1981, according to Porter, has become an industry norm with mowers now using the same feature.
“The concept allows for greater machine operator productivity as he or she can dismount and help with manual tasks quickly,” Porter explained.
IRREPLACEABLE. Although the compact utility loader is much slower than the full-size skid-steer loader, moving at approximately 3.75 miles per hour opposed to the 11 miles per hour of the full-size machine, its greatest advantage is its size.
“I use it to install hardscapes and get into sidewalk areas,” Haase pointed out. “And it doesn’t tear up the site on its way there.”
Even though there are obvious advantages to owning both a skid-steer loader and a compact utility loader, some contractors cannot purchase both machines because of cash flow concerns associated with these machines’ price tags.
Henry Holcombe, co-owner, H&H Landscaping, Candler, N.C., purchased his company’s first compact utility loader last July in replace of a full-size skid-steer loader.
Most landscape contractors say, ideally, they would have a compact utility loader and a skid-steer loader in their equipment fleet. Haase and Hadsell have both machines and, if given the choice, said they couldn’t choose one over the other.
“The machines don’t replace each other,” Hadsell said. “I’m fortunate to have both. Some contractors can only afford one. They are each worth their weight in gold.”
The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.
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