As part of the year-long 50th anniversary celebration of the Bobcat® loader, a traveling historical exhibit is visiting 23 Bobcat dealers in the United States and Canada. The Bobcat 50 Years Unleashed North American Road Tour was hosted by Bobcat of Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, June 21.
Guests who visited the Bobcat 50 Years Unleashed North American Road Tour viewed an exhibit with an overview of Bobcat history, several early Bobcat loaders and a collection of Bobcat memorabilia from the last 50 years. Attendees viewed demonstrations showing Bobcat equipment and the numerous applications the equipment can perform when used with Bobcat attachments. Bobcat of Canton customers were also given free admission to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Sam Tabler, of TNT Tabler Construction, won a Bobcat attachment. Ten attendees were selected as finalists for The Great Road Tour Giveaway. At the end of the Bobcat 50 Years Unleashed North American Road Tour, finalists from each dealership will be included in a national drawing. The winner of The Great Road Tour Giveaway will receive one of two $50,000 contractor equipment packages. The finalists included Titus Miller of Milla Construction Systems Inc., Jared Phillip of Silver Star Excavating & Landscape, Tim Gibbs of Gibbs Excavating Inc., Michael Bonnot of Gator Construction Inc., Gary Pate of Rental Corral, Mike and Carol Hackett of Hackett’s Rentals Inc., Stephen Chio of Nu-Way Construction Inc., Dirk Symons of DJS Maintenance & Construction Company Inc., Jeff Sterling of Beaver Excavating and Geoff Nicely of R.G. Smith.
In 1958, a company from North Dakota forged a partnership with two blacksmith-inventor brothers and built a machine that changed the way people worked. Melroe Manufacturing Company purchased the rights to an innovative machine designed by Cyril and Louis Keller. The first Melroe Self-Propelled Loader was a three-wheeled, front-end loader that was the precursor to the skid-steer loader in 1960 and the Bobcat brand two years later.
Throughout 2008, Bobcat Company will commemorate the partnership between the Melroe brothers and the Keller brothers, and the little loader that started the compact equipment industry 50 years ago.
Bobcat of Canton is owned by Leppo Equipment, which operates six locations:
• Bobcat of Akron, 176 West Avenue, Tallmadge, Ohio, (330) 633-3999
• Bobcat of Canton, 1534 Shepler Church Avenue, Canton, Ohio, (330) 456-6800
• Bobcat of Cleveland, 5095 Taylor Drive, Bedford Heights, Ohio, (216) 663-9380
• Bobcat of Wooster, 480 Henry Street West, Wooster, Ohio, (330) 264-6474
• Bobcat of Youngstown, 330 North Meridian Road, Youngstown, Ohio, (330) 799-2555
• Leppo Rents, 4317 State Route 44, Rootstown, Ohio, (330) 325-0777
More information about the dealership can also be found at www.leppos.com.
During 2008, the company is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bobcat compact equipment, which began with the Melroe Self-Propelled Loader — a three-wheeled front-end loader — in 1958. That machine evolved into the Bobcat skid-steer loader.
Bobcat Company, headquartered in West Fargo, N.D., is part of Doosan Infracore International (DII), a U.S.-based subsidiary of Doosan Infracore, a global manufacturer of construction equipment.