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Like most parts of the UK during last winter, local communities in North and East Yorkshire were hit by heavy snowfalls, with many people unable to get to work and businesses and schools being closed as result. Similar conditions are predicted for next winter and Herdsman Builders has purchased the S100 loader with angle blade and bucket attachments to provide snow and ice clearance on urban and country roads; pavements; car parks; superstores and other out-of-town locations; driveways; parks; school playgrounds and sports fields in the area.
The combination of the new Bobcat S100 loader and the snow attachments represents an important diversification for Herdsman Builders. Director, Andrew Herdsman, said: “We are a private and commercial property builder, but if we don’t have any inside work to do, the bad weather stops us from working as well – we can’t lay bricks and heavy snow stops us working completely. After last winter when local communities were virtually snowed in in this area and the wheels of the local economy froze, I hope that with the S100 and its attachments, we can keep local businesses and communities going and help people to get around so that they can live normal lives even in the worst weather.”
The low operating weight with bucket of just 1800 kg allows Herdsman Builders to easily transport the S100 on a trailer behind the company’s Land Rover vehicle and move swiftly from one snow clearance job to another. Andrew Herdsman has purchased the new S100 equipped with a number of the options available for this machine. Not surprisingly for winter work, the new S100 has been fitted with the option of a fully heated, enclosed cab featuring a tough, clear glass lockable front door.
The compact dimensions - a height of 1878 mm, length without attachment of 2262 mm and width over the tyres of 1182 mm – allow the S100 to manoeuvre efficiently in confined spaces even in bad weather.
High engine power and hydraulic flow provide for extra fast cycle times and high productivity, with 50 l/min of auxiliary hydraulic flow available for operating over 30 different attachments. The attachment capability of the S100 makes it an ideal machine for many other applications and Herdsman Builders has also purchased a Bobcat pallet fork attachment for the machine, which will be used for general material handling and other work on the company’s construction sites.
Herdsman Builders has over 30 years experience in small and medium-sized commercial and private building projects. The company can provide a full bespoke service for a range of projects from pub extensions and care homes to house extensions, kitchens, bathrooms, conservatories, garages, loft conversions and landscaping.
As well as the full-comfort cab, designed to enable operators to work all day long for optimal productivity, the S100 at Herdsman Builders has the most advanced electronic controls and instrumentation for this size of machine on the market, providing a new level of diagnostic capability and control. The instrument panels and gauges are placed in convenient locations in the top left hand and top right hand corners at the front of the cab.
The use of dual tilt cylinders and the open design of the Bob-Tach quick-change attachment system at the front of the S100 loader facilitate easy entry and exit from the cab as well as provide improved visibility to the attachment.
Despite its smaller dimensions, state-of-the-art engineering has ensured that the compact S100 loader offers the power and performance expected of a bigger machine, combined with the durability of a strong frame design, increased operator comfort and easy serviceability thanks to a transverse-mounted 25 kW Kubota 4-cylinder 1505 Tier IIIA-compliant diesel engine. The S100 offers a rated operating capacity of 453 kg and a tipping load of 907 kg.
Complementing the S100 model, Bobcat offers a wide choice of compact wheeled and tracked loaders and telehandlers which can be combined with the appropriate winter attachments from snowblowers, blades and buckets for clearing heavy snowfalls to salt and sand spreaders to prevent the build-up of snow and ice. To enhance working on snow, Bobcat also offers optional steel tracks to go over the tyres on the wheeled loaders as well as individual tyre snow chains.
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