Boarcross Ltd, based in Driffield in East Yorkshire, has taken delivery of the first of the new Bobcat Stage V M-Series skid-steer loaders coming to the UK. The new S450 loader was supplied by AMS Bobcat Limited, the Authorised Bobcat Dealer for Lincolnshire and East and South Yorkshire. It represents the latest generation of Bobcat loaders at Boarcross, which has been using the Bobcat brand for more than 10 years.

Company Director, Andrew Corrigan, said: “We did consider other makes but based on our good experience with the Bobcat loaders over several years, we decided on the Bobcat range for the replacement for our existing S450 unit. I was also impressed by the increased service interval and higher reliability of the new Stage V machine.”

Boarcross carries out the complete pig farming process from farrowing to finishing. The company has two breeding locations from which piglets are taken to various pig finishing units around East and North Yorkshire. The new S450 Stage V model and the other five Bobcat loaders in the Boarcross fleet are used to handle the straw used in the sow units and for mucking out the finishing units. The compact nature of the Bobcat loaders is also ideal for cleaning out the company’s poultry sheds which house around 90,000 hens.

More power, less noise, lower emissions, yet still compact

As well as the new generation S450, Bobcat has also launched new versions of its market-leading M-Series S510 and S530 models, the first in the Bobcat range to feature a specially developed Stage V compliant Bobcat D24 engine. The new Stage V M-Series loaders provide operators with increased performance, enhanced comfort and optimised maintenance requirements to maximise job site efficiency.

Skilful design work has ensured that even with the Bobcat Stage V engine incorporated, the small dimensions of the new S450, S510 and S530 skid-steer loaders are maintained, offering a truly compact size and low weight, so they can work/manoeuvre easily in tight spaces and can be easily transported.

The new Bobcat engine provides 37% more torque and fast recovery from overload compared to the previous machines, which ensures increased comfort for the operator as they can work with the same power at lower RPM, at lower noise levels and with lower fuel consumption for the same jobs.

By offering the same power at lower RPM, the new Bobcat engine provides a significant decrease in noise levels, reducing operator fatigue and lowering fuel consumption for the same type of work. In addition, with an engine equipped with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) as standard, users can work in emission-regulated zones such as city and town centres.

The new Bobcat engine has also allowed the company to extend maintenance intervals with the first service now being after 500 hours and to reduce the number of fuel filter replacements required.

The new Stage V loaders now feature the previously optional Deluxe control panel as standard, offering a choice of different languages and telematics to protect machines and to monitor their performance. Bobcat has also extended the choice of factory installed tyres for the three models, ensuring they can be more closely matched to customers’ applications right from the start.

From left to right with the new Bobcat S450 Stage V loader at Boarcross are William Hatherley and Tony Smith.