Providing true working demonstrations of the company’s forestry cutter attachments for the first time in the UK, Bobcat has completed a tour of Customer Roadshow events, incollaboraton with local dealers to promote Bobcat products for forestry, agriculture, construction, landscaping and estate management.

A demonstration at the Kent event hosted by Bobcat Of London

Alastair Jones, Bobcat Attachments district manager (UK, Ireland, Nordics & Baltics), said, how Bobcat prides itself "..on demonstrating a full range of equipment to provide solutions for customers’ requirements in a wide range of market sectors. This latest successful Roadshow Tour was organised with this in mind."

A steady stream of existing and prospective customers at all three events were able to see Bobcat compact track loaders and Bobcat attachments working in a variety of different scenarios. Highlights included the first demonstrations in the UK of Bobcat’s recently launched FRC150ST standard torque and FRC200HT high torque forestry cutters.

At the first event held on the 150 acres of orchards at Newborn Farm in Grove outside Canterbury, Kent, visitors could see the forestry cutters reducing old trees in minutes, leaving a carpet of material that can be absorbed back into the ground. Host for the day was Bobcat of London, based in West Thurrock in Essex, the dealer for London, Essex, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Middlesex.

After the day in Kent, the Bobcat Roadshow truck travelled north to set up for the next event at the Follifoot Ridge woodland farm estate near Harrogate. This was organised by Grays Machinery, based in Bedale, the new dealer for North and West Yorkshire.

The Harrogate event

Visitors from Grays Machinery were joined by those invited by AMS Bobcat Limited, the dealer based in Scunthorpe, which has just expanded its existing areas of Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire with the addition of South Yorkshire. The audience on the day was able to see Bobcat equipment being used to clear and remove unwanted undergrowth, shrubs and trees next to a public pathway on the edge of the woodland farm estate.

The last stop in the UK for the Bobcat Roadshow was at Hunters Airport Car Park in Heald Green in Greater Manchester. The car park is nearby to and serves the very busy Manchester Airport. The compact track loaders and forestry cutters were used to clear an extensive area of woodland to make the way for new car parking space for the airport. The event was hosted by Wigan-based Norwest Plant Ltd, the dealer for North-West England and North Wales.

Providing cutting widths of 1.5 and 2.0 m, respectively, the Bobcat FRC150ST and FRC200HT forestry cutters are designed for continuous work on bushes and trees 100 to 120 mm in diameter, intermittent use for trees with a diameter from 150 to 220 mm and occasional use on trees 220 to 300 mm in diameter.

The FRC150ST is designed for use on the smaller Bobcat S630/H and S650/H skid-steer loaders and T590/H and T650/H compact track loaders. Like Bobcat’s smaller 1.5 m FRC150HT high torque model, the FRC200HT is compatible with the Bobcat T770H and T870H compact tracked loaders and S770H and S850H skid-steer loaders.

At the Roadshows, as well as the forestry cutters, a stump grinder and a flail cutter, other attachments being used included the Bobcat Brushcat rotary cutter, the root grapple, the brushsaw, pallet forks, a 184 cm skeleton bucket, a 178 cm digging bucket and a 183 cm soil conditioner.