LANDSCAPING
Dan Greene graduated with a degree in horticulture from Penn State University. He worked for the university for a year before going out on his own. Greene has been gainfully employed as his own boss for the past 35 years, making a name for himself as a professional landscaper.
First Bobcat machine
Unlike many Bobcat customers, Greene did not own a piece of Bobcat equipment until a year ago. He had owned and operated another compact equipment brand for 30-plus years. Ongoing struggles with his previous equipment brand pushed him toward Bobcat, and the local dealer, Best Line Equipment, had the solution for him — an M-Series E42 compact excavator.
“The success of my business has been with an excavator,” Greene says. “I could not be without one in my landscaping business, especially my new Bobcat excavator. We use the excavator on every job, to clear brush, load logs, remove trees and tree stumps and place landscape boulders. The versatility of the Bobcat excavator is unbelievable. It’s the best machine that I’ve ever purchased.”
The biggest differences for Greene from his previous excavator and the Bobcat E42 are the machine’s power, reach and stability.
“I really like the balance that I get from the E42, especially when I am picking up landscape boulders,” he says. “I like the clamp attachment and its power, to lift and place the landscape boulders exactly where I want them. I have a foot more reach with this excavator than my previous one.
“The cab is very comfortable, with much more room than my last excavator, and everything inside is conveniently located. It’s much easier for me to get into the cab, too. The doorway is bigger, which is nice because I’m not a small guy.”
Speaking to the versatility of the E42, Greene fi nds many ways to keep it busy each day, minimizing the number of employees he needs on his sites.
“We’ll use the excavator for planting, shaping the ground, digging holes, placing landscape rocks, clearing sites, trenching for new water lines, building retaining walls, placing hardscapes, installing new lawns and more,” he says.
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“I like the clamp attachment and its power, to lift and place the landscape boulders exactly where I want them.” — Dan Greene
Easy attachment changes
Greene admits that he doesn’t change the attachments on his excavator on a regular basis, but when he does, it’s much simpler with the Bobcat Hydraulic X-Change™ attachment system.
“I can quickly switch from a big bucket to a small bucket to put in a new water line,” he says. “Before it would take me between 15 and 20 minutes to switch between buckets. Now I can do it in less than a minute.”
In addition to the excavator’s versatility and comfort, Greene says the tracked undercarriage is ideal for his line of work.
“I can drive across lawns, even if the ground is soft and wet, without sinking,” he says. “The weight distribution makes it possible for us to drive across fi nished surfaces, like lawns and patios, and it minimizes the amount of repairs.”
The transition to a new excavator brand was assisted by Greene’s dealer. “Best Line Equipment has been so good to me when I need something,” he says. “I can’t say enough about their support.”
Continued on page 16
An M-Series E42 is Dan Greene’s fi rst Bobcat machine. He couldn’t be happier with its comfort features and performance. It’s shown at left lifting a landscaping boulder with the bucket and clamp.
SPRING 2011 | WorkSaver 15
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