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How dangerous are BobCats?

Geo-TH,In

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
My BIL bought a BobCat from a man who is paralyzed from the neck
down. The man was loading something. Went up too steep of an
incline. What he had on the loader or forks(not sure) came off
and pinned him inside the BobCat.

I hear on the news many people getting killed flipping ZTRs and
tractors. I've never heard of anyone getting injured in a
BobCat.


So how dangerous are BobCats?
 
Anything used improperly is dangerous. Was it a newer model with a roll cage or an old model. It would be difficult to see it happening in a newer machine.
cvphoto134536.jpg


cvphoto134537.jpg
 
Skid steer loaders require a healthy amount of respect to operate. There have been many injuries and some fatalities when people cut corners safety-wise.
 
There not to bad but like anything they can/will get you hurt or dead. Years ago I was running a real small one and tried to pick up a bucket load of dirt. Well the bucket didn't come up but the back of the Bobcat did and by doing so it made me fall forward and hit the controls and I almost flipped it over face first which if I had I would have fell out of it and under it
 
Less dangerous than a quad if it has the roll cage/cab and one uses the seatbelt. I have managed to turn one over (stupidity on my part) but no injury and managed to right the unit from the cab. Scary though.
 
I think it's the overall size of the bobcat that is the problem. I think they are mainly intended for construction sites where they are used on level ground. Of course someone can turn over anything. I had a cousin killed when he rolled his bulldozer.
 
Had an older guy killed in one a few years ago somewhere here in Iowa. It got to bouncing so bad that he hit his head on the roof.
 
If you put the seatbelt on they're pretty safe, but lots of folks won't wear them! There was a lady that was snowplowing a skating rink on a lake in MN and broke through and drown. I don't know if she had the belt on or not, might have escaped without it. But, she should of checked the ice first, they are real heavy and have a small footprint!
 
There were quite a few examples of round bales rolling off a FEL bucket while raised high and down the loader and onto the operator. A doctor near me got killed that way. Bale landed right on him and his wife found him. Sounds like that's possibly what happened with the bobcat. Sad.
 
Me too. A few years ago I walked right up
on a bobcat that was lying in a field
looking into the woods. I walked up
behind it and got pretty close to it,
finally I said something so it knew I was
there before I got any closer. It bolted
of course. I got so close I was afraid to
get any nearer without it knowing I was
there just in case it chose fight instead
of flight. Lol.
 
That is exactly what can happen with the older ones like in the first picture.371,500,510,600,610 were all clutch machines,not hydro.Hit a bump just right and you start bouncing back and forth.The weight of your arms bouncing keeps the levers bouncing.I've owned them all,(the old ones)and found the 371 to be the most treacherous.Single cylinder Kohler,and that machine could pitch you out before you realized you were bouncing.Aftrer using those old hand jammers for years I got a 700.Their first hydro machine.That machine never once tried to toss me out.I replaced that with a 753 11 years ago,I still miss the old 700 for around the yard work.Moving tractor and truck parts around you might jump in and out 50-100 times a day hooking and unhooking chains.With the old machine I would stand up and take two steps out.With the newer 753 I climb up out of the hole,turn around,and climb down.The old machine had two bucket pistons,one on either side.The new machine has a single piston,right in the middle,that you have to climb over.I will say this,when the Bobcat breaks nothing moves or gets fixed until the Bobcat is working again.
 
If you do a query of insurance companies, I think you will find that skid steers are involved in a lot of accidents, but not quite to the extreme they used to be. Seat belt and lap bar systems are quite sophisticated to keep the operator in the seat at all times, and newer ones are more stable than the older machines.

Any new skid steer comes with it's own safety manual, as well as the operator's manual.
 
Its a wonder I did not kill myself on the first one I used. It took me quite awhile to get a handle on operating one. Just because I got a handle on operating a few does not mean I mastered it.
 
for one thing loading unloading them can be a deal. always back them up the trailer ramps, and much easier to unload them driving forward and they wont flip over backwards.
 

I have owned a Mustang skid steer for many years. It's a great machine. I did roll it once while pushing shot rock into a hole. Righted it with a mini excavator and went right back to work without any injuries or damage. It has a full ROPS with heavy screen on the sides and a plexiglass rear window with no front door. I have had large sticks come in the cab while moving heavy brush. That being said, my biggest concern is being impaled by an object coming into the cab.
cvphoto134548.jpg
 
They can be very dangerous, especially for inexperienced operators. The things that make them useful--high power-to-weight ration, short turning radius, fast maneuverability, short wheelbase, and similar characteristics, also mean they can quickly become unstable, react quickly and unpredictably to changing conditions, and in general require considerably more operator skill and training to operate safely than slower, less maneuverable machines. Add in operator stations that often don't have great visibility and it's easy to see why they can be dangerous to operate or even be around. Newer machines have made improvements in many areas but they remain a machine with the potential to quickly become dangerously unstable, and of course any safety equipment is only as good as the operator using it and is subject to bypass or other modification. Had a accident locally a few years back where an owner had removed the side screen on his skidsteer's cab, presumably for better visibility, then stuck his head out the opening and lowered the boom, decapitating himself.
 
I never wanted to own one. If anything goes wrong it is right in your lap. I'll take a regular loader tractor with some distance between the bucket and the operator.
 
Do you really think that anyone ever reads those things? I have worked on machines that are 10 years old and the manuals are still in the little plastic box sealed in plastic.
 
Don't think I want one ever. I've loaded a few and it sucks since you have to have the bucket either above the door or below it preferably below it. though I have had a few times it would have been nice to been able to load let bucket rest on the upper deck and get out. Nope can't get on top deck and can't put other piece on with bucket in the way. For some they may be nice and they are handy for ones adept to using them regularly. They're not for me.
 
been running one since I was 14 and never had any problems. I curranty have a bobcat on tacks and would never have on without tracks. The speed and maneuverability are so much better than a tractor with a loader.
 
That looks like the 500 I used to have when I had the sawmill. Handled many logs with it with the back wheel off the ground. It had a pair of home made forks on it, made by me. Never got hurt ot tipped it.
 
No more dangerous than the operator. Someone sticks their hand in a running corn picker to clear it, and loses the hand. Is this fault of the the corn picker? Skids are no different. A frightening number of people run around with the boom fully elevated because they think the bucket impedes their forward vision. Then make an abrupt stop with a loaded bucket and wonder why it flopped over forward. Then blame the machine when an accident occurs.
 
(quoted from post at 05:30:40 08/30/22) x2. I never wanted to own one.
Click to expand...

''I never wanted to own one.''

I will venture to GUESS that might change IF you had the NEED for one, a feedlot with llots of bovine excrement to clean up and load would be one reason.

That probably won't happen, tho? :roll:
 
It has been probably around 30 years but the co owner of the local Deere dealership got killed on one when the arms came down and pined his head between them and the frame. That closed the dealership. I did know more details but have forgotten them.
 
With or without a roll cage is a bi deal. Some of the old ones was common to remove the roll cage to fit in low sheds.

A tractor and louder are just as dangerous as far as something come rolling down over the bucket and down the arms and onto the driver.

Same deal either way.

Paul
 
A delightful and skilled emergency room physician here in Wichita was put in a wheel chair permanently when a bale of hay came over the back of his Bob Cat years ago. It was far back enough the ROPS was not a common sight on skid steers or tractors or anything else (the mid 70s). A tough guy though - he continued to work in the ER for many years after from his wheel chair.
 


Old saying George- "The finest engineering and most advanced safety features our greatest minds can come up with are no match for the ignorance and stupidity of your average moron."
 
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