The Cat Skid Steer compared to Bob Cat

              I have mentioned that I am a general contractor and that I do project which improves a property’s value (Additions, rebuilds and ADU’s.) Anyway, I finally received the approved set of plans with the cities stamps and went to purchase the permits to begin the actual building of the structure. The time frame to get plans in southern California is crazy. Over a year to get the project started. Our plan checkers wife delivered so all his revisions were washed away when the new plan checker took over to demand semantic changes. What was once quoted as a rough price was more than doubled by the time all the man hours were added in.  So be prepared for delays they are bound to happen.

The inspector came and check my changes to the main sewer line for the main house on the property and it passed. I then had the task of building my pad for the ADU. I use to be a dirt worker but it was more than 20 years ago. The next morning a waited for the agreed upon time and then drove to the rental yard to get a Skid Steer. I rented their trailer and the Skid Steer. I have heard to many horrors about digging equipment breaking through a personal trailer and had to be pulled out.  After getting loaded I went to the place where the operator lived. He told me he couldn’t do it after all he had to help his wife, so I headed off to the job site.

When I arrived, I unloaded the equipment and thought I’d give it a try and see how bad my eyes were out. After three hours of work, I had built my pad. A few days later the home owner asked if we were able to use the large grave in the drive because he had a friend who wanted to load it and use it at his father-in-law’s house. I told him we could use it because the aggregate was too large. The man came for the gravel loaded his bump trailer up and took off. He left his bob cat in the middle of the drive with no key. Or so we thought. Anyway, I got in the Bob cat to move it out of the way.

The bob sat has levers and foot pedals. It was not an easy machine to operate. The Cat Skid Steer on the other had had to levers. The left one for your travel and the right one for the bucket. The difference in the ease of operation and level of work you can achieve is night and day. The BobCat was nice but it was much harder to operate and the Cat’s ease of operation made the task less stressful. I honestly enjoyed the Skid Steer and the level of work I accomplished but the Bobcat is something I will leave to the trained and skilled operators. I took my time and built a level strip and from it I built my pad. If you are a do it yourself type person I recommend that you stay clear of operating the BobCat but believe that most people who can drive , can also operate the Cat Skid Steer. Take your time and watch your spotter and as always before you dig call dig alert to have the project cleared or underground lines marked.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. This writing is not to be used as legal counsel the author is not a lawyer and does not give legal advice other than consult a lawyer before acting.