This year Bobcat celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the loader and a sixty year legacy second to none in the worldwide construction equipment market.
The story began in 1958, when Melroe Manufacturing Company, the forerunner to Bobcat Company, introduced a compact front-end loader that evolved quickly into the M-400, the world’s first true skid-steer loader. The M-400 was succeeded by the M-440 and in 1962, Melroe adopted what would become the world famous ‘Bobcat’ brand for the M-440 loader and its success created the global compact equipment industry we know today.
In 2000, Bobcat Company purchased Sambron S.A., a long-established French manufacturer of telescopic handlers based at Pont-Château in northwest France. Sambron was one of the founding companies in the telehandler category.
In 2018, the range of compact loaders including skid-steer, compact track and all-wheel steer models that Bobcat has developed over the last six decades continues to dominate the market, combined with 100+ attachments to meet every specific customer’s needs.
Bobcat launches compact telehandler for heavy-lift applications
The newest member of the Bobcat family is the compact TL43.80HF, bringing to 15 its current range of rigid-frame telehandler models.
Thanks to a high lift capacity of 4.3 metric tons and a maximum lift height of 7.5m (24.6ft), the TL43.80HF brings together robustness, rough terrain ability and ease of use for the operator in the same machine.
The new vehicle designed and produced at the company’s plant in Pontchâteau, France, is particularly designed for heavy lift handling applications found in general industry, manufacturing, construction, warehousing, quarrying and mining.
