October 2006 - Murray Bridge Council buys two Bobcat Toolcats

'The Rural City of Murray Bridge were in the market for new lawnmowers. But instead of a purpose built machine we settled for the versatility of the Toolcat which is a mower, two seated people mover, loader, sweeper, forklift, and small tipper plus there are many other attachments we can add later,' said David Allen, Works Manager of the Rural City of Murray Bridge.

The super-versatile Toolcat 5600 has been introduced by Bobcat Australia. It combines the best features of a loader, small utility truck and attachment carrier - plus all-wheel steer and four-wheel drive. The Toolcat can travel between jobs at 35 kph.

'We used to send out a truck with one man, and a trailer carrying the mower, the brush cutting team would come along later,' said David. 'Now we plan to send out the Toolcat with two men loaded with equipment. One man drives, cuts the lawn while another does any brush cutting and any other maintenance that may be necessary. When they finish that reserve they just drive on to the next one, which frees up a truck and trailer to do other tasks.'

Murray Bridge is approximately 80 km from Adelaide, and sits astride the mighty River Murray north of Lake Alexandrina. It is a city of 17,000 people and covers 1,828 square kilometres and includes 975 kilometres of trafficable roads.

It is a typical sprawling rural centre with a grain silo on the skyline, vegetable gardens, hothouses and light industry surround the city. Dairying, chicken raising, pig breeding, tomato and snow pea growing are the main industries in and around the city, which is the centre of a major agricultural district. Murray Bridge is also a major tourist destination, the river being the major attraction.

Interspersed among the roads and buildings are many reserves, road verges, ovals, and river frontage that need to be mowed every fortnight during summer and less in winter. The Council also covers districts outside the town to a radius of about 30 kilometres, which brings the population of the people they are responsible for up to about 21,000.

'The Toolcat can be used as a loader or even as a people mover when it's not mowing. That's a big advantage,' said David. 'It's not parked in the shed doing nothing. One task we have in mind is spraying weeds on road verges. At the moment we drive into the traffic with the driver leaning out the window spraying. With the left hand drive of the Toolcat, it will be much safer and we can drive legally with the traffic.'

'We had to look at an alternative to mowers,' said David. 'We were having all sorts of trouble with them and the guys in the workshop were sick of fixing them up. The Toolcat is air-conditioned - now a council requirement. It is robust and better built, and more comfortable to drive. I'm not knocking conventional lawnmowers. They've got their place. But when you're using them all day every day you need something better. '