Published: December 13, 2007 11:41 am            

Readers' Retreat: ‘Bobcat: Fifty years’ loads up on ingenuity, history

Originally published in the December 14, 2007, print edition.

What machine is tough, quick and agile, and can turn 360 degrees without moving forward or backward?

If you answered, “It’s a Bobcat,” you’re right.

Being the sort of person who knew the right answer you probably will enjoy reading Marty Padgett’s “Bobcat: Fifty Years.”

The Bobcat in question, of course, is the skid steer front-end loader that has gone by that name for nearly 50 years.

It’s true that there are other machines that have many of the characteristics of a Bobcat. But when the Melroe brothers, of Gwinner, N.D., and the Keller brothers of Rothsay, demonstrated the Keller Self Propelled Loader at the 1958 Minnesota State Fair they got a head start on making an implement that has become an irreplaceable part of the agricultural scene for half a century.

Padgett’s book tells the story of how the brothers got to the ’58 Fair and, from there, became a world leader in compact farm and construction machinery.

The book is an excellent example of what the publisher, MBI of St. Paul, has done well over the years. They have created a series of coffee table books of significant narrative and photographic substance that showcase the history that made today’s Bobcat the icons in American agricultural technology. The fact that “Bobcat: Fifty Years” is, in part, a Minnesota story makes this book all the more compelling.

“Bobcat: Fifty Years” is, however, a slightly misleading title. The original machine was created by the Keller brothers, Louis and Cyril, who were blacksmiths and self-made engineers. They made the Keller loader in 1956 when a Rothsay turkey farmer, Eddie Velo, complained that tractor-mounted loaders weren’t adequate to clean the narrow aisles of his barns.

Padgett does a fine job of telling how the Kellers made that machine. He tells how they later got together with the Melroes who were then manufacturing a line of grain windrow pick-up and harrow weeders in Gwinner. He also nicely tells the story of how the pair of brothers developed the skid steer turning system so widely used today.

That development took place in the late 1950s and early ’60s, before anybody came up with the catchy Bobcat name. During those first years, the Keller Self Propelled Loader became known as the Melroe Self Propelled Loader. There were various model numbers, such as the early four-wheeled M400 series. But none of them carried the familiar Bobcat name and logo.

It would be petty to hold against Padgett the fact that the Bobcat name, along with its telltale white color, didn’t appear until sometime in 1962. It would be petty because the way he tells the story makes it sound like such a grand adventure.

It was the sort of adventure American dreams are made of. He shows that talented farm boys and small town mechanics can make it big with a good idea and hard work.

“Bobcat: Fifty Years” follows the story of that adventure through its early years, the Clark acquisition in the 1970s, the expanding product line, the growth of the international market and the purchase by Ingersoll-Rand.

The book closes with a 27-page photo gallery of all the machines the company ever introduced. There are times when the book goes over the top and is more a promotional brochure than a history. At times, it seems self-congratulatory and a bit corny. But if you’ve ever owned a Bobcat you probably were pretty proud of what you could do with it. And if you were one of the farm boys who invented it you’d certainly have the right to some self-congratulation.

Padgett, and the people he wrote about, deserve a good old American pat on the back for a job well done.

The book ends before the August 2007 purchase of Bobcat by Korean Doosan Infracore Co. for $4.9 billion. That the company started by the Keller and Melroe brothers is now owned by a multi-national Korean corporation is somewhat sobering. It is cause for thought about the future of American ingenuity and manufacturing. In the future, Americans may need to be a little less self-congratulating. We may need to return to the good old days of ingenuity and perseverance when a team of small town blacksmiths and farm boys had a good idea and made it happen.

“Bobcat: Fifty Years” is available from bookstores, participating Bobcat dealers or directly from MBI Publishing at www.motorbooks.com.

        

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