A Bobcat CT2040 and some very useful attachments have been a big asset for Deb and Dan, who are working at off-grid living on their idyllic farm on the outskirts of Yass, NSW.
Dan is a residential building designer, and his wife Deb a dental nurse, but the pair have scaled back a little on their careers to pursue a dream.
“We’re an off-grid property where we raise and look after our own livestock,” outlined the enthusiastic Dan. “Sheep and cows and anything else that wanders on to the property and decides to call our place its residence.
“Essentially we’re taking what was grazing land and returning it to farming bushland. We’re trying to plant as many trees as we can and produce as much food as we can. We’re not connected to utilities at all, so we live completely off grid, apart from internet.”
The internet is an important inclusion because Deb and Dan chronicle the life and times of Simply Off Grid farm on a Youtube channel (search ‘Simply Off Grid – Australia’ to keep up with Dan and Deb’s and their lifestyle).
After nearly two years of research, Dan and Deb launched into a major purchase: a Bobcat CT2040 with pallet forks and a four-in-one bucket. A year of hard work later, Dan and Deb are more than happy with the service and performance of the new machinery.
Life on the farm
What makes a typical work week for a tractor on an off-the-grid farm?
“Typically, it’d be a mixture of using the four-in-one bucket to do some grading or moving materials around on the property,” Dan told Landscape Contractor. “We use the four-in-one bucket whether we’re planting trees and moving topsoil, compost or mulch, or turning over our compost piles. We use the pallet forks to move IBCs full of firewood around the property, and for lifting bags of wheat or whatever.
“It’s just constantly on the go. We find new uses for it all the time.
The Bobcat CT2040 is a good choice for Dan and Deb. It’s a compact tractor which doesn’t skimp on horsepower and can fit in tight spaces without sacrificing the grunt needed to do heavy-duty attachment and implement work.
Whether it’s digging, hauling, clearing, mowing or maintaining driveways, the CT2040 is ready help to make the most of working the land.
Service with a smile
And as much as Dan and Deb are rapt in the machinery, there’s another part of the story.
“Clark Equipment has been really good to us,” Dan related.
“We recently had our first service done on the tractor and they worked in with us to find other people around the area so they could service their tractors on the same day. That way we weren’t paying just a single call-out fee.
“And I thought Clark Equipment was local,” he continued, “but it’s not. But the people there were still content to put us into that same list, and do our tractor very early in the morning so they could still meet their commitments in towns a couple of hours away.
“One of the things that led us to buying a tractor from Bobcat was what Clark Equipment said it could offer, and so far the Clark Equipment folks have delivered on exactly what they said they were going to do in terms of service and back up.
“We’re surrounded by farmers who have all sorts of tractors, and they were all amazed at what was included when we first had the tractor delivered, the price it was delivered for, and the fact the Clark Equipment guys were so willing to come out and look after it.
“It really has been a great experience,” he beamed.
See more of the Bobcat range at bobcatofaustralia.com.au.