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Bobcat Australia announced today the start of the "Bobcat 500K Contest" to celebrate production of the 500,000th Bobcat® skid-steer loader. Compact equipment users in Australia and New Zealand who share stories about their toughest jobs-jobs that tested both operator and loader endurance-will have the chance to win limited Bobcat 500K prizes. The Grand Prize winner will receive a 500K Limited Edition Bobcat 773 loader. Additional monthly prizes include a Bobcat 500K Limited Edition Baseball Jacket and Bobcat 500K Limited Edition collectible scale model.

The Grand Prize winner will be determined by a panel of judges in mid-July 2002 and announced by the end of July 2002.

Entrants can obtain submission forms and complete contest rules through their local Dealer, and at selected industry trade shows.

The "Bobcat 500K Contest" Grand Prize-the Limited Edition Bobcat 773 Loader-will feature a Limited Edition decal package, gold wheel rims and a gold tailgate. The machine also is equipped with a deluxe operator package that includes, deluxe enclosed cab with heat and air conditioning, deluxe instrumentation with keyless start security system, hydraulic Power Bob-Tach and a turbo-charged diesel engine.

"The 'Bobcat 500k Contest' celebrates more than 40 years of making the toughest, most well-known compact equipment in the world," said Chuck Hoge, president and CEO of Bobcat Company. "Since 1958, Bobcat equipment has helped to change the way the world works. We're excited at the growth and acceptance of the skid-steer loader, and we're proud to have played a leading role in the development of the compact equipment industry overall. Bobcat Company is looking forward to several more decades of Bobcat® users around the world and continuing to provide the market with tough, productive compact equipment."

Bobcat history

In the late 1950s, a Minnesota farmer needed an agile, compact loader to work in the tight areas of his turkey barns. Two blacksmith brothers-Cy and Louis Keller-worked to meet his needs and, in the process, created a small two-wheel drive machine with a rear caster wheel and a simple manure fork on the front. For durability, the forks were made from the hardened steel bars of the old Rothsay, Minn., jail. The Melroe brothers of Gwinner, N.D, eventually bought the rights to the invention and hired the Kellers to refine the design.

In 1958, the company introduced the Melroe Self-Propelled Loader, which later became the M-200. Two years later they added rear drive wheels and introduced the M-400, the first true skid-steer loader. The "Bobcat" name was added and the M-440 unveiled in 1962, sporting the distinctive white paint with red trim that still remains. White was chosen to appeal to the Grade A dairy farms, a key market for Bobcat loaders.

Bobcat Company manufactures skid-steer loaders, compact track loaders, compact hydraulic excavators, telescopic tool carriers and more than 50 types of job-matched attachments designed, built and backed by Bobcat Company. The growth of the attachment business has contributed greatly to the success of the skid-steer loader business by increasing the usefulness and versatility of the machine. Bobcat Company is a unit of Ingersoll-Rand Company, Woodcliff Lake, N.J.