When a construction, landscaping or agriculture firm looks to rent a Bobcat from a dealer, they are typically drawn to the fact that the tiny skid loaders, excavators and other pieces of heavy machinery are capable of doing almost anything on a site in a tiny package.
Somewhat ironically, however, the versatility that has defined Bobcat machines for half a century emerged as the result of a very specific first job.
Before Bobcat became the last word in tough, quick and agile machines, Louis and Cyril Keller were engineers who operated a small welding and repair shop in Rothsay, Minnesota, a rural village with a population of fewer than 500 people.
In 1956, Eddie Velo, a local turkey farmer, came to the brothers looking for a loading machine that could be used in his turkey barn.
It needed to be light enough to work on the second floor without collapsing and manoeuvrable enough to navigate the support pole that served as the foundation for the barn.
The Kellers were aware that most heavy equipment from that time was too large to fit in his barn, and even if they were not, their use of conventional steering wheels and gears meant that they had huge turning circles.
The Kellers designed a solution in just six weeks using salvaged parts from local junkyards and, most infamously, the bars from the local jail to act as the teeth for the manure fork.
It more closely resembled a forklift truck than the huge loaders of the era, with a pivoting caster on the back and two front wheels, but with the use of a unique clutch system, the Keller Self-Propelled Loader had a turning circle of effectively zero.
The rights to manufacture the machine were sold to Melroe Manufacturing Company in 1958, which became Bobcat, and the core principles of the machinery hired today all originated from a turkey farm in Minnesota.