With the first completed machine coming off the assembly line, Bobcat has announced that the L85, the company’s first new compact wheel loader  model, is in full production.

Bobcat has also confirmed full details and features for the L85 CWL, which was part of the company’s revolutionary ‘Next is Now’ launch event in October 2020. The first machine is heading to the Bobcat Institute on the campus, where it will be used to train Bobcat dealers and customers.

By entering the wheel loader category, Bobcat now has the largest loader portfolio of any manufacturer in the world. To meet demand, an additional fourth production line has been built at the company’s plant in the Czech Republic. The capacity of the new production line is around 1000 machines per year and will be operated by 15 workers per shift. The overall new investment involved was worth over one million Euro.

“A product of the Bobcat Innovation Center on our Dobris campus, the L85 has been designed to set a new market-leading performance benchmark in this segment of the market,” said Jiri Karmazin, loaders product manager at Bobcat. “The L85 is built with proven components including the engine, structures, axles, electronics and hydraulics sourced either from Bobcat or our prestigious Tier 1 suppliers. Many components are already widely used in our market-leading compact loaders, mini-excavators and telehandlers, and the L85 undergoes the same final assembly and test procedures as these products.”

High performance is assured by the combination of the powerful Bobcat engine and the hydraulics. This is complemented by the high stability, breakout, push and pull forces and a comprehensive selection of Bobcat attachments. Combined with intuitive controls, high operator comfort and ease of use, the L85 compact wheel loader is ideal for a multitude of tasks in a very wide range of industries. The L85 can be used in construction, landscaping, rental, industrial, waste, recycling and agriculture, but is also ideal for road work, snow removal, maintenance and many other applications.

Already, there are multiple Bobcat loader attachments approved for use on the L85, with more to be announced in the near future. The current portfolio includes a general purpose bucket, light material buckets, a combination bucket, pallet forks and angle broom and snowblower attachments, making the L85 a truly multi-purpose machine.

The L85 is equipped as standard with the Power Quick-Tach system compatible with widely used industry standard couplers. To run high-flow attachments like a snow blower and an angle broom, the L85 can be fitted with a high flow option, providing a hydraulic flow of 100 l/min.

Another unique feature of the L85 is the Advanced Attachment Control. This revolutionary system enables the operator to switch to an alternative machine control pattern at the touch of a button. This offers independent control of the engine speed (and maximum auxiliary flow) and the machine travel speed. Thanks to the 7-pin connector, the operator can control even the most complicated attachments intuitively and effectively.

The engine is generally started by the standard key, but for quick engine start and stop during the day, the operator can also use soft-touch buttons conveniently located on the right-hand console. The machine is also equipped with Automatic Parking Brake and Slope Assist features, ensuring the parking brake on the L85 is automatically engaged and disengaged as required. These automotive-style features are unique in the industry for this type of machine.

The location of all the controls is designed to make the L85 easy and comfortable to operate even during long shifts. The direction-changing switch [Forward-Neutral-Reverse] is located on the front side of the joystick and is index-finger operated. Controls for differential lock, turtle/rabbit mode, boom float and auxiliary flow control are all at the operator’s fingertips on the top of the joystick.

The jog shuttle is used to reach, navigate and confirm the set-up of the L85 on the 5-inch LED display, and also to switch quickly to the view provided by the rear-view camera. All the machine’s vital information display and set-up screens are managed via the jog shuttle.

Saul Wordsworth is deputy editor of the iVT brand - which includes digital and print editions of a quarterly magazine and Off-Highway Annual, as well as ivtinternational.com. He is a keen cyclist and lives in north London.

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